Senators Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) may be on different sides of the political aisle, but they agree on the importance of promoting adoption. The U.S. Senate unanimously passed their bipartisan resolution that makes each November National Adoption Month and November 23 National Adoption Day.
“Like so many, we share the belief that every child should have a safe home and a loving family,” the senators wrote. “With countless children in the world without a permanent home, including over 437,300 children in foster care across the country – 125,400 of those children waiting for adoption – we urge HHS and DOS to help these children find permanent homes through adoption from the foster care system, domestic private agencies, intercountry adoption and family guardianship.”
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As co-chairs of the Congressional Adoption Caucus, Blunt and Klobuchar have been leaders in the fight to give every child a permanent home. In May they introduced the Supporting Adoptive Families Act to support adoptive families and to help provide pre- and post-adoption support services, including mental health treatment, to help adoptive families stay strong. In February , they introduced legislation to improve the intercountry adoption process.
“There’s some good news,” Blunt said. “Now, for the fourth year in a row, the number of children who were adopted increased. And for the second year in a row, the number of children who entered foster families decreased.”
Blunt is no stranger to adoption personally. He and his wife adopted his youngest child, 15-year-old Charlie. He wants the State Department to boost measures for international adoptions.
“If someone in Ethiopia wants to adopt an Ethiopian child, someone in Guatemala wants to adopt a Guatemalan child or someone in Russia wants to adopt a Russian child, all fine,” he said. “But, if they don’t have adoptive families in the country they were born in, let’s open the door in a more effective way for American families who want to be a part of that.”
–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice
