He tells the story of a young girl who wanted to place her child for adoption but was totally discouraged by state social workers. Also, when I talk to young, pregnant girls who live in group homes, they consistently tell me they would never place their children for adoption. They know what the system is. If we got government out of the business of parenting, the system would improve and attitudes about adoption would begin to change. We see a lot of public service announcements about getting food stamps and other welfare benefits, but we don't see a message telling young, pregnant girls about adoptionthat bringing a baby to term and placing it for adoption can be a morally courageous choice.
Governors are the natural champions of foster children, who under law are wards of the state.
We are trying to convince every governor to get his or her state out of the business of parenting. Governors can also take the lead in helping to knock down barriers that prevent the voluntary sector from doing more. For example, we wanted to have a Thanksgiving dinner this year for foster children in shelters and group homes. A friend volunteered his beautiful home, which happens to be just over the state line in New Hampshire. We discovered we couldn't take the children into another state.