NJCARE on National Council for Adoption (NCFA)

NJCARE on National Council for Adoption (NCFA)

Background:
NCFA…
has opposed adult adoptee access-to-birth-certificate legislation since its founding in 1980.
unsuccessfully funded litigation against access-to-records laws in Tennessee and Oregon when State Supreme Courts in Tennessee and Oregon upheld the access laws.
unsuccessfully lobbied the New Hampshire legislature to bury an access bill, SB 335 (similar to NJ S1093), which was passed into law on May 11, 2004.
successfully lobbied against access legislation in Georgia and Nevada.
provides anecdotal “documentation” and unsubstantiated “evidence” from NCFA’s own Adoption “Factbook” to influence legislators.
NCFA has never produced documentation to substantiate their claim that confidentiality was promised to birth parents.
represents two of the 64 agencies licensed to do adoptions in New Jersey.
History:
NCFA…
is a Washington, DC-based trade association supported by the Edna Gladney Home (a Texas adoption agency with 11 state branches), 56 LDS (Mormon) agencies, and 32 other private agencies/branches.
was established and has been funded by the Edna Gladney Home since NCFA’s incorporation in 1980.
primary goals were:
to stop the ratification of the Model State Adoption Act (MSAA) - Federal Register, Feb. 15, 1980.
to establish state-level mutual consent voluntary registries run by state chapters of NCFA.
convinced legislators in 21 states to establish mutual consent voluntary registries instead of supporting the MSAA. Such registries have a median success rate of 2%.
has collaborated with NJ Catholic Conference and NJ Right to Life lobbyists in opposing access legislation at previous NJ hearings. All alluded to breach of “promises of confidentiality” and predicted an increase in abortions and decrease in adoptions if access legislation became law. The facts prove otherwise.
and other opponents have implied that legislators supporting access will lose votes.
has implied that implementing the legislation will be very costly. Note: S1093 appropriates $90,000 for implementation. Those requesting documents will pay other incidental costs.
NJCARE Notes:
Each member agency pays NCFA a substantial membership fee and additional money for every child the agency places. Adoption is a lucrative business - for some.
New Jersey Assemblyman Al Burstein chaired the HEW panel that drafted the proposed Model State Adoption Act. Gladney and NCFA opposed the Act because of its fundamental premise that, “parent and child are considered co-owners of the information concerning the event of birth”.
NJCARE respectfully requests that the Committee require NCFA et al to document their claims.There are over 1,400 adoption agencies in the nation and 64 in NJ. (As per National Adoption Information Clearinghouse). NCFA represents only 3% of agencies licensed to do adoptions in New Jersey.

NJ Coalition for Adoption Reform and Education (NJCARE) http://www.nj-care.org
Contact: Judy Foster, birth parent, 973-455-1268, jfoster7@optonline.net; Pam Hasegawa, adoptee, 973-292-2440, pamgawa@optonline.net; or
Jane Nast, adoptive parent, 973-267-8698, janenast@compuserve.comSeptember 2004