The number of Iowa foster kids who are adopted is on the increase, and the director of an agency that helps place foster kids in adopted homes says a recent change in state law is the reason.Iowa Foster and Adoptive Parents Association director Lynhon Stout says the “Adoption and Safe Families Act” speeds up the process of terminating parental rights so children don’t languish in foster care.Under the new law, a parent’s rights are more quickly terminated if their child has been in court-ordered foster care for 15 of the last 22 months.Stout says one year in a small child’s life is a long period of time, as they’re growing, developing, and needing to develop a bond with a parent.Stout says living in an adoptive home gives a child a “forever family” while foster care is, by design, a temporary situation. From July 1st, 2001 to June 30th of this year, 781 Iowa foster children, most with “special needs” like a disability, were adopted. That’s a record for Iowa. Eighty percent of those adopted kids first lived with their “forever family” as a foster child.
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