National Council For Adoption – NCFA






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The National Council For Adoption (NCFA) has received many calls from people interested adopting a child from Haiti. New adoptions may take years and are discouraged by NCFA and other adoption professionals until authorities may ensure that presumably orphaned children have no surviving family. In the meantime, we offer Heart to HAITI, an Adoption Information Network designed to keep prospective adoptive families and other friends of adoption informed of the developments in adoption in Haiti. We will send you emails as we receive pertinent information. When our new Web technology becomes available, we will offer an online community for information sharing and support. Please click here to visit NCFA's Heart to HAITI Web page. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Adoption Coalition Calls for Passage of Families For Orphans Act February 3, 2010, Washington, DC – In light of the tragedy in Haiti and to help meet the needs of the 30 million orphans worldwide, the Families for Orphans Coalition wrote to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and House Foreign Affairs Committee today to urge immediate consideration of the Families for Orphans Act (H.R. 3070 and S. 1458). The chaos resulting from the January 12th earthquake in Haiti has emphasized the vulnerability of children and demonstrated the need for a focused global strategy addressing children living without parental care. If enacted, the Families for Orphans Act would create the Office of Orphan Policy, Diplomacy and Development within the Department of State responsible for implementing comprehensive strategies to encourage the preservation of biological families and help children without parental care find safe, legal, permanent families – ideally in their country of birth. It would also fund research to ascertain the number of children living without parental care worldwide -- the importance of which has been further underscored by the wide range of estimates and unknown number of Haiti’s orphaned children. In addition, the Families for Orphans Act includes interventions such as family preservation, reunification, domestic adoption and intercountry adoption, if it is determined to be in the best interest of the child and a permanent family is not available domestically.” Download Full Text and Letter to Senator Kerry # # # NCFA Response to Haitian Crisis The National Council For Adoption (NCFA) is deeply saddened by the devastation and loss of life resulting from last Tuesday’s earthquake in Haiti. Currently, worldwide humanitarian efforts are and should be focused on ensuring the survival and well-being of the people of Haiti. There are approximately 167 licensed orphanages in Haiti. As a first step, we ask the U.S. government and the Red Cross to prioritize and secure the safety of the children in these orphanages. In 2009, 330 children were adopted from Haiti by U.S. citizens. With 10,000 orphans in Haiti, sources estimate that there may be between 600-900 orphaned children whose adoptions were in process when the earthquake struck. For those cases in which the U.S. families had already attained a custody order or a formal decree of adoption prior to the earthquake, NCFA joins Members of Congress in calling on the U.S. government to employ humanitarian parole in order to expedite their adoptions. The Department of State asks all families adopting from Haiti whose adoptions are in process to contact askci@state.gov and provide a list of all known information about your child. Adoption documentation in Haiti may have been displaced or destroyed, so it is essential to remain patient while the necessary information is retrieved. NCFA and other adoption advocates are very concerned about the potential for child trafficking in Haiti. As such, NCFA urges that there be no expedited efforts made to process new adoptions in Haiti at this time. Additionally, NCFA discourages the altruistic practice commonly referred to as "baby lifts". Adequate time is needed to ensure that presumably orphaned children have no surviving family. Even in the name of humanitarian interest, we cannot risk the premature adoptions of vulnerable children who may have been separated from their families by this tragedy. NCFA is deeply grateful for the swift response of the U.S. government, the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Red Cross, child welfare and adoption advocates, and charitable organizations in the U.S. and around the world. We are hopeful that every effort can and will be made to secure the safety of the people of Haiti, especially its most vulnerable citizens. # # # Steve Sunday and Kevin Wrege Named to NCFA Board of Directors Alexandria, VA – Steve Sunday of Salt Lake City, Utah and Kevin Wrege of Washington, DC have been named to the board of directors of the National Council For Adoption (NCFA). Mr. Sunday has extensive adoption agency and advocacy experience with LDS Family Services, and Mr. Wrege owns and directs a consulting firm specializing in policymaking, research and health care issues. “We are extremely happy to have Steve and Kevin join our board,” said board chairman Stan Swim. “Together they bring a unique combination of advocacy, policymaking and hands-on adoption experience. They are both passionately committed to building families through adoption, and will help NCFA as it strives to enact more adoption-friendly policies and regulations that impact the adoption process and community.” Mr. Sunday serves as manager of birth parent and adoption services at the LDS Family Services world headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah – an international, non-profit agency affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that provides mental health counseling and adoption and birth parent services. For the past ten years, he has served as advisor to the National Board of Families Supporting Adoption, which is one of the largest adoptive parent, adoptee, and birth parent organizations in the country. Mr. Wrege is president of PULSE Issues & Advocacy, LLC, a Washington, DC-based government relations firm he founded in February 2007. PULSE provides a wide range of local, state and federal advocacy, research and policy service with an emphasis on health insurance, health care and general business issues. He is a licensed attorney and registered Washington, DC lobbyist, a published op-ed writer, and a respected conference speaker and industry spokesperson who has been quoted in national news outlets on various health care issues. # # # Texas Governor Rick Perry Appoints NCFA Board Member Heidi Bruegel Cox to Serve on the Adoption Review Committee NCFA congratulates board member Heidi Cox on her appointment to the Texas Adoption Review Committee. Pursuant to House Bill 2225 of the 81st Legislative session, the committee will review the Texas foster care system to identify obstacles that impede the department's ability to find permanent placement for children and to search for ways to improve the foster care system. Click here to read the full press release. # # # NCFA Hosts China Center for Adoption Affairs Delegation for Adoption Training Course The National Council For Adoption (NCFA) recently hosted a 13-member delegation from the China Center for Adoption (CCAA) on a 12-day itinerary designed to educate the Chinese officials about America’s culture of adoption. At the conclusion of the visit, Mr. Lu Ying, head of the delegation and director-general of the CCAA, re-affirmed China’s commitment to intercountry adoption as a viable means of finding permanent families for many of China’s orphans. He also indicated that the CCAA intended to expand adoption opportunities for orphans in provinces with lower than average rates of adoption, particularly those children with special needs. “I have a strong belief that cooperation with the United States will continue and go forward smoothly,” said Mr. Lu. “It is my sincere hope that we can work closely with the U.S. government, NCFA and agencies to the greatest extent possible to help the children living in orphanages in China flourish in a loving, permanent home.” “The visit by the Chinese delegation was crucial to furthering cooperation and building cultural bridges between the United States and China through adoption,” said Mary Robinson, president and CEO of NCFA. “The members of the delegation were keenly interested in learning more about the American adoption community. I believe the delegates left with a very high opinion of America’s adoption practices and processes, as well as a determination to provide permanent homes for Chinese orphans.” Click here to read the full press release. Click here to read NCFA's Intercountry Adoption Update. # # # NCFA Calls Upon the CDC to Exempt Internationally Adopted Children from the Technical Instructions on Tuberculosis Adoptive parents James Scruggs and Candace Litchford from Northern Virginia were forced to leave behind their new legally adopted daughter, Harper, in China for ongoing TB testing due to new regulations recently imposed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). These new regulations hold adopted children to a more stringent standard than those applied to biological children born to American parents in another country, or even to tourists from these same countries visiting the United States. While NCFA applauds the CDC in its effort to prohibit the spread of infectious diseases into our country, there is no medical argument that the CDC’s new TB regulations should be applied to children who are adopted from another country. The medical community is in general agreement that children with the TB virus are rarely, if ever, contagious. Furthermore, given the fact that adoptive parents of children infected with the TB virus would seek immediate medical attention upon return to the United States, NCFA calls upon the CDC to exempt internationally adopted children from its new regulation. Please refer to the following links for more information, as well as NCFA’s position on exempting children adopted in other countries from the CDC’s new regulation. Adoption Advocate No. 16, entitled “NCFA Position Statement on the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) 2007 Technical Instructions on Tuberculosis (TB) as They Relate to Internationally Adopted Children” NCFA August 17 letter to CDC Director Thomas Frieden August 10 Associated Press (AP) story – New TB Policy Could Disrupt Overseas Adoptions Scruggs family blog: http://jayscruggs.livejournal.com San Jose Mercury News Editorial: http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_13040044 Interview with Dr. Starke in the Washington Examiner http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-7928-International-Adoption-Examiner~y2009m8d14-Interview-with-pediatric-tuberculosis-expert-Dr-Jeffrey-Starke # # # Bill Introduced to Address Global Lack of Parents for Epidemic Numbers of Children June 29, 2009 (Washington, DC) -- The Families for Orphans Coalition announces support today for The Families for Orphans Act, introduced in the House on Friday (HR 3070). The Families for Orphans Act (FFOA) will place a new emphasis on the need to improve US policy for supporting healthy development of children globally. AIDS, war and poverty are causing an explosion in the number of children worldwide who are growing up without parents in orphanages and long term foster care. Spearheaded by Representatives Diane Watson (D-CA) and John Boozman (R-AR), The Families for Orphans Act will empower the US government to proactively address a global gap in the most basic of human rights – a permanent family for every child. If enacted, The Families for Orphans Act would establish the Office of Orphan Policy, Diplomacy and Development within the Department of State and provide diplomatic authority to help the 30 million children orphaned worldwide and the 100 million plus vulnerable children who have lost one parent or are at risk of losing parental care. The new office would be responsible for developing and implementing a comprehensive strategy to support diplomacy and policy focusing on the preservation of families and the provision of permanent families and legal, permanent relationships for orphans. This function is currently not a part of the US government’s diplomatic portfolio. Research has shown that families are essential to the healthy development of children, and those unfortunate children who grow up without the support of a permanent family often face homelessness, suicide, incomplete education, teen pregnancy and emotional disorders. “The human cost for children growing up without parents is steep,” said Terry Baugh, President of Kidsave, and a member of the Coalition. “Children lose one month of development for every three months in an orphanage. With this handicap it is not hard to understand why these children are unprepared for independent living when turned out of institutions starting as young as 8-years-old. As a result an estimated 50% turn to crime and prostitution, over one-third experience a period of homelessness and most are highly vulnerable to human trafficking and to adults recruiting terrorists and child soldiers.” The Bucharest Early Intervention Study appears to support Baugh’s assessment. The Study, conducted over five years by notable researchers from Harvard Medical School, the University of Maryland, Tulane, the University of Virginia and the University of Minnesota reported that children living outside of family care suffered decreased brain activity (including lower IQ’s), poor growth and a variety of emotional delays. “An investment in permanent family care for children is an investment in the health of the global economy,” said Thomas Difilipo, President of the Joint Council of International Children’s Services, a member of the Coalition. “Cost benefit data shows that effective, high-quality interventions to improve parenting skills and reduce child maltreatment save between $2 and $8 for every dollar spent. In a global economic crisis it only makes sense that every country – and every community -- would begin to invest in permanent family care.” The new office will elevate the plight of children, giving the US a clear, dedicated, diplomatic authority to represent the interests of orphaned children. The office will advise the Secretary of State and President in all matters related to global family preservation and permanent parental care for orphans, as well as developing global strategy, including the coordination of all foreign policy and assistance related to global family preservation. The new office will also conduct research designed to better understand the size of the population of children living without parental care and global efforts to support these children. Oversight of three grant programs directly related to preserving families and providing permanent parental care for families is an additional function of this new office. “The Families for Orphans Act emphasizes that activities that keep a child in the country of birth through family preservation, domestic adoption, legal guardianship and kinship care, are always the preferred child welfare methods. However, when these are not timely options, a family through international adoption is clearly in the best interests of those children languishing in orphanages or living in temporary foster care,” said Chuck Johnson, Coalition member and Chief Operating Officer for the National Council For Adoption. The Families for Orphans Coalition was established in 2008 to support both domestic and foreign efforts that ensure every child lives, grows and thrives in a safe, permanent and loving family. For more information, please click here. To download the full press release, please click here. # # # Bill Introduced to Provide Citizenship Rights to Internationally Adoption Children of American Families June 29, 2009 (Washington, DC) -- The Families for Orphans Coalition announces its support for the Foreign Adopted Children Equality Act (FACE Act) which was introduced last week in the Senate and House of Representatives. The FACE Act will allow American families to bring their internationally adopted children home as American citizens instead of as immigrants. The bill is spearheaded by Senators Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and James Inhofe (R-OK) and Representatives Diane Watson (D-CA) and John Boozman (R-AR). The FACE Act simplifies the acquisition of citizenship for internationally adopted children and removes these children of American citizens from the immigration process. The Foreign Adopted Children Equality Act addresses needed changes to the Child Citizenship Act of 2000 (CCA) which was enacted to provide automatic U.S. citizenship to internationally adopted children of American citizens. As it stands now, the internationally adopted child of a U.S. citizen receives U.S. citizenship once the child enters the U.S. to reside permanently. If enacted, the FACE Act would allow such children to acquire U.S. citizenship at the time their adoptions are finalized in the country of the child’s birth. The child would then enter the U.S. as a U.S. citizen with citizenship documentation in hand. “Passage of the FACE Act will eliminate the need for an immigration visa for internationally adopted children and instead will treat these children as children of American citizens, not immigrants subject to immigration regulations,” said McLane Layton, President of Equality for Adopted Children (EACH) and a member of the Families for Orphans Coalition. “Additionally, the FACE Act classifies internationally adopted children as “citizens from birth” just like children born of Americans overseas, thus providing them with equal rights of citizenship, including the right to run for President of the United States.” “Under current law, the type of immigration visa an adopted child is given to enter the United States determines whether the child receives U.S. citizenship upon entry. Those children who do not receive U.S. citizenship upon entry and whose parents overlook the bureaucratic steps necessary to secure citizenship for their children are often later denied scholarships, passports, and the right to serve in the U.S. military. Most tragically, some young adults who have lived in the United States with loving, American families their entire lives have been deported to their birth countries - places they have no knowledge or memory of – for committing minor juvenile offenses. Half the children adopted internationally each year currently enter the States on the visa that places them at risk,” said Chuck Johnson, a Coalition member and Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for the National Council for Adoption. “The Face Act will resolve these issues and provide U.S. citizenship to all internationally adopted children of American citizens.” The FACE Act also provides older orphans the ability to be adopted – children who were overlooked in the Hague Treaty on Intercountry adoption. “Prior to the Hague’s passage, children age 16 to 18 whose younger siblings had been adopted by an American were able to be adopted by the same American family,” said Terry Baugh, President of Kidsave. “The Hague eliminated all adoption opportunities for children 16 and over. The FACE Act will fix this oversight and expand the opportunity of a permanent family to all children up to age 18.” The Families for Orphans Coalition was established in 2008 to support both domestic and foreign efforts that ensure every child lives, grows and thrives in a safe, permanent and loving family. To download the full press release, please click here. # # # NCFA Endorses International Adoption Policy Statement The National Council For Adoption has joined a coalition of adoption advocates, headed by Dr. Elizabeth Bartholet, Professor of Law & Faculty Director of the Child Advocacy Program at Harvard Law School, in support of the recently published International Adoption Policy Statement and Supporting Report. Other endorsees are the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys, the Center for Adoption Policy and the Harvard Law School Child Advocacy Program. NCFA is also a signatory on a press release issued by Dr. Bartholet on the recent controversy surrounding Madonna’s second adoption efforts in Malawi, which calls on judges and policymakers to review and consider the International Adoption Policy Statement before drafting policies and issuing rulings in intercountry adoption cases. NCFA has been a longtime supporter of intercountry adoption as a viable option for finding permanent homes for the millions of orphans worldwide, regardless of race, creed, ethnicity or national origins. NCFA fully supports the Hague Convention’s policy that intercountry adoption best serves the interest of children who cannot remain in the care of their families of origin and for whom no in-country adoption placement can be made. For NCFA’s complete position and policy statement on intercountry adoption, please see the April, 2009 edition of the Adoption Advocate, entitled “A Case for Ethical Intercountry Adoption.” # # # Donna Conway Appointed to Board of Directors of the National Council For Adoption Alexandria, VA – Donna Conway of Wilton, Connecticut has been appointed to the Directors of the National Council For Adoption (NCFA). The announcement was made by Board Chairman Stan Swim, noting Ms. Conway’s professional experience and outstanding record of volunteerism and community service. “We are pleased to have Ms. Conway join us as we seek to continue our efforts to promote the wellbeing of children, birthparents, and adoptive families by advocating for the positive option of adoption. An adoptive parent, she brings valuable experience to our board,” Swim said. NCFA, a non-profit organization, has been a champion of adoption since its founding in 1980. Whether as an advocate for state laws that promote sound adoption policy, a resource for federal officials and policymakers about appropriate federal adoption initiatives and reform, a diplomat for sound international adoption policy, or a source of adoption facts and education, NCFA is devoted to serving the best interests of children through adoption. “I am honored to be invited to join the board of the National Council For Adoption,” Ms. Conway said. “NCFA is a leading adoption advocate, and as an adoptive parent, I fully appreciate the many challenges of adoption, as well as the many wonderful opportunities that come with helping children find a permanent home. As a board member, my goal is to spread the positive word about adoption and the great work being done by NCFA.” Upon learning of China’s newly imposed one-child rule that would leave millions of children without permanent home, Ms. Conway made the decision to adopt. She and her husband, Jonathan, initiated adoption proceedings in 2000. With their two sons, David and Scott, Ms. Conway traveled to China in 2001 where they finalized the adoption of a one-year-old daughter, Lelah, now nine. Ms. Conway has been active as a volunteer in a number of organizations. She held a several positions with the League of Women Voters in Hamden, Ct. and in Wilton, Ct., where she served as president. She also was a member and secretary of the Wilton Library Association Board of Directors. She received a B.S. in Industrial Management/Computer Science, Purdue University, in 1981. Prior to becoming a “stay-at-home” mother, she gained managerial experience in a variety of positions. She worked for GIGA Information Group, NY, NY, Ernst & Whiney, Chicago, and for state and local political campaigns in Greenwich. While in Greenwich, she opened her own business, Donna Inc, providing temporary assistance for clients needing computer work, filing, and accounting. During these years, Ms. Conway also spent several years working and traveling in Europe, Africa, Greece, and other countries. Donna Conway will become the 16th member of the NCFA Board of Directors, joining Stan Swim, Chairman (Salt Lake City, UT), Bill Balcquiere (Grand Rapids, MI), Heidi Bruegel Cox ( Ft. Worth, TX), Lou Davidson (Washington, DC) Ted Kim (Washington, DC), Larisa Mason ( Oakmont, PA), Kimberly Newman ( Washington, DC), Fred Riley (Salt Lake City, UT), Jim Savley (Mount Juliet, TN), Wayne Sharp (Vienna, VA), Louis Stern ( Highland Beach, FL), Pamela Stevenson (Gladwyne, PA), Delia Stroud (Kennett Square, PA), and Jim Wright (Vienna VA). # # # National Council For Adoption Recommends Caution on Certain Special Needs Adoptions from Vietnam National Council For Adoption (NCFA) regrets that the United States and Vietnamese governments could not sign a new agreement regarding intercountry adoptions before September 1, 2008. Although we recognize that the United States held legitimate concerns with the adoption process in Vietnam, this halt in adoptions will result in many hundreds of Vietnamese orphans being denied loving, stable families in the United States. Although Vietnamese law allows for the processing of the adoption of children with special needs without a working agreement, NCFA is advocating extreme caution on the part of international adoption agencies and families matched with a Vietnamese child with special needs after the last agreement between the United States and Vietnamese governments expired on September 1, 2008. Read more. # # # President Bush Signs Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (HR 6893) into Law President George W. Bush signed the bipartisan *Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008* (HR 6893) into law on Tuesday, October 7. This bill was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Representative Jim McDermott (D-WA) and Representative Jerry Weller (R-IL). Senator Baucus (D-MT), Senator Grassley (R-IA) and Senator Rockefeller (D-WV) championed the bill in the Senate. The *Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008* is the most significant legislation relating to adoption and foster care since the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997. Read more. # # # Congressional Letter to Department of State Urges Interim Agreement with Vietnam to Avoid Disruption of International Adoptions by Americans 149 members of Congress signed a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on July 7 urging her to negotiate an interim Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Government of Vietnam that allows adoptions from Vietnam by Americans to continue while addressing concerns regarding the adoption system in Vietnam. The signers agreed that “systematic reform and more effective safeguards are needed to prevent abuses” in the Vietnamese adoption process, and urged the State Department to “work with the Vietnamese Government to implement proactive measures designed to guard against abuse.” Furthermore, however, the letter stated that “signing an interim agreement with Vietnam is consistent with your goal of moving toward a Hague-compliant system” in Vietnam, and that “it is not in the best interest of children to remain institutionalized or homeless during the period of transition” to a Hague-compliant system. NCFA applauds these Members of Congress for addressing the need to prevent the imminent disruption of adoptions from Vietnam. NCFA joins them to continue to urge that the State Department work expeditiously on behalf of Vietnamese orphans. (Click here to see full text of letter.) # # # Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) Gathers Support for Improved Adoption Incentives and Relative Support Act and Pursues Co-Sponsorship Introduced on May 20, 2008, Senator Charles Grassley’s Improved Adoption Incentives and Relative Support Act proposes a number of positive legislative changes that would benefit the 510,000 children in foster care. If enacted, this bill would extend through 2013 the Adoption Incentive Program, whereby the federal government allocates financial rewards to states that have increased the number of children adopted from their foster care system. It would also increase adoption incentive payments by establishing 2007 as the program’s new “base year” against which future performance would be measured. The bill would make all children with special needs adopted from foster care eligible for federal adoption assistance payments by exempting them from current income eligibility requirements. The bill would also establish relative guardianship as a permanency option for those children for whom courts have ruled that neither reunification nor adoption are viable permanency options, and allow states to receive federal reimbursement for assistance payments made to relative guardians. Finally, the bill would allow the federal government to allocate unobligated funds from the Adoption Incentive Program to states that increase the number of children exiting foster care through relative guardianship. Click here to read Senator Grassley’s appeal to his colleagues for co-sponsorship, which contains further information on the Improved Adoption Incentives and Relative Support Act and its supporters.		• 2/3/10: Adoption Coalition Calls for Passage of Families For Orphans Act • 1/21/10: NCFA Releases Adoption Advocate No. 20: 2010 Adoption Legislative Issues • 1/4/10: Steve Sunday and Kevin Wrege Named to NCFA Board of Directors • Texas Governor Appoints NCFA Board Member Heidi Cox to Serve on Adoption Review Committee • 12/18/09: NCFA Releases Adoption Advocate No. 19: Health Insurance for Adopted Children • 11/30/09: NCFA Releases Adoption Advocate No. 18: State of Adoption from China • 11/30/09: Adoption Advocate No. 18: State of Adoption from China Executive Summary • 10/01/09: NCFA Hosts China Center for Adoption Affairs Delegation for Adoption Training Course • 09/09/09: NCFA releases Adoption Advocate No. 17: Finding Permanence for Kids: NCFA Recommendations for Immediate Improvement to the Foster Care System • NCFA releases Adoption Advocate No. 16: NCFA Position Statement on the Centers for Disease Control's (CDC) 2007 Technical Instructions on Tuberculosis (TB) as They Relate to Internationally Adopted Children • NCFA releases Adoption Advocate No. 15: NCFA Supports the Families For Orphans Act (FFOA) and the Foreign Adopted Children Equality Act (FACE) • NCFA releases Adoption Advocate No. 14: On the Benefits of a National Putative Father Registry • 2010 National Adoption Conference • NCFA releases Adoption Advocate No. 13: Six Views on Intercountry Adoption • NCFA Celebrates National Foster Care Month • NCFA releases Adoption Advocate No. 12: A Statement on the Nation's Foster Care System • 2009 Stay at Home Gala • NCFA releases Adoption Advocate No. 11: A Case for Ethical Intercountry Adoption • Donna Downing Conway Appointed to NCFA Board of Directors • NCFA releases Adoption Advocate Volume No. 10: Mutual Consent: Balancing the Birthparent's Right to Privacy with the Adopted Person's Desire to Know • NCFA releases Adoption Advocate Volume No. 9: The Adoption Option: A Call for Complete and Inclusive Sex, Reproductive Health and Family Life Education Curricula • National Adoption Spokesperson Rodney Atkins Speaks Out for Children in Foster Care • NCFA releases Adoption Advocate Volume No. 8: Making Improvements to the Adoption Tax Credit Permanent for Children and Families •NCFA releases report on foreign-born adopted non-citizens • 2008 National Adoption Conference • NCFA Teams with Wal-Mart and Rodney Atkins to Inspire Better Care for Children in Foster Care • Senator Grassley Announces Improved Adoption Incentives and Relative Support Act • NCFA Inducts Five Adoption Heroes into Adoption Hall of Fame • 3/10/08 - NCFA Launches National PSA Campaign To Educate Public About Adoption NEWS ARCHIVE