Adoption

Adoption is an incredible gift that changes the lives of both adopted children and their adoptive parents. We need to help caring, loving families cut through red tape to fulfill their dreams of adopting a child. I am constantly looking for ways to improve the adoption process in Tennessee while ensuring that the necessary precautions are taken for the best interests and safety of the children.

There are currently about 625 kids in state custody who are ready to be adopted. A child is much better off in a caring home than in the hands of a state agency. If you or someone you know wants to adopt a child out of state custody, please call 1-877-DCSKids (327-5437) or visit The DCS Adoption Website.

We can also do more to promote adoption as a possibility.  I sponsored Senate Joint Resolution 787, which designates November 20th as "National Adoption Day" in Tennessee. This designation will help raise awareness that more than 129,000 children in this country are in foster care, waiting to find permanent, loving homes.

In addition, people in the adoption field told me about neglectful parents who try to slow down adoption cases by saying they didn't know they had to care for their children. To fix that problem, I sponsored Senate Bill 3002, which will eliminate that excuse in court.

Once the adoption occurs, we need to support the new families.  Senate Bill 1702,  which I co-sponsored, requires the Department of Children's Services to provide post-adoption assistance in order to reduce the risk of a child being placed back in state custody.