PEAR statement regarding Families for Orphans Act of 2009

PEAR opposes House bill 3070, otherwise known as the Families for Orphans Act, FOA or FFO. PEAR has numerous concerns about the Families for Orphan’s Act which we intend to publish on or about September 15, 2009. We encourage prospective and adoptive parents to exercise caution and restraint in supporting this bill until you have both read the bill and reviewed educational comments from a variety of sources. There are numerous changes to current US process and policy which you may not wish to support and which we at PEAR feel place members of the adoption triad at real risk for harm. Some of these changes include:

1. Overly broad definition of an “orphan”;
2. Overly strict definition and requirements for “permanent parental care”;
3. Disregard for cultures with views of family and parental care that differ from ours;
4. Drafting issues involving conflicts and inconsistencies within the bill that may cause confusion and misinterpretation.