OPENNESS THE KEY TO INCREASING DOMESTIC ADOPTION: ONTARIO GOVERNMENT(June 6, 2005) Openness in adoption arrangements is the key to finding more permanent families for Ontario's Crown wards. That is the thrust of legislation introduced today by the Minister of Children and Youth Services, Dr. Marie Bountrogianni. If passed, the legislation would make thousands of Ontario children eligible for adoption, taking them out of foster care and into permanent families. "Children move between foster homes and group homes an average of every two years," said Dr. Bountrogianni. "This kind of instability can affect a child's education, self-esteem and their ability to form meaningful relationships as they grow up. We want to help our children grow up in permanent, nurturing families." There are about 9,000 Crown wards in the care of Ontario's 52 children's aid societies (up from 7,935 in early 2003). A Crown ward whose birth parents have a court-ordered right to visit or contact cannot be adopted unless they give up that right. Currently three-quarters of Crown wards are ineligible for adoption because their parents still have access to them. Yet almost 60% of parents never take advantage of their rights, and don't contact their children. (The children are moved from foster home to foster home.) As a result, only 10% of Crown wards are adopted each year—about 900. (This compares with about 700 international adoptions each year to Ontario, according to Citizenship and Immigration Canada.) Under Bill 210, which would amend the Child and Family Services Act, Crown wards could retain contact with their birth parents after being adopted. They would no longer have to cut off all contact to be eligible for adoption. The Ontario legislation's stress on openness reflects the strong trend today toward open relationships in adoption: birth and adoptive families know each other's names and addresses, and have ongoing contact through letters, phone calls or visits. Open adoptions have been the norm in private domestic adoptions for many years. A similar rule in the public sphere should boost the number of public domestic adoptions. WHAT BILL 210 SAYSOntario's Bill 210, officially called the Child and Family Services Statute Law Amendment Act, would allow a children's aid society to go to court to get an openness order for Crown wards who are to be adopted. Bill 210 provides that:
If the changes go through, a child could keep important ties to her birth family, siblings or grandparents, and still be adopted. Bill 210 will also amend the Vital Statistics Act so that if an adoptive parent reregisters an adopted child's birth, the birth registration will no longer read as if the adopted child had been born to the adoptive parent. OTHER CHANGESAdditional improvements will help to remove barriers preventing thousands of Ontario children from being adopted:
The Adoption Council of Ontario (ACO) said it is pleased with the changes proposed to the adoption system. "This is a very good day for adoption," said Pat Fenton, ACO Executive Director, "but it is essential that the government move quickly to implement these changes. Every child deserves a forever family and every day that we wait to make these changes, thousands of children in Ontario have to wait longer for their family". "The removal of access orders as a barrier to adoption placement is a key intent of the proposals," she added, "and it is a great step, as it gives the opportunity for openness arrangements to be considered where appropriate. For me, a key element is flexibility and different options for permanence, with adoption being one of several options (others being guardianship, kinship care, customary care, etc.). It also makes the system friendlier to applicants, more responsive and effective." The Ontario adoption community, led by ACO, has long called for a legal change so that Crown wards with access can nonetheless be adopted. ACO's position is that "it makes no sense emotionally and economically to keep children as Crown wards who could be adopted by loving families." Keeping a child in foster care for one year costs about $40,000; children suffer from having to move from one foster home to another about once every two years. Providing a permanent family through adoption would be a cost-saving measure in both fiscal and human terms. FOR MORE INFORMATIONMinistry news release: (June 6, 2005) McGuinty Government To Make Adoption Possible For More Children, http://www.children.gov.on.ca/CS/en/newsRoom/newsReleases/050606.htm ACO news release: (June 7, 2005) ACO Urges the Ontario Government to Implement its Proposed Changes to the Adoption System Without Delay, http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/June2005/07/c8881.html ACC news item: (April 7, 2004) Ontario to Change Domestic Adoption Law, http://www.adoption.ca/news/040407onlaw.htm Bill 210: Child and Family Services Statute Law Amendment Act, 2005, http://www.ontla.on.ca/documents/Bills/38_Parliament/Session1/b210_e.htm |
ABOUT ACCBased in Ottawa, the Adoption Council of Canada is a federally chartered, charitable organization which aims to inform and educate Canadians about all aspects of adoption, and encourage the adoption of children needing permanent homes. Interested in domestic adoption? Consult Canada's only national photolisting web site, "Canada's Waiting Kids", http://www.canadaswaitingkids.ca, run by the Adoption Council of Canada. It shows photos and profiles of children in the care of Canadian child welfare agencies and waiting for permanent adoptive families. For definitions of adoption terms, go to http://www.adoption.ca and click "Glossary". Source: Adoption Council of Canada, www.adoption.ca Copyright 2006 Adoption Council of Canada. Reproduction permitted, if credited "Source: Adoption Council of Canada, www.adoption.ca". Please make a request to reprint, so we can track where ACC news items are used. Send your request to acc@adoption.ca. |
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