Improving the Adoption Tax Credit to Strengthen Families

Rep. Danny K. Davis & Rep. Diane Black

Celebrate National Adoption Awareness Month by Hosting a Congressional Briefing on

Improving the Adoption Tax Credit to Strengthen Families

Wednesday, November 4th, 2015 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The Adoption Tax Credit is a bipartisan credit that has helped children find permanent families since 1997. The Adoption Tax Credit helps families offset some of the costs of adoption, especially for children with special needs. Currently, the tax credit disadvantages low– and middle-income families, in particular families with annual incomes between $30,000 and $50,000. This is problematic given that approximately half of youth adopted from foster care live in families with incomes at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level; thus, the credit inadvertently creates barriers to permanency for a substantial number of families. Families who adopt from foster care save the federal government thousands of dollars by getting children out of costly foster care and into permanent adoptive families. For each child adopted from foster care, research shows that approximately $65,000-$127,000 is saved. Additionally, compared to youth who remain in foster care, adopted children experience much greater economic and social well-being.

This briefing will inform Congressional staff about the bipartisan history of the Adoption Tax Credit, adoption trends, and real-world experiences of families who have adopted domestically and internationally. Further, it will discuss Congressional efforts to improve the Adoption Tax Credit so that more families can benefit and more waiting children can be adopted.

Speakers will include:

* Nicole Dobbins, Executive Director

Voice for Adoption

* Joe Kroll, Retired Former Executive Director

the North American Council on Adoptable Children

* Anna Caudill,Adoptive Parent

Franklin, Tennessee

* Karen Owens, Adoptive Parent

Wyomissing, Pennsylvania