National Center for Adoption Law & Policy Launches Powerful Adoption E-Tool for Parents and Professionals

7/15/2003

From: Prof. Kent Markus of the National Center for Adoption Law & Policy, 614-236-6545; e-mail: kmarkus@law.capital.edu web: http://www.ncalp.org

WASHINGTON, July 15 -- The National Center for Adoption Law & Policy at Capital University Law School, located in Columbus, Ohio, today released the nation's first comprehensive online compilation and synthesis of the law of adoption. This new e-tool, available at www.adoptionlawsite.org, provides free access to the adoption related statutes and regulations, as well as the key cases and articles, from every U.S. state and territory, along with federal and international materials.

Three years ago, U.S. Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-Ohio), a leading congressional adoption advocate, former judge and adoptive mother, secured $230,000 in federal funding to launch the creation of this comprehensive adoption website. Speaking at the unveiling, Pryce noted that "Adoption laws vary, often dramatically, from state to state. The Adoption LawSite is a powerful tool for policymakers, judges, child advocates and adoption professionals, but it's also a long-needed resource for adoptive and prospective adoptive parents trying to better understand the adoption system. As a Capital University Law School alumna and long-time friend and supporter of the National Center for Adoption Law & Policy, I am honored to have been able to play a role in making this possible."

The construction of the site was primarily funded by the appropriation secured by Rep. Pryce through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Seed funding for the project was made available by the Ohio State Bar Foundation and critical support provided by the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption helped make the site possible.

"We're very proud of our partnership with the National Center for Adoption Law & Policy on this project" said U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy G. Thompson. "The Center's dedicated work -- and the commitment of more than 8000 student research hours by Capital University Law students -- has made the law of adoption more accessible and less intimidating. This new resource will ultimately lead to more children having safe, permanent homes more quickly."

The National Center's director, Professor Kent Markus, emphasized one of the site's features designed particularly with lay users in mind. "We've provided plain English summaries of the laws and key cases in each state with links from the summaries to those laws and cases. Now, anybody can find out about who must consent to an adoption, when parental rights can be involuntarily terminated by a court, or what the rules are for step-parent adoptions."

One unusual technical feature of the Adoption LawSite is that full electronic copies of all statutes, regulations and cases available on the site reside on server space controlled by the National Center for Adoption Law & Policy. The Center's staff will regularly update those materials to reflect changes in the law thereby avoiding the need to rely on links that may go dead or Web pages managed by others that may be out of date or expired.