In some areas, African American children are placed in foster care at a rate 5 times higher than white children. Ignoring these real issues in our communities and not allowing our children to be placed in a home with a trusted, designated relative is not in the best interest of the child. Imagine a child being placed in foster care because their aunt or uncle cannot take care of them due to this kind of discrimination.
Connect through storytelling:
Create an emotional connection through stories that illustrate the harms, such as the denial of medical coverage under a non-legally recognized parent’s insurance, or denying children second-parent or joint adoption. Stories also help people recognize common challenges that many families face—gay and straight alike. For example:
- Brendan is 8 years old. He lives with his birth mother, Ashley, and her partner of 15 years, Nicole. Unfortunately, Brendan is ill and has required constant care over the past two years. While Nicole’s employer provides much better health insurance coverage than Ashley’s, Nicole can’t cover Brendan under her plan because she isn’t a legally recognized adoptive parent. Ashley and Nicole worry about how to get Brendan the heath care he needs—care he is denied because the law in their state bars Nicole from being his adoptive parent.
– Julian Bond