New Bill Introduces Federal Oversight Over Private Adoption Agencies

By Conner Sura

Are you a Colorado birth mother considering adoption and wondering how the new proposed adoption law, In Good Standing Adoption Agencies Act of 2023 will impact you? Adoption Choices of Colorado is here to help clear any confusion or worries that this new Bill might bring. Adoption in Colorado has changed a lot over the past few years. In early 2022, the Bill known as the Family Affirmation Act passed the House. On May 23, Governor Jared Polis signed the Bill into law. The Bill was created to streamline the adoption process for families who had their child conceived through assisted reproduction.

What is the In Good Standing Bill? Republican Representative Doug Lamborn, along with Democrat Representative Annie Kuster, introduced the Bill on September 18, 2023. The Bill requires the federal government to provide a safe and comprehensive list of all private adoption agencies in the United States.

When a birth mother is considering adoption, she contacts Adoption Choices of Colorado. After she contacts us, we will assign her an adoption specialist who will help her create an adoption plan. Furthermore, all of this is free of charge. Our specialists are available every hour of every day to answer any questions you may have.

How Do Adoption Centers Operate?

Before we can discuss some of the challenges that adoption centers face and how the Bill will affect them. We first must talk about how they are run. There are two types of adoption agencies: public and private.

What Are Public Adoption Centers?

Public adoption in Colorado is adoption-funded and paid for by the government. Birth mothers place their children into foster care. There are many ways to place your child into foster care. The state facilitates the child into a foster family and assigns an agency and case manager to look over the child’s case. The agency, along with the case manager, will host meetings with prospective adoptive parents to see if they are the right fit for the child.

Private Adoption: What Are They?

A private adoption is when you research a private Colorado adoption center like Adoption Choices of Colorado. Private adoption centers like ours

The Challenges that Private and Government Adoption Agencies face in Colorado

Adoption Choices of Colorado is dedicated to helping and supporting birth mothers throughout their adoption process. Yet, complications can happen. Every private adoption agency is required to follow their state laws. Some private adoption agencies like to bend the rules. The state government does not like it. Private adoption centers that do not follow their state laws can lose their license to conduct adoption in their state.

Unfortunately, it’s adoption centers like these that give a bad impression of private adoption centers. Adoption Choices of Colorado is transparent with all of their birth mothers and families looking to adopt. Some of the stigma can perpetrate a fear of private adoptions and can lead to a lot of confusion.

Although taxes pay for government-founded adoptions, government-run adoption centers do not have a lot of resources to pay for staff. As a result, case managers may have dozens of adoption cases. Halting the adoption process. They may also not be able to respond to questions or answers that you might have because their case managers are so busy.

Additionally, Government adoption centers have a long chain of command and bureaucracy that slow down your adoption process even more.

How Would The In Good Standing Adoption Agencies Act Affect Colorado Adoption Centers? 

You now know how adoption centers are run and some of the challenges that public and private adoption centers endure. How would the In Good Standing Adoption Act affect adoption agencies in Colorado? First, let’s begin with how it would affect private adoption centers. Above, we mentioned that some private adoption agencies will bend the law. This can make things confusing for both birth mothers and families looking to adopt.

However, with the Good Standing Adoption Act, the Bill would require states to correspond with the Department of Health and Human Services to find what private adoption agencies in their area have a record of breaking the law. NHS plans to publish an extensive vetted list of trustworthy adoption agencies on its website. The list aims to provide birth mothers with access to credible and valuable information on adoption agencies in their state and area. Hopefully, this will make the adoption process traitorous with bad faith agencies.

What about public adoptions? The state still controls which agency and case manager they have. The In Good Standing Act would not allocate any more money to bettering the public adoption sphere. A lot of the issues with public adoptions would remain.

What Impact Would In Good Standing Adoption Agencies Act Have On Birth Mothers?

Every story is unique, and so is every birth mother. It is almost impossible to know everything that could impact a birth mother’s adoption journey. However, there are some things we can probably guess.

First is less bad faith and unethical adoption centers that only care for profit. Another way that the Bill might help birth mothers is by providing a comprehensive list of all adoption agencies in their area. So that she can find what works for her for families looking to adopt, the Bill could relieve concerns about unethical practices or failures.

There are still some concerns. A lot of issues that plague the public sphere are the results of things getting lost or delayed in a bureaucracy. Keeping an up-to-date list that provides birth mothers with reliable and accurate information may be constantly delayed. This could harm agencies in the area, birth mothers, and families looking to adopt. On top of all that, bills can take months to years to get through the House and then into the Senate.

Choosing Colorado Adoption

Adoption can be scary if you are a birth mother considering adoption for your baby and are curious how this Bill will impact you. Adoption Choices of Colorado is here to support you through every step, may it be an unplanned pregnancy, financial issues, mental health, or something else. We support birth mothers from all backgrounds and are fully transparent with all our clients. If you are a birth mother in need of a Colorado adoption, please text, call, or email us for support.