Ontario adoption law changes proposed

Apreil 13, 2011 / CBC News

Ontario’s Liberal government has introduced a bill aimed at making it easier to adopt a child.

On Wednesday the Liberals announced proposed changes that if accepted, will make thousands more children eligible for adoption, including about 9,000 children that are wards of the Crown in the care of Children's Aid Societies (CAS).

About 70 per cent of kids in CAS care currently have no chance of being adopted because they are the subject of court battles.

Children's Services Minister Laurel Broten wants the law changed and is promising to make it simpler for would-be parents to get through the adoption system.

The new law would:

• Create more ways of matching families to children.
• Reduce waiting times for the home assessments needed for approvals.
• Reform the patchwork of subsidies that CAS offer adoptive families.

Broten said she aims to get the bill passed before the legislature dissolves for the election.