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A Market Alternative to Child Adoption and Foster Care
By Erwin A. Blackstone and Simon Hakim
Introduction
Every year almost one million children in the United States are victims of neglect or abuse. At a given time, about 581,000 children are in foster care and more than 125,000 are available for adoption. About 17 percent remain at least five years in foster care, a status that is intended to be temporary (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2001).
The average age of children in foster care is 10 years. Many older children cannot even be placed in foster care; 8 percent are in group homes and 10 percent are in institutions. Unfortunately, a significant number of children who spend large periods of time in foster care, which usually involves many different foster homes, tend to become criminals. A study in Rochester, New York, found that 90 percent of youths who experienced at least five family transitions became delinquent (U.S. Department of Justice 1999). Minorities seem to be overrepresented in the foster care population. Black children, for example, comprise 39 percent of the foster care population and 42 percent of those awaiting adoption, while they represent only 12.3 percent of the population.
It is more difficult to find adoptive homes for older or minority children. The waiting time nationally to adopt a healthy infant ranges from one to seven years. It takes four to eighteen months to adopt a typical child from foster care where the average child is 10.3 years old. Adopting a foreign child takes from 6 to 18 months. A study of Michigan adoptions found that black children were adopted at onethird the rate of Caucasians (Barth 1997). Further, even once adopted, older children tend to return at a higher rate to state custody. Five percent of children between three and five years old are returned compared with 17.1 percent for those between 12 and 14 (Evan B. Donaldson 2000).
Some states have tried to improve the process of foster care and adoption by shifting more of the activities to private providers. The intent is to utilize the power of competition and incentives. In this article we review and evaluate the pioneering privatization efforts of Kansas and Michigan. We will then suggest possible market-based improvements to achieve appropriate and expedited placements. The objective is to maximize child welfare while recognizing budgetary limits.
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