The Black Informant | African American Commentary, News and Community Building

If you work for the following companies, you could be eligible to receive adoption assistance.

• Citizens Financial Group (#1 in rank!)

• CMP Technology

• Timberland

• JPMorgan Chase

• Avon

• American Century Investments

• Fannie Mae

• The McGraw Hill Companies

• South Mountain Company

• Google

• Abbott Laboratories

Here is the rest of the press release–

(BPRW) American companies offering up adoption assistance

Americans tend to feel very strongly about child adoption one way or another. While most African Americans agree that adopting a child lovingly into one’s home is an altruistic act and laud worthy, many cannot afford the fees associated with this process. Adopting a child can cost anywhere from $10,000 to $30,000 and involve extensive time, travel and paperwork. Furthermore, many adoptive parents fear significant, unforeseen health conditions down the line when faced with ambiguous genetic histories.

Still, many American professionals are seeking to adopt children later in life after working through their 20’s and 30’s to excel professionally. Infertility and various health conditions can also lead people to adoption as the ideal option for starting a family.

American companies seeking to keep their best employees on board are now beginning to offer adoption assistance and maternity/paternity leave to adoptive parents bringing home new children. They also offer up thousands of dollars in adoption support; anywhere from $5000 – $10,000!

In 2007, the Dave Thomas Foundation announced the best adoption friendly workplaces in the country honoring the companies who surpassed employee expectations in supporting adoptions. The late Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy’s restaurants, was an adoptive parent himself, creating a foundation to help find permanent homes for children waiting in the U.S. foster care system. African American children make up about half of the current wards of the foster care system in the United States and tend to remain in the system longer.

Various adoptions agencies across the country exist to promote African America adoptions within the African American community. “A Child’s Hope,” of North Carolina works to match qualified adoptive parents with young African American women facing unplanned pregnancies, citing the $10,000 Federal Adoption tax credit as a means to making the process affordable. With this kind of federal assistance, hopefully matched with employer assistance, adoption seems like a more and more viable option all the time.

According to statistics taken from the 2000 U.S. Census report it has been concluded that adoptive families are more racially diverse, better educated and more affluent than families in general. Only 2.5% of all American children under the age of 18 are adopted while around 5 million Americans alive are adoptees. With so many children out there looking for a loving home in our nation alone doesn’t it seem important to put adoption at the forefront? (source)