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In Reply to: Why is TF adopting? Follow the money! posted by Alan on November 30, 2003 at 02:32:00:
It usually costs the adoptive parents $10,000-$25,000 to "buy" a child from developing countries. Some child welfare advocates object to international adoptions for this reason--it's a way for foreign child welfare programs to stay afloat.
The foster care system in the U.S. is related to but structurally different than adoptions. The publically-financed foster care system is broken. We have 1/2-million-plus kids in foster care in the U.S. right now, and state governments do not fund or supervise this system adequately.
However, to legally adopt a child in the U.S. (whether the child is domestic or foriegn), the couple MUST have a completed home study. Private adoption agencies exist to minimize the legal risk involved in permanent placements that go bad. In other words, there's money to be made in doing home studies that assure the courts that the adoptive parents are worthy and that the state's risk of a lawsuit is minimal.
Not-for-profit, faith-based agencies play a significant role in the adoption business via home studies, but are not so much involved in the foster-care business, which tends to be left to the public agencies. There's much higher risk and not as big a profit margin in foster care.
