The state senate says race should not be a factor in deciding what is the best interest of a child up for adoption. A proposed law that the sponsor hopes will “grease the wheels” of adoptions is halfway through the legislature. .
Senator John Lamping is an adoptive parent who says it has taken less time for him and his wife to adopt children in foreign countries than it takes to adopt one here. He says some courts exercise a certain amount of latitude in considering the race of a child, the child’s biological parents, or the prospective adoptive parents.
The senate has passed his bill saying race will not be a consideration.
One senator says his bill is a feel-good bill but it doesn’t solve the issue of 11-12,000 children in foster care. Lamping says he agrees with that assessment. But he says he’ll be satisfied if the bill gets one child adopted one day earlier than the child otherwise would be adopted,
Lamping says it’s going to take both sides to make his plan work–more parents willing to adopt children of different races and a court system that approves adoptions faster.
The bill is SB711.