INSIDE THE PAGES OF THIS REPORT you will read about progress and accomplishments at the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute during the 1997-1998 fiscal year. Since our founding in 1996, the Adoption Institute has pursued a strategic yet rapid track, quickly establishing itself as a nationally known resource on adoption. How can we measure such growth? Our staff present at conferences around the nation. Our analyses of policy, practice and public opinion are utilized by thousands of adoption professionals, policymakers and the media. Our staff was selected by the New York Times to host an internet forum on adoption while the Institute's own web site is visited by more than 1,500 people each day. These are no small achievements, particularly for an emerging organization with less than three years of history behind it.

While the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute is relatively new, the problems that we seek to address are not. Why are we in the business of improving adoption? Because, while it is a valuable means of connecting families to children who need them, it is also widely misunderstood and the quality of its practice is inconsistent. Indeed, most people think of adoption as a solution to foster care, to infertility, to unplanned pregnancy, to disasters that leave children homeless. Yet it is a less than perfect solution as it currently stands. The statistics can tell part of this story:

• MORE THAN 100,000 CHILDREN in foster care in the U.S. and countless more children around the globe are in need of adoptive families. The majority of these children are older and have special needs while the majority of families seeking to adopt desire healthy newborns.
  
  
• AN ESTIMATED 2.5 TO 5 MILLION ADULTS in the U.S. were adopted and their experiences as adoptees shape their identities and well-being on a daily basis, oftentimes including the struggle to know more about their backgrounds than policy and law currently allow.
  
  
• DESPITE ADVANCEMENTS IN ADOPTION PRACTICE, many birth parents continue to feel victimized and stigmatized by a system that imparts power to the adopting parents and professional gatekeepers.
  
  
• THE COST TO ADOPT A CHILD through a private agency in the U.S. or from another country have risen to an average of $10,000 - far beyond the means of most families.
  
  
• ONE-HALF OF THE AMERICAN PUBLIC believes that adoption is "better than being childless, but not as good as having one's own child."

These issues are among the many concerns that inspired the founding of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute less than three years ago. They continue to motivate our commitment and hard work today. As you read our annual report, I hope that your personal concern for the advancement of adoption - whatever it may be - will inspire your ongoing interest in and support of the Adoption Institute.

- Curtis R. Welling, Chairman

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DURING THE 1997-1998 YEAR, the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute continued on course with a number of core activities aimed at changing specific adoption policies and practices. During the spring of this year we launched our flagship project, the Ethics Initiative. Through this multi-year initiative, staff are working with a national, multi-disciplinary task force to research, analyze and debate, from an ethical standpoint, some of the most stubborn and most critical challenges that face adoption today. This dialogue will be extended to broader audiences through the dissemination of discussion papers, through the Institute's web site, and through a national conference in November 1999.

What does it mean to take an ethical perspective on adoption issues? In its simplest form, it is to question the rightness or the wrongness of an action and to translate our conclusions into decisions regarding specific policies and practices. As professionals, as researchers, as policymakers, as parents, we struggle with this every day. For example, what does "the best interest of the child" mean? When a conflict arises between birth and adoptive parents about custody of a child, is it in the child's best interest to return to the biological parents or to stay with the adults who may already be the psychological parents?

Unfortunately, there are numerous such controversies in adoption that years of heated debate have been unable to resolve. What is the role of openness given the secrecy that has pervaded adoption in the past? To what extent does money influence current adoption practice? Do the new reproductive technologies present ethical issues that parallel those in adoption? For whom is adoption principally designed-for children needing families or for adults who wish to parent? What is the role of race and culture in adoption and how can that role be reconciled with federal law mandates? How we answer such fundamental ethical questions directly impacts the manner in which adoption is practiced all over the world. To improve policy and practice, there must be some consensus on what is right and wrong in the broadest sense of those words. We may not always agree on how those principles apply in every circumstance, but we can, at the very least, recognize the values we should employ.

Reaching that plateau, we can move toward applying ethical principles to the complex issues that, at present, undermine adoption as a service to birth parents, adoptive parents, children, and the adult citizens they become. Our strategy rests on the understanding that without common ground among the stakeholders in adoption, there will never be true progress in the policies and practices that shape adoption. Ultimately we all pay the price for this discord, but no one more highly than the children who need loving families.

I'd like to thank all those who have worked collaboratively with us, and those who offered their financial support. Thanks to you, we look forward to a busy and productive future in which the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute will make the way adoption happens better for everyone.

- Madelyn Freundlich, Executive Director

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OCTOBER 1994
Spence-Chapin Services to Families and Children commissioned a study of adoption organizations, searching for new avenues to make an impact. The report, released in June 1995, highlighted the need for a nonpartisan and progressive voice in adoption, a source of information and analysis that would be rooted in reliable research and proven best practices.

AUGUST 1996
The leadership of Spence-Chapin founded an independent, non-profit, research and policy institute and provided a start-up investment fund of $3 million.

FEBRUARY 1997
The Institute was officially named in honor of Evan B. Donaldson, the beloved member of Spence-Chapin's Board of Directors from 1977 until her passing in 1994. Mrs. Donaldson was President of the board during the last nine years of her life and was a devoted advocate for children.

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MISSION:
Improve the quality of information about adoption.
Enhance the understanding and perception of adoption.
Advance adoption policy and practice.

The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute pursues this mission with a concern for all participants in adoption: birth parents, adoptive parents, adopted children and adults, and the multi-disciplinary professionals who serve them.

CORE STRATEGIES:

• Policy research and analysis
• Sponsorship of national conferences and symposia
• Professional education
• Media outreach and education
• Information and referral on adoption programs and services
• Resource collection, open to the public
• Research assistance and reference librarian services
• Bibliographies, research reports, fact sheets and other publications

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OCTOBER 1997
A national conference, Adoption and Prenatal Alcohol and Drug Exposure: The Research, Policy and Practice Challenges, was hosted in Arlington, Virginia. Partially sponsored by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, over 150 practitioners and researchers attended workshops and plenary discussions aimed at bringing together the latest research and practice-based knowledge. A follow-up publication is currently in press.

A bibliography of research on the short and long term effects of prenatal alcohol and drug exposure was compiled and added to the Adoption Institute's list of in-house publications.

NOVEMBER 1997
The results of the Benchmark Survey on Adoption were released. Commissioned by the Adoption Institute and conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates, the nationwide survey canvassed over 1,550 Americans for their opinions on adoption. Among the key findings were that Americans strongly support adoption but many have reservations, such as questioning whether adopting is "as good as" having a biological child and whether adoptive parents and their children can love one another as much as birth parents and their children. The media was shown to be a primary source of information for people who expressed reservations.

The first meeting of the Practice and Research Advisory Committee was convened. This group of 40 practitioners and scholars from around the country was formed to advise and guide the Institute on matters concerning research, practice and policy. The Committee provides vital information from the perspectives of leading researchers and the professionals who practice on the front lines of infant, international and special-needs adoption.

DECEMBER 1997
At the end of two months, the Benchmark Survey on Adoption generated articles in over 250 newspapers throughout 36 states, reaching a circulation of more than 17 million people. Efforts to share the results of the survey through publications, presentations and the press are ongoing.

FEBRUARY 1998
The Institute's highly acclaimed web site went online. Updated monthly and consistently receiving over 1,500 visits per day, the home page includes a searchable database of research, state laws regarding adoption, and all articles, testimony and other materials produced by the Institute. Public policy updates are posted through a partnership with Voice for Adoption.

MARCH 1998
An Annotated Guide to Adoption Research, 1986-1997 was published by the Child Welfare League of America Press and the Adoption Institute. Compiled by Institute staff, this landmark tool synthesizes a decade of qualitative and quantitative research on adoption in one volume. In her review in Adoption Quarterly, Dr.Renee Garfinkel from the Adoption Studies Institute wrote, "High praise to Deborah Martin and the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute for this much-needed tool! ...It will soon be on the shelves of adoption researchers and practitioners everywhere."

APRIL 1998
The Ethics Initiative was officially launched with the first meeting of the national Ethics Advisory Committee. This task force of 28 leading experts on adoption, ethics, children's rights, reproductive technology, law, medicine and related disciplines is charged with guiding the Institute's flagship endeavor. The Institute will research, analyze and promote dialogue in four areas where ethical issues profoundly affect the quality of adoption policy and practice:

1. Autonomy and Adoption;
2. Race and Culture in Adoption;
3. The Market Forces of Adoption; and
4. Adoption and Reproductive Technologies.

The first in a series of editorial breakfasts was held. Institute staff discussed openness in adoption at a gathering attended by representatives of Ladies Home Journal, Family Circle, Child, and Redbook. Such media outreach strategies are intended to encourage more informed and balanced reporting on adoption, thereby promoting better understanding among the general public, policymakers and others.

A panel discussion on adoption was conducted for over 70 future journalists at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. Madelyn Freundlich was joined by Susan Frievalds of the Joint Council for International Children's Services and U.S. delegate to the Hague Convention on Inter-country Adoption and Nicholas Scoppetta, Commissioner of New York City's Administration of Children's Services.

Executive Director Madelyn Freundlich joined the Adoption Options Task Force of the New York City Comptroller's Office. The Institute supports the research and legal analyses of the Task Force while also providing assistance on practice and legal questions. Throughout the year, the Adoption Institute offered non-partisan information on a range of policy points to congressional staff and state and local officials nationwide.

MAY 1998
Openness in Adoption and Post-Adoption Contact Agreements: A Review of the Empirical Research and Current State Law was issued and quickly became one of the Institute's most-requested in-house publications, second only to the Benchmark Survey.

JUNE 1998
By the end of the year, Institute staff responded to approximately 2,000 requests for information from researchers, legislators, students, adoptive parents, adoption professionals and others. Such requests are received by phone, fax, mail and e-mail, and are fulfilled at no cost to the user.

By year end, the Institute's Resource Collection grew to include over 200 books, 2,000 journal articles and 200 dissertations on adoption-related research and practice. Many of these are hard-to-find items. The Collection was greatly enhanced in 1998 through donations from two personal libraries, including seminal works on search and reunion and open records, an extensive collection of adoption newsletters that span a 20 year period, several historical studies of family and child development, and many books and journals of value to adoption professionals and therapists.

The first issue of Adoption Access, a quarterly subscription bulletin, was released. Adoption Access provides timely annotated updates on new adoption scholarship and practice literature.

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Research and analysis activities conducted by the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute are frequently published in journals, newsletters and books. Last year staff members contributed a number of works to the canon of professional literature on adoption.

• "Medicaid: A Key to Health Care for Foster Children and Adopted Children" by Abigail English and Madelyn Freundlich. Clearinghouse Review, Vol. 31, no. 3-4 (July/August 1997).
  
  
• "The Future of Adoption for Children in Foster Care: Demographics in a Changing Socio-political Environment" by Madelyn Freundlich. Journal of Children and Poverty, Vol 3, no. 2 (Summer/Fall 1997).
  
  
• "The Americans With Disabilities Act: What Adoption Agencies Need to Know" by Madelyn Freundlich. CWLA AdoptioNews, Vol 2, no. 2 (Fall 1997).
  
  
• Benchmark Adoption Survey: Report on the Findings by Princeton Survey Research Associates. New York: The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, 1997.
  
  
• Prenatal Substance Exposure-Select Bibliography by Deborah L. Martin. New York: The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, 1997.
  
  
• An Annotated Guide to Adoption Research: 1986-1997 by Deborah L. Martin. Washington, DC: Child Welfare League of America, April 1998.
  
  
• "Adoption Ambivalence" by Madelyn Freundlich. Children's Voice (Spring 1998).
  
  
• "American Attitudes About Adoption" by Madelyn Freundlich. The Bulletin of the Joint Council on International Children's Services (Spring 1998).
  
  
• "Confidentiality Becomes Political: The New Strategy in Opposition to Open Records" by Madelyn Freundlich. Decree, Vol. 15, no. 4 (Winter 1997/Spring 1998).
  
  
• "Clinical Mediation: Preventing and Resolving Adoption Disputes" by Madelyn Freundlich. Decree, Vol. 16, no. 2 (Summer/Fall 1998).
  
  
• "Supply and Demand: The Future of Infant Adoption" by Madelyn Freundlich. Adoption Quarterly (September 1998).
  
  
• "The Case Against Preadoption Genetic Testing" by Madelyn Freundlich. Child Welfare, Vol. 77, no. 6 (November/December 1998).
  
  
• Wrongful Adoption: Law, Policy and Practice by Madelyn Freundlich and Lisa Peterson. Washington, DC: Child Welfare League of America Press, 1998.

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Staff from the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute presented at conferences and meetings throughout the year, bringing quality research, analysis and experience on adoption policy and practice to a wide range of audiences, including child welfare professionals, doctors, lawyers, public officials, policymakers, members of the adoption triad, journalists and many others.

• "Protecting Parents, Children and Agencies by Avoiding Liability in Wrongful Adoption Cases"
  Association of Administrators of the Interstate Compact on Adoption and Medical Assistance Conference, Adoption Pathways and Partnerships
  Charleston, SC/September 23, 1997
  
  
• "Confidentiality Becomes Political: The New Strategy in Opposition to Open Records"
  American Adoption Congress,
  Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference
  Albany, NY/November 1, 1997
  
  
• "Disclosure of Identifying and Non-Identifying Information"
  Child Welfare League of America,
  Revision of Adoption Standards
  Phoenix, AR/January 8-9, 1998
  
  
• "The Policy and Legal Issues Related to Open Records"
  A Symposium of the Children's Home and Aid Society of Illinois, the Child Care Association of Illinois, and the Chicago Bar Association
  Chicago, IL/January 26, 1998
  
  
• "Medicaid, Managed Care and the Balanced Budget Act"
  Child Welfare League of America Conference
  Washington, DC/March 13, 1998
  
  
• "Research and Other Resources to Support Adoption Reform"
  American Adoption Congress, Annual Meeting
  Seattle, WA/April 2-5, 1998
  
  
• "The Future of Adoption of Children in Foster Care" and "Opposition to Open Records"
  New York State Citizens' Coalition for Children
  Albany, NY/May 8-9, 1998

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PRACTICE MEMBERS

Annette Baran
Santa Monica, CA

Anne Brodzinsky, Ph.D.
Family Mental Health Consultants
South Orange, NJ

Roger Bouwma
Bethany Christian Services
Grand Rapids, MI

Sandy Mastin Cook
The Children's Home Society of
North Carolina
Greensboro, NC

Joseph Crumbley, Ph.D.
Philadelphia, PA

Dixie Davis, Ed.D.
Adoption Exchange Association
Denver, CO

Ronny Diamond
Spence-Chapin Services to Families
and Children
New York, NY

Sydney Duncan
Homes for Black Children
Detroit, MI

Jeanne Etter, Ph.D.
Teamwork for Children
Eugene, OR

Vera I. Fahlberg, M.D.
Bremerton, WA

Sylvia Franzmeier
DePelchin Children's Center
Houston, TX

Susan Frievalds
Minneapolis, MN

Cecilia Rivera Healy
St. Joseph Services for Children
and Families
Brooklyn, NY
(Committee co-chair)

Barbara Holtan
Tressler Lutheran Services
York, PA

Ruby J. Houston
Massachusetts Adoption Resource
Exchange, Inc.
Boston, MA

Gail Johnson
Sierra Adoptions
Nevada City, CA

Katharine S. Legg
Spence-Chapin Services to Families
and Children
New York, NY
(Lisaison to the Adoption Institute's
Board of Trustees)

Rebecca Perbix Mallos
Attachment Center Northwest
Kirkland, WA

Janice Neilson
World Association for Children
and Parents
Seattle, WA

Zena Ogelsby, Jr.
Institute for Black Parenting
Inglewood, CA

Joyce Maguire Pavao, Ed.D.
Center for Family Connections
Cambridge, MA

David Pilgrim
Children's Home Society of Minnesota
St. Paul, MN

Debbie Riley
The Center for Adoption Support
and Education, Inc.
Silver Spring, MD

Sharon Kaplan Roszia
Kinship Center of California
Tustin, CA

Andrea Stawitcke
Bay Area Adoption Services
Mountain View, CA

Marilyn St. Germaine, MSW
Indigenous Nations Child and
Family Services
Oakland, CA

Ellyn Wieselman
Adoption by Choice
Highland Park, IL

Howard Altstein, Ph.D.
University of Maryland
Baltimore, MD

RESEARCH MEMBERS

David Brodzinksy, Ph.D.
Rutgers University
New Brunswick, NJ
(Liaison to the Adoption Institute's
Board of Trustees)

Remi Cadoret, Ph.D.
University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA

Mary Dozier, Ph.D.
University of Delaware
Newark, DE

Diana Edwards, Ph.D.
University of North Florida
Jacksonville, FL

Harold Grotevant, Ph.D.
University of Minnesota
St. Paul, MN

Victor Groza, LISW, Ph.D.
Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland, OH

Jeffrey Haugaard, Ph.D.
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY
(Committee co-chair)

Robert Hill, Ph.D.
Morgan State University
Baltimore, MD

Steven McLaughlin, Ph.D.
Batelle Memorial Institute
Arlington, VA

Ruth McRoy, Ph.D.
University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX

Marshall D. Schechter, M.D.
Wynnewood, PA

Rita Simon, Ph.D.
American University
Washington, DC

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Marcia Abramson, Ph.D.
Rutgers University
New Brunswick, NJ

Adrienne Asch, Ph.D.
Wellesley College
Wellesley, MA

L. Anne Babb, Ph.D.
The Family Tree, Inc.
Norman, OK

Dianne Bartels, RN, MA
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN

Father Thomas Brosnan
Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church
Brooklyn, NY

Remi Cadoret, M.D.
University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA

Diana Edwards, Ph.D.
University of North Florida
Jacksonville, FL

Jeanne Etter, Ph.D.
Teamwork for Children
Eugene, OR

Lynn C. Franklin
Lynn C. Franklin Associates, Ltd.
New York, NY
(Liaison to the Adoption Institute's
Board of Trustees)

Rabbi Marc Gellman
Beth Torah Synagogue
Melville, NY

Bruce Green, JD
Fordam University School of Law
New York, NY

The Honorable David E. Grossman
Hamilton County Juvenile Court
Cincinnati, OH

Michelle Hester, MSW
The Barker Foundation
Cabin John, MD

Joan Hollinger, JD
The University of California at Berkeley
School of Law
Berkeley, CA

Ruth Arlene Howe, JD
Boston College Law School
Newton Center, MA

Jerri Ann Jenista, M.D.
Ann Arbor, MI

Katharine S. Legg
Spence-Chapin Services to Families
and Children
New York, NY
(Liaison to the Adoption Institute's
Board of Trustees)

Betty Levin, Ph.D.
Brooklyn College
Brooklyn, NY

Betty Jean Lifton, Ph.D.
New York, NY

Ruth McRoy, Ph.D.
University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX

Joyce Maguire Pavao, Ed.D.
Center for Family Connections
Cambridge, MA

Margaret Rhodes, Ph.D.
University of Massachusetts
Boston, MA

Sharon Kaplan Roszia, MSW
Kinship Center of California
Tustin, CA

Bruce Stinebrickner, Ph.D.
DePauw University
Greencastle, IN

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PATRONS - $10,000 AND HIGHER
Mr. & Mrs. Richard I. Beattie
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Ms. Kathylynn O'Donnell
Mr. Curtis R. Welling

SPONSORS - $5,000 to $9,999
Mr. William H. Donaldson
(In memory of Van Vechten Burger)
Mr. & Mrs. Neal Garonzik
Mr. D. Scott Wise

STEWARDS - $1,000 to $4,999
Mr. Richard H. Jenrette
(In memory of Van Vechten Burger)
Ms. Sandra D. Kresch

SUSTAINING FRIENDS - $500 to $999
Drs. David & Anne Brodzinsky
Ms. Carol Kellermann
Ms. Katharine S. Legg
Ms. Lois Melina

FRIENDS - $250 to $499
Ms. Lynn C. Franklin

ASSOCIATES - $50 to $249
Anonymous
Ms. Sarah Jane Brezavar
Rev. Dr. & Mrs. Robert B. Cook, Jr.
Ms. Ronny Diamond
Ms. Susan B. Edelstein
Mrs. Sylvia Franzmeier
Mr. Jack D. Gunther
(In memory of Van Vechten Burger)
Mrs. Cecilia Rivera Healy
Mr. Robert Horowitz
Mrs. Judi Kramer
(In honor of Dr. Marshall D. Schechter)
Mr. & Mrs. Barrant V. Merrill
(In memory of Van Vechten Burger)
Ms. Susan Notkin
The Norton and Jackie Rose Philanthropic Fund

IN-KIND GIFTS
Ms. Joyce Eppler
Ms. Florence Fisher
Mr. Frederick Freundlich
Ms. Martha H. Kunkis

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ASSETS
Cash
Accounts receivable
Prepaid expenses
Investment in mutual fund, at
market value
Property and equipment, at cost,
net of accumulated depreciation
and amortization
Security deposit
Total assets

LIABILITIES AND NET ASSETS
Liabilities
- Accounts payable and accrued
expenses
Net assets
- Unrestricted
Total liabilities and net assets

$15,086
13,429
14,969

2,691,871


52,671
19,316
$2,807,342

$47,947

2,759,395
$2,807,342

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PUBLIC SUPPORT AND REVENUE
Institutional grants, including
foundations
Individual contributions
Special events
Investment income
Total public support and revenue

EXPENSES
Program services
Management and general
Fund raising
Total expenses

(Deficiency) of revenue to
cover expenses before other
additions

OTHER ADDITION
Realized gain on sale of investments
Unrealized gain on investments

(Decrease) in unrestricted net assets

Unrestricted net assets, beginning of
year
Unrestricted net assets, end of year

$49,600
53,500
20,030
211,564
$334,694

$489,807
152,701
34,978
$677,486



($342,792)

$33,652
27,611

($281,529)

$3,040,924
$2,759,395

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BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Diana Beattie
Diana Beattie Events, Inc.
New York, NY

Sarah Brezavar
Brezavar & Brezavar, Architects
New York, NY

David Brodzinsky, Ph.D.
Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ and
Family Mental Health Consultants, South Orange, NJ

Alvin C. Collins
Maryland Department of Human Resources
Baltimore, MD

Lynn C. Franklin, Secretary
Lynn C. Franklin Associates, Ltd., International Literary Agency
New York, NY

Carlie Garonzik
Community Volunteer
New York, NY

Peter A. Gross
Consultant and Attorney
Montclair, NJ

Robert Horowitz
American Bar Association, Center on Children and the Law
Washington, DC

Carol Kellermann
Public Affairs Consultant
New York, NY

Sandra D. Kresch
Price Waterhouse, LLP
New York, NY

The Honorable Mary L. Landrieu
United States Senate
Washington, DC

Katharine S. Legg, Vice President
Spence-Chapin Services to Families and Children
New York, NY

Lois Melina
Author
Moscow, ID

Susan Notkin
The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation
New York, NY

Kathylynn O'Donnell, Treasurer
Investment Consultant
New York, NY

Tony Oliver
Roots, Inc.
Atlanta, GA

James W. Stevens
Former Chairman, Prudential Asset Management Group
Newark, NJ

The Honorable William A. Thorne, Jr.
Third Judicial District Court
Salt Lake City, UT

Curtis R. Welling, President
Societe Generale Securities Corporation
New York, NY

D. Scott Wise
Davis Polk & Wardwell
New York, NY

STAFF

Madelyn Freundlich
Executive Director

Shella Brenner
Director of Development

Adam G. Cotton
Information Specialist

Kaerensa Craft
Social Work Policy Intern

Lisa Grant
Executive Assistant

Aline Kahn
Policy and Practice Analyst

Deborah L. Martin
Director of Information Management and Research Resources

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