Adoptive parents deserve *more* credit, not less!

I’ve always felt bad for kids in foster care, waiting for a permanent family, waiting to belong, to feel safe and loved unconditionally.

I grew up in a loving, albeit imperfect, home. I really can’t imagine losing or not knowing my parents and having no option but to rely on the hearts of strangers to fulfill my needs and care about me.

This is why I have compassion for children in the foster care system and respect for the adults who care about them, love them, and in many cases jump through hoops to make them permanent members of their families.

And this is why it irks me when politicians and bureaucrats act as if foster and adopted children are just numbers and case files and not living, breathing young human beings with emotions and opinions and needs and personalities and special sparks and gifts.

Last April I wrote scathingly about a state senator here in Michigan who wanted to require foster kids to buy clothing only from second-hand clothing stores. He wanted to give them gift cards that could only be used at places like the Salvation Army and Goodwill. (After his proposal became public and the sh*t hit the fan, he modified it to include all major retailers.)

Now a rumor is circulating that the Internal Revenue Service, that bastion of fairness known for treating people with unparalleled compassion and dignity, has decided to review up to 90 percent of adoption tax credit filings. (See * below.) As if it weren’t challenging enough to navigate the formal adoption process and costly enough to raise a child, rumor has it the government wants to audit people who try to obtain tax credits to which they’re entitled once they’ve granted a youngster’s most fervent wish.

As I wrote back in April, making sure public money is spent wisely and programs aren’t abused is a good thing. Punishing and persecuting those who have done nothing wrong and are often drained and vulnerable is not.



* Since 2003, families who adopted a child with special needs from foster care could claim a federal adoption tax credit. The per-child tax credit is $13,170 for adoptions finalized in 2010, and the credit is now refundable for the first time. (“Refundable” means the tax credit’s not limited by the amount of someone’s tax liability. Typically a tax credit only reduces a person’s tax liability to zero. Refundable credits go beyond this and are in essence the same as payments, which is probably why bureaucrats are nervous.)



Sources: North American Council on Adoptable Children, Investopedia.