As a nurse, a mom, and a grandmother, I’ve seen the miracle of childbirth many times and each experience was as joyous and special as the last. I’ve also encountered parents who could not fulfill their hopes of child-bearing on their own, and would turn to adoption to complete their family. And I’ve met with courageous birthmothers who did not yet feel equipped to raise children of their own, but who nonetheless carried their child to term and would entrust that precious life to a loving set of adoptive parents. Those experiences motivated me to take up the cause of adoptive families upon arriving in Congress, where I now serve as Co-Chairman of the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth. This November, as we celebrate, National Adoption Month, I wanted to share with you about a bipartisan effort on Capitol Hill to match more children with forever families.
The facts about adoption and foster care are sobering: Today, there are more than 415,000 children in the foster care system. But what’s even more tragic is the knowledge that there are families across this country today who have room in their hearts to adopt, but simply do not have room in their budget. In fact, almost half of all children adopted from foster care live in households with incomes at or below 200 percent of the poverty line.
We can’t change the high cost of adoption overnight, but we can ensure that our tax laws provides some help to offset that expense. The federal government offers an adoption tax credit (ATC), but it is not fully refundable. That means it offers no benefit whatsoever to a family making less than $35,000 a year.
That is where my legislation, the Adoption Tax Credit Refundability Act, comes in. This simple, one-page bill would make the ATC fully refundable so that every family, regardless of income, could access this vital tool. With this bill, we will make certain that the tax code works for families who are willing to open up their homes to adoption, not against them.
Just this week, my office held a briefing for lawmakers and their staffs so they could learn more about this legislation and, hopefully, cosponsor the bill to increase its likelihood of a vote on the House floor. We also brought in some inspiring adoptive families who shared how adoption has changed their world for the better, and how adoption could be made more financially realistic for other families like theirs if the ATC were fully refundable. I was proud to be joined at the briefing by Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL) in a strong showing of bipartisan support – because at the end of the day, this bill isn’t about politics, it’s about families.
You can learn more about the Adoption Tax Credit Refundability Act here. I’m excited about the momentum that we are building for this legislation and am hopeful that, with growing bipartisan support and help from inspiring families like these, we will carry it across the finish line.
