OTTAWA--(Marketwire - Mar 21, 2013) - The
Canadian government has
taken an important step in supporting adoptive families by expanding the
federal
adoption tax credit in the 2013 budget, says the
Adoption
Council of
Canada.
Until now, the tax credit has primarily been claimed by
families adopting internationally, who face steep up-front costs as they
build their families. These changes will now make it easier for
families adopting from the
foster care system within Canada to claim the
credit as well. Costs associated with the mandatory homestudy and
pre-service adoption preparation training would now be covered under the
proposed enhancement.
"The Adoption Council of Canada is extremely pleased that
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty responded to our suggestions and to the
letters, emails and petitions by adoptive families about their need for
more support," says Laura Eggertson, president of the Adoption Council
of Canada. "Given that this is a time of fiscal restraint, the Adoption
Council of Canada is pleased to see that the government has chosen to
prioritize support for Canadian adoptive families."
The budgetary report also points to how "strong and stable
families are critical to Canada's long-term prosperity. Families provide
children with permanency, connections, and support -- and yet an
estimated 30,000 children are currently in the care of child welfare
agencies across Canada, waiting to be adopted."
Sarah Pedersen, executive director of the Adoption Council of
Canada, adds that "the
ACC is thankful to see the needs of waiting
children and youth being recognized by our federal government. By
supporting prospective adoptive parents in the adoption journey, we will
hopefully find more
forever families for those in care."
The Adoption Council of Canada looks forward to working with
the federal government in the future to further develop policies that
support adoptive families across the country.
Quick facts:
- The Adoption Council of Canada (www.adoption.ca)
is a national, non-profit organization that provides information and
support to potential adoptive families, adoptees, birth families and
others in the adoption community. The ACC runs the country's only
national photolisting service to help match waiting children and youth
with potential adoptive families and promotes the placement of children
waiting in foster care.
- There are about 78,000 children and youth in foster care
across Canada and about 1/2 million children in international countries
who do not have a family.
- More children become available each year for adoption
than are adopted. Of the 30,000 children and youth in foster care who
are legally free for adoption, only about 2,000 are adopted every year.
- In 2012, for example, 8,000 Ontario children and youth
in foster care were legally free for adoption. Only 830 waiting children
and youth were adopted. Another 3,000 were placed in kinship care, with
legal guardians, or in customary care.
- In 2010, Canadians adopted 1,946 children from abroad.
- In the Canadian child welfare system, children often
wait five years or more to be adopted, move three or more times in
foster care, and may be separated from siblings. The average age of a
waiting child is eight years old.
- Each year, one in five youth (29,516 in 2008 in Canada) turns 18 and ages out of the foster care system without a family.
