5 facts about adoption

For over two decades, National Adoption Month has been promoted and celebrated every November in the United States. The observance is intended to increase national awareness of the need for permanent families for children and youth in the U.S. foster care system.

Here are five facts you should know about adoption in America:

1. Adoption is the social, emotional, and legal process in which children who will not be raised by their birth parents become full and permanent legal members of another family while maintaining connections, such as genetic or psychological, to their birth family. While adoption has existed throughout human history (e.g., the adoption of Moses by Pharaoh’s daughter in Exodus 2:10), it has not always involved a legal process. In fact, adoption as a legal process within the United States only began in the 1850s. In 1851, Massachusetts passed the Adoption of Children Act, the first law that recognized adoption as being based on child welfare rather than adult interests.

This Week at the ERLC

• Russell Moore was a part of an event hosted by The Dispatch where he discussed the future of evangelicalism. He was also a part of a Women of Welcome event in which he talked about how the church can care for refugees.

What You Need to Read

• Chelsea Patterson Sobolik with A roundup of child welfare policies the ERLC is working on

November is National Adoption Month. An important aspect of child welfare is the policies that govern how we care for the nation’s and world’s most vulnerable. Child welfare is one of the ERLC’s top priorities, and we regularly work with like-minded partners, Capitol Hill, and the administration to ensure that every child has a safe, permanent, and loving family.

• ERLC Staff with Priorities for the Sexual Abuse Advisory Group: The ERLC and SAAG continue to fight against sexual abuse

The ERLC, in partnership with the SAAG, will continue to pursue the aforementioned priorities in the coming year to serve Southern Baptists. Many of these items are long-term initiatives we have engaged and will continue to engage for several. There will be continued efforts. This is not the end of our work on this subject, but only the beginning. We will continue to advance this important work, supported by Southern Baptists because we must do everything we can to protect the vulnerable and care for the survivors among us.

• Jared Cornutt with 3 ways my congregation has encouraged me during the pandemic

2020 has been a challenging year for almost every person in the world. Like many pastors during the pandemic, I was looking for ways to encourage my congregation during this season. I felt it was my responsibility to be encouraging to them in as many ways as possible. Something very unique happened in this process, however. As I encouraged our congregation, time and time again, I walked away as the one being encouraged.

News From Capitol Hill

With November being National Adoption Month, Chelsea Patterson Sobolik highlighted the child welfare policies on which the ERLC is engaged.

Here is the roundup:

• The Adoptee Citizenship Act closes a loophole in the federal government’s international adoption laws to provide immediate citizenship to children already adopted by U.S. citizens yet left without citizenship. For more, see our explainer.
   
• The recently argued Supreme Court case Fulton v. Philadelphia is critical for the future of thousands of faith-affirming foster and adoption agencies across the country. When the court decides this case, it is ERLC’s hope that it not only protects religious liberty but also protects the ability of faith-based groups to continue serving the children in Philadelphia who need safe and loving homes. For more, see our explainer of last week’s oral argument.
   
• The Child Welfare Provider Inclusion Act would prohibit government discrimination against child welfare agencies on the basis of their beliefs, and ultimately protect children in the foster system and children waiting for adoption by ensuring that a wide range of child welfare providers are available to serve them. For more, see our explainer.
   
• In 2019, only 2,971 children were welcomed into families through intercountry adoption. The reasons for this decline vary. Many countries and cultures are becoming more open to domestic foster care and adoption. That is certainly good news, and ought to be encouraged. However, there are still millions of orphans worldwide who need a safe home and a loving family. This is why ensuring intercountry adoption remains a viable option is a key goal of the ERLC’s policy engagement. The ERLC is working with like-minded partners and the U.S. Department of State to ensure that intercountry adoption remains a viable option for families and vulnerable children around the world. For more, see Chelsea’s recent article at TGC.

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