Annual Report 1999

We improve the quality of information about adoption. We enhance the understanding and perception of adoption. We advance adoption policy and practice.

the evan b. donaldson adoption institute

A^doption is without doubt a hot topic these days. News media, Hollywood, and politicians remind us of its promise and its problems. The issues surrounding adoption are varied, but they ultimately affect us all. Although families are being formed through adoption each day, thousands more children wait in foster care in the United States and in overseas orphanages.

The Adoption Institute was founded just four years ago as an independent, non-partisan organization with a very ambitious mission: to improve adoption. How have we done?

• Improving the quality if information about adoption

• Advancing adoption policy and practice

• Enhancing the understanding and perception of adoption

We are proud of these programs, and the many others that you will read about in these pages. Without doubt, the years to come will bring new challenges and new successes.

Heartfelt thanks to our expanding circle of friends, the individuals and institutions whose financial support have helped to underwrite our programs in the past year. For those of you new to the Institute, we welcome you, and encourage you to join us as we improve adoption for countless thousands of children and families in our communities and all over the world.

Curtis R Welling President

Madelyn Freundlich Executive Director

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b^oard

of trustees

s^taff

infant adoption in the United States

- What role does money play in the adoption of infants in this country?


- Who does adoption primarily serve- children or prospective adoptive parents?


- How do recent advances in reproductive technology impact adoption?

intercountry adoption

- Should intercountry adoption be promoted more fully as an option?


- How should issues of children's health and family history be addressed when children are adopted from orphanages?


- Do children adopted from other countries face special challenges?

adoption of children in foster care

- What attention should be placed on a child's racial and cultural identity?


- Should the first option for children be adoption by members of their extended families?


- What services should be available for adoptive families of children with special needs?

rights of adoptees, adoptive parents and birth parents

- Does an adoptee have the right to information about his or her birth?


- How carefully should prospective adoptive parents be evaluated before being allowed to adopt?


- Should birth parents have the right to change their minds about placing their children for adoption?

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with social, psychological, legal, and cultural dimensions.

Because it is so closely tied to concepts of family and identity, adoption has been and continues to be the subject of much emotionally-charged debate. This debate, extending across a wide scope of policy and practice issues, may be useful in defining some of the key issues, but it has not prompted a productive process to resolve many of the dilemmas that practitioners and policy makers face on a daily basis. The divisive debates range from adoptee access to birth records, to the emotionally-laden controversies on transracial adoption, to the increasingly intense disputes over the competing "rights" of members of the adoption triad. As a consequence, the environment surrounding adoption has become highly charged, and focused efforts to craft quality policy and practice, more difficult to achieve. With this in mind, the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute launched its flagship Ethics Initiative in 1998, and continued it in 1999, with the development and execution of a major national conference.

Held in Anaheim, California in November, the conference, entitled Ethics and Adoption: Challenges for Today and the Future, was an opportunity for those interested in adoption to learn about and discuss key ethical concerns as related to adoption. The four key ethical issues highlighted were: the impact of adoption on members of the triad; the role of race and culture in adoption; market forces in adoption; and the relationship between emerging reproductive technologies and adoption. Numerous adoption practitioners, researchers, policy makers, and child welfare advocates presented information based on current research and personal experience. The conference closed with the consideration of two key questions: "How do we use the knowledge base gained through the conference to shape adoption practice and policy?" and "How can we ensure that ethical considerations are raised and addressed as we develop quality adoption practice and policy for the future?"

The ongoing Ethics Initiative was the Adoption Institute's major program for 1999, encompassing the convening of an Ethics Advisory Board (comprised of leading experts on adoption, ethics, children's rights, reproductive technology, law, medicine and related disciplines) and the preparation of background papers examining current ethical issues in adoption.

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Launched in February 1998, the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute website is the highly acclaimed lynchpin of the organization's Information Management and Research Resources Department. Visited by over 2,000 individuals from the professional and lay communities per day, and 4,000 new visitors each month, the site has been accessed by interested persons in over 30 countries, and is continually growing. Included in the group of site enthusiasts are United States lawmakers, journalists, clinicians, and others wishing to stay abreast of current issues surrounding adoption policy, practice and research.

The website expands the life and enhances the value of many of the Institute's successful initiatives. The site provides up-to-date, accurate and easy to use fact sheets, adoption-related bibliographies, analysis of adoption issues, and public policy information provided by Voice for Adoption. In addition, the site provides links to other adoption-related databases and resources, and an interactive quiz with which interested persons may test their adoption knowledge. A "What's New" section highlights progress the Institute has made on its most recent initiatives. Information provided by the website is culled from a variety of sources, including medical, social science, adoption, legal, and child and social welfare journals. New content is added every month.

Visitors may peruse back copies of Adoption Access, the Institute's quarterly literature survey bulletin. Also available is information about other Institute publications, including those produced by the Adoption Institute through a collaboration with the Child Welfare League of America Press, including An Annotated Guide to Adoption Research, 1986-1987 and Wrongful Adoption. In addition, the Institute's timely, popular publication, Openness in Adoption and Post-Adoption Contact Agreements: A Review of the Empirical Research and Current State Law, is accessible via the web. Plans for the future include the implementation of discussion forums for professionals in the adoption field. These sessions will be another invaluable tool for the instant exchange of ideas and current research on adoption.

A one-of-a-kind searchable database of adoption literature makes the Adoption Institute's web page a valuable resource for scholars, policy makers, journalists, practitioners, and members of the triad who strive to improve the quality of adoption. The first such tool accessible via the Internet, the database contains over 1,500 abstracts of adoption research conducted and/or published from 1986. The research encompasses clinical and nonclinical studies, case reports, longitudinal studies, epidemiological studies, grounded theory, experimental, and single subject research. An agenda for the coming year has been set to expand the website's electronic library to include full-text articles. These works, solicited from from adoption practitioners will provide those logging onto the site full access to the information they are seeking. In addition, sections of the site will be designed specifically for the adoptive families, adopted individuals and birth families.

research resources

can further utilize the research cited in the database by visiting the Institute's Research Resource collection. With holdings of more than 4,000 books, journal, newsletters, theses, dissertations and articles on the subject of adoption, many of which are difficult to obtain through other sources, the collection has been vital to the work of scholars from around the world. Users of both the virtual and in-house collections can consult with qualified information specialists to addess their complex research resource needs.

its second volume of Adoption Access, its quarterly literature survey newsletter of published research and policy and practice literature relevant to the field of adoption. It provides an overview of and reference information on the most significant studies and articles on adoption published in the three months prior to publication. This bulletin is a valuable resource for professionals in the field, as well as others seeking to learn more about particular facets of adoption. Adoption Institute publications developed by the Information Management and Research Resources Department that continue to be among the Institute's most popular are: An Annotated Guide to Adoption Research, 1986-1997, a landmark tool that synthesizes a decade of research on adoption in one volume, and Openness in Adoption and Post-Adoption Contact Agreements: A Review of the Empirical Research and Current State Law. Forthcoming is a publication to be produced in collaboration with Child Welfare League of America focusing on prenatal substance exposure and adopted children, the first work to deal with the implications of prenatal substance exposure on adopted individuals.

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the Institute's 1997 Benchmark Survey on Adoption that the media is the primary source of adoption information for many individuals, the Adoption Institute recognized that in order for the public to have a grasp on the issues surrounding adopted individuals and their families, it must be presented with current, accurate, and thoroughly substantiated information on adoption. Since its inception, the Institute has observed that the media tends to present negative and extreme depictions of adoption, and has taken measures to ameliorate the situation with an innovative program.

The Adoption Institute's Journalist Education Project serves to address the problem of inaccurate reporting on adoption issues by providing current and aspiring journalists with the knowledge and resources to disseminate factual and unbiased information about adoption. At selected schools with established journalism programs, the Institute sponsors a three-hour symposium touching on several major areas: infant adoption, foster care placement, and international adoption. In addition, "hot topics" are introduced, such as the role of race and culture and the impact of market forces on adoption. Participants are then given an opportunity to ask questions, and leave with a resource guide providing current information and names of local contacts. The goal is to educate members of the media on these important topics, and thereby dispel myths and misconceptions of adoption.

This year, the Institute presented symposia at several schools with journalism/communications programs in New Jersey. Thanks to a generous grant from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, these forums served a large body of students and their professors, as well as a number of working journalists. The project is set to grow in 2000, with larger- scale events planned at additional educational institutions on the East Coast.

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Commissioned by the Adopion Institute
and conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates, the 1997 Benchmark Survey on Adoption is a study that canvassed over 1,550 individuals for their opinions on adoption. Among the key findings were that Americans strongly support adoption but have many reservations, such as whether adopting is "as good as" having a biological child and whether adoptive parents and their children can love each other as much as birth parents and their children. The Benchmark Survey generated articles in over 250 newspapers throughout 36 states, reaching more than 17 million people in just two months following its publication. Efforts to share the results of the survey through publications, presentations and the press are ongoing.

The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute played a special role in the September 1999 International Gathering of Korean Adoptees sponsored by Holt International Children's Services, the Institute, the Korea Society and also-known-as, inc., by developing its Survey of Adult Korean Adoptees, a pre-conference study of participants examining a wide range of issues relevant to the first generation of those individuals adopted from Korea. Results of the Survey were announced and facilitated transcultural discussions and workshops at the Gathering. The Adoption Institute's hope is that the Surveywill aid intercountry adoption practice and directly benefit the lives of those affected by international adoption as well as those children who will be adopted in the future. A similar survey of adults adopted from Vietnam will be conducted this year.

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To encourage
the exchange of information between adoption researchers, adoption practitioners, and other members of the adoption community, the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute funds selected scholars new to the field of adoption research to present at national adoption conferences. To be eligible, candidates must be enrolled in a Ph.D. program, or have received a Ph.D. or M.S.W. within the previous year from an accredited institution.

This year, the Adoption Institute was pleased to award two Adoption Scholars' Travel Grants. Recipients of this year's awards were Michael McGinn and Scott Ryan. Mr. McGinn is a doctoral candidate in the Child Psychology department at Pace University in New York City. His Adoption Scholars' Travel Grant facilitated his presentation of "Attachment & Separation Process in Adoptees," at the American Adoption Congress in Alexandria, Virginia. Mr. Ryan, a doctoral student of social work at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, applied his Travel Grant to present at the International Conference on Adoption Research in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His presentation focused on "Adoption Workers' Attitudes Towards Gay Men and Lesbians as Adoptive Parents and its Subsequent Effect Upon the (Social Workers') Placement Recommendation."

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p^ractice members

Annette Baran
Santa Monica, CA

Roger Bouwma
Bethany Christian Services
Grand Rapids, MI

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

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
Aurora, 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

Sylvia Franzmeier
DePelchin Children's Center
Houston, TX

Susan Frievalds
Minneapolis, MN

Cecilia Rivera Healy **
St. Joseph Services
for Children and Families
Brooklyn, NY

Barbara Holtan
Tressler Lutheran Services
York, PA

Ruby J. Houston
Concord, MA

Gail Johnson
Sierra Adoptions
Nevada City, CA

Sandra Kinney
Department of Social
and Health Services
Seattle, WA

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

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 & Education, Inc.
Silver Spring, MD

Sharon Kaplan Roszia
Kinship Center of California
Santa Ana, CA

Andrea Stawitcke
Bay Area Adoption Services
Mountain View, CA

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

Ellyn Wieselman
Adoption by Choice
Highland Park, IL

r^esearch

members

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

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

Dianne Bartels, R.N., M.A.
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN

Father Thomas Brosnan
Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church
Brooklyn, NY

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

Susan Soon-Keum Cox
Holt International
Children's Services
Eugene, OR

Diana Edwards, Ph.D.
Silver City, NM

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

Lynn C. Franklin* Lynn C. Franklin Associates, Ltd.
New York, NY

Rabbi Marc Gellman
Beth Torah Synagogue
Melville, NY

Renee Garfinkel, Ph.D.
Washington, DC

Bruce Green, J.D.
Fordham University School of Law
New York, NY

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

Jann Heffner, J.D.
The Dave Thomas Foundation
Dublin, OH

Michelle Hester, M.S.W.
The Barker Foundation
Cabin John, MD

Joan Hollinger, J.D.
The University of California at Berkeley School of Law
Berkeley, CA

Ruth Arlene Howe, J.D.
Boston College Law School
Newton Centre, MA

James Knapp
Native American
Community Services
Buffalo, NY

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

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

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

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

Glenn McGee, Ph.D.
University of Pennsylvania
Health System
Philadelphia, PA

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

Susan Notkin*
The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation
New York, NY

Ron Nydam, Ph.D., D.Min
Calvin Theological Seminary
Grand Rapids, MI

Robert Ortega, Ph.D
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI

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

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

Sharon Kaplan Roszia, M.S.
Kinship Center of California
Santa Ana, CA

Carol Schaefer
New York, NY

Bruce Stinebricker, Ph.D.
Depauw University
Greencastle, IN

+Committee Co-Chairperson * Liaison to the Adoption Institute's Board of Trustees ** in memo

evan b.

donaldson

adoption

institute

Heartfelt thanks
to the many individuals and institutions who, through their generous contributions, have shown great confidence in the Institute's programs and future. We encourage all who support our mission to join us as friends of the Institute. For more information on contributing, please contact Deborah Hays at (212) 269-5080, ext.13.

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