With open adoption records in the news in Ontario ... a situation we've looked at here and here recently ... this take from the editorial board of a news organization in the Province may be of interest.

Pleased that the Ontario Superior Court struck down the new law that opened adoption records, the article goes into some detail on their position.

Adoption... more

A listening opportunity for those that may be interested, and have a good enough connection, is available on NPR, and I'm hoping they do a better job with this adoption-related story than they did with the All Things Considered ... yeah, right ... mess on Guatemalan adoption that aired recently.

With Elizabeth Bartholet as the guest, I'm guessing it will... more

Washington State is looking for foster parents, saying that the gap between kids and potential placements is worrying. As it is now, there are about 8,400 kids in care, but only 5,800 foster homes.

Not only concerned by a lack of available local placements that often results in kids having to be moved to far-flung parts of the state, Washington is also dealing with a legal obligation to increase the number of foster parents by 10% per year as the result of a legal settlement in 2004 filed on behalf of the state's foster kids who had been bounced around, separated... more

Big news out of Canada ... the Ontario Superior Court of Justice struck down the province's new adoption disclosure law that came into effect earlier in the week as a civil rights lawyer launched a constitutional challenge on the grounds that the new legislation 'infringed on privacy'. The law was reportedly challenged on behalf of three adult adoptees and a birth parent.

On his decision, the judge wrote: "A small minority of adoptees and birth parents that wish to protect their privacy ... have every right to do so."

One big issue appears to be the fact that the law was retroactive, according... more

From North Carolina, a heads-up on an easy way to help kids in the state ...

As part of the Wendy's Wonderful Kids program, the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption is selling "Trick or Treat Gift Books" at Wake County Wendy's restaurants to raise money to fund a staff position in the Children's Home Society that would be "focused on finding permanent families for an identified group of children... more

Improvements in the relationship between the American Indian tribes and South Dakota's Department of Social Services are changing the way the the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) is being implemented.

With the establishment of a "Collaborative Circle", tribal members are now more fully active in the processes of the state involving children with DSS supervisors and social workers, advising of kinship placements and other issues.

With all of the changes South Dakota has made, other states are far behind. Tribes everywhere have to deal with - other than their own state... more

Continued from the previous post.

Money isn't everything when is comes to the well-being of children, so let's look at an angle that has less to do with income and more to do with intent ... the percentage of children living in homes where there are less than ten books. That's right ... it's the total number of books in the home that we're looking at here.

The lowest percentage is in Czech Republic where less than 2% of the households have fewer than 10 books. Hungary, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Australia, Finland, all follow with incremental increases. The USA is third... more

Hot off the presses, UNICEF's Innocenti Research Center's Report Card 7 is available in its entirety in tidy PDF format at a computer near you.

Like the first six report cards, this one takes a close look at basic indicators of the welfare of children in developed countries that belong to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the "economically advanced" countries of the world.

"The true measure of a nation’s standing is how well it attends to its children – their health and safety, their material security,... more

A conference titled "International Adoption, after the Hague", and hosted by the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys will be held in Baltimore on the 11-12 October.

Speakers will include officials from the State Department and USCIS as well as the presidents of the National Council for Adoption and the Joint Council on International Children's Services.

For yet another look at a family trying to deal with the ... more

As announced by Deb in her blog today, the Missouri court that had been refusing to give the increasingly-slim Gary Stocklaufer another chance to make his case for parenting the son he and his wife have been raising since birth has has taken back its big fat NO and granted a new hearing.

Good. This seems the least the judge could do in a case where a family is at stake.

Parliamentarians in Australia... more