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Florida
Adoption Ban/ Cost Estimate
By Naomi Goldberg and M. V. Lee Badgett
February 2009
This memo estimates the impact on children and the cost to
the State of Florida of the current prohibition on adoption
by gay, lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) individuals and same-sex
couples. We use data about the number of children adopted
each year as a way to estimate the number of GLB individuals
and same-sex couples who would be likely to serve as
adoptive parents if the ban were not in place. Prohibiting
GLB individuals and same-sex couples from adopting means
that 165 children must remain in foster care or must have
alternative adoptive homes recruited for them. As a result,
we estimate that the ban costs the State of Florida over
$2.5 million in per year. As explained below, this estimate
is conservative since some likely additional costs are
difficult to quantify. In addition, because of the current
prohibition on GLB individuals and same-sex couples adopting
children in Florida, it is possible that more GLB
individuals and same-sex couples would be interested in
adopting if the ban were lifted. We estimate that if the ban
were lifted, both adoption and foster care by GLB
individuals and same-sex couples would increase to the
average United States level, leading to 219 children being
adopted, and saving the State of Florida $3.4 million
dollars in the first year.
Florida
Adoption Ban/ Cost Estimate |
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Kentucky
Foster Care/Adoption Ban Cost Estimate
By Naomi Goldberg and M. V. Lee Badgett
This memo estimates the impact on children and the cost to
the State of Kentucky of Senate Bill 68, “The Child Welfare
Adoption Act,” which would prohibit unmarried cohabiting
couples—including both different-sex couples and same-sex
couples— from fostering or adopting children. We use past
data to estimate the number of children in foster care who
were placed with unmarried couples as a way to estimate the
number of impacted children in the first year the proposed
legislation would take effect. Prohibiting unmarried couples
from fostering or adopting would reduce the number of foster
and adoptive families available to care for the 7,027
children currently in foster care. We estimate that 630
foster children will be removed from their current homes and
placements during the first year that the ban is in effect.
In addition, 85 children in foster care will either not be
adopted or remain in foster care longer because the ban will
prohibit their adoption by unmarried couples. As a result,
the ban will cost the State of Kentucky over $5.3 million in
the first year. As explained below, this estimate is
conservative since some likely additional costs are
difficult to
Kentucky
Foster Care/Adoption Ban Cost Estimate |
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Adoption and Foster Care
by Gay and Lesbian Parents in the United States
By Gary J. Gates
and M.V. Lee Badgett of the Williams Institute and Kate
Chambers and Jennifer Macomber of the Urban Institute
March 2007
Discussion and debate about adoption and foster care by gay,
lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) parents occurs frequently among
child welfare policymakers, social service agencies, and
social workers. They all need better information about GLB
adoptive and foster parents and their children as they make
individual and policy-level decisions about placement of
children with GLB parents. This report provides new
information on GLB adoption and foster care from the U.S.
Census 2000, the National Survey of Family Growth (2002),
and the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting
System (2004).
Adoption and Foster Care
by Gay and Lesbian Parents in the United States (PDF) |
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