LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) Foster Care and Adoption in Texas
Examiner.com
by Tracy Kachtick-Anders
June 15, 2009

As a foster and adoptive parent since 1997, and director of Open Arms Campaign (www.OpenArmsCampaign.org), I am quite passionate about finding homes for the 500,000 children in foster care in the US. Over 100,000 of these kids are available for adoption and they could be part of your family.

California recently created an ad campaign to recruit families interested in adopting LGBT youth. Family Builders by Adoption (http://www.familybuilders.org/) is one of the few campaigns I have seen that includes transgender folks in its recruitment. According to the US Census 2000, Texas ranks 4th in the nation for number of adopted children being raised by gays and lesbians, with 3580 children. California ranked #1 with 16,458. How can we catch up?

While you may have thought that older children are “already formed” or damaged in some way, and that if you were going to adopt, you’d rather have a healthy, sweet infant, I can tell you from first hand experience that there are some great kids out there. They were placed in foster care due to circumstances beyond their control. Yes, it is true that some foster children have issues, but all children deserve a loving and safe home. And as a parent of children with special needs, I can tell you that the rewards outweigh the negatives. Many times children stay in foster care a long time because they are part of a sibling group or have some other special need. Texas has a website where you can view waiting children: http://www.dfps.state.tx.us/Adoption_and_Foster_Care/Child_Search/default.asp.

While the State of Texas does not currently have any restrictions on lesbian and gay individuals applying to foster or adopt, you may still face hurdles. Private agencies in our state most definitely have guidelines or procedures that allow for discrimination against LGBT families. Gladney Center for Adoption in Houston states on their website, “Gladney cannot in good faith accept single adoptive parents into our domestic programs with the expectation that they would be successful adopting through our agency.” Funny, my private agency in Seattle, WA said I was one of the best foster homes they ever had, and I am single.

In addition, you have so many variables to deal with in our state. You may find a homophobic judge or caseworker. I found it very difficult to find any employee at any institution willing to give me a straight answer, so to speak. Only a few years ago, State Representatives Warren Chisum and Robert Talton introduced a bill to ban gays and lesbians from foster parenting. I do not understand why Texas cannot write a simple discrimination policy such as those in states like Washington (http://www.familieslikeours.org/content/wa-state-ca-non-discrimination-policy) and why its employees cannot quote or enforce it.

If I were to recommend using a private agency, as opposed to getting licensed directly through the state, I would suggest DePelchin’s Children Center (http://www.depelchin.org/fw/main/Home-1.html). Their policy, as stated on their website, leaves the door open to all prospective families. Some people believe that by getting licensed through a private agency as opposed to going directly through the state, the process will be quicker and you will have access to more resources. I personally found it to mean that there were just more "cooks in the kitchen". All of the children come from the same place; it is just a matter of which home is found first.

In Texas, only legally married or individuals may adopt (http://law.onecle.com/texas/family/162.001.00.html). The actual statute for foster parenting is as follows: http://www.dfps.state.tx.us/handbooks/CPS/Files/CPS_pg_7120.jsp. For married couples, both parties must petition for adoption. That means only one parent in an LGBT couple may be the legal parent of any adopted child. What happens if Daddy #1 dies or is too ill to care for the child or has to leave for an extended time? How will Daddy #2 enroll that child in a new school or seek emergency medical attention? Talk about setting the system up for more problems! “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”, said Benjamin Franklin.

According to the Williams Institute (http://www.law.ucla.edu/williamsinstitute/publications/FinalAdoptionReport.pdf), 2 million LGBT community members are interested in adoption. States that seek to restrict adoptions by LGBT families stand to lose between $100,000 and $27 million. A national ban could cost the federal government as much as $130 million. LGBT families are an underused recruitment population that could ease much of the burden on the foster care system. The Human Rights Campaign has a list of the adoption rights in each state for LGBT individuals and couples on their website at http://www.hrc.org/issues/parenting/adoptions/8464.htm.

The US Census 2000 also shows that 27% of all same sex couples are raising at least one child under the age of 18. One in three lesbians has given birth and one in six gay men have either fathered or adopted a child. Gays and lesbians make good foster and adoptive parents because, as I see it, we work to prove the naysayers wrong.

I won’t lie to you; foster parenting should use the Peace Corp motto, “It’s the toughest job you’ll ever love.” The bureaucracy and red tape can frustrate the hell out of you, but if you keep your eye on the prize, becoming a good parent, it all pays off in the end.

To become a foster or adoptive parent is harder than becoming a birth parent for sure. HIV/AIDS training, criminal background checks, and numerous home visits are all required, as well as foster parent training for as many as 60 hours. Your home must also pass safety inspections with smoke detectors, fire extinguishers and little bottles of Ipecac on hand.

The process usually takes between 3 and 6 months. You can specify age, gender, and cultures you feel most comfortable with and you must remember that you can always say no to any placement they present you. It is easy to feel guilty or pressured when they call you with an emergency placement of a child, but it is better for everyone, especially the child, to have as few placements as possible. I once had two girls come to my home after a failed placement when the girls refused to eat the “soul food” their foster mother presented them, saying she had requested only African American girls and they were Native American. If you know that you are not up for 3 am feedings, even for a short time, then by all means, do not take a newborn. One of my children had 13 placements before being placed in my home for adoption. We risk creating children with attachment disorders by moving them so much and unnecessarily.

Approximately 25% of children who come into your home will become available for adoption because their birth parents’ rights are terminated and there is no other extended family available. 80% of these kids will receive adoption support, meaning the burden of raising a child with special needs (older children, children of color, sibling groups, and kids with medical needs) is lessened with the state’s agreement to cover medical, dental, and mental health services until they are 18, or 21 if still in high school. In some cases, there is also a monthly subsidy to cover additional expenses.

You will not get rich! I repeat; you will not get rich. People are crazy when they think that foster parents do it for the money, like a business. Some states do have professional foster parents, and I see nothing wrong with that either, but in most cases, people want to help children and they want to create family for themselves.

I never thought I would have children, though I dreamed about it since I was a little girl. I thought I’d have kids strapped on my back, traveling across the country in an old beat up car, and to some extent it has all come true. We traveled the country for 3 months in an RV and we do community service work trying to save the world. My kids don’t look like me, and most of the time, don’t think like me. It can be very challenging sometimes to raise children from damaged lives, to clean up other people’s messes, but I like to follow my own personal motto, “If not you, then who?”

To find out more, find your region on the state map and search for the corresponding phone contact. Be persistent, be tough, and be a great parent. Good luck building your family!