Columnist Sandra Thompson: Legislation aims to help adoptive families

CHILDREN WHO ARE adopted sometimes feel as if a stork just dropped them into a new family's lap.

They have no past, no medical history.

Some adoptive families say they might have been able to prevent certain criminal or psychotic behaviors had they known the child was prone to them. The issue was raised in the Jeremy Strohmeyer case (the teen who killed a 7-year-old girl in a Primm casino bathroom in 1997). According to news reports, his adoptive parents attributed certain behavior to teenage antics. Had they known Jeremy's background, they may have viewed the behavior differently and sought counseling for him.

Adoptive families would be provided more information about the child and his birth parents under a bill proposed by state Sen. Jon Porter, R-Boulder City. It's one of three child-oriented bills Porter is expected to introduce Monday at the Legislature.

Porter's bill would require the state Division of Child and Family Services and private adoption agencies to disclose information regarding any behavioral, emotional or psychological problems that the child and his birth parents may have.

It would give adoptive families a reference point.

The bill also would increase the maximum amount of money the state Division of Child and Family Services could charge for adoption services. The current private rate is nearly three times that charged by the state. Hence, many private adoptions are funneled through the state, which gives agencies less time to work on finding homes for the children in its care.

There still would be some leeway for adoptive parents who can't afford the fees. The charges, Porter said, would be based on income levels.

Porter also is proposing a bill that would direct the Legislative Commission to conduct an interim study of foster care.

Last year, the Sun published a six-part series on the overburdened foster care system. Among its findings: The system was in desperate need of foster homes, caseworkers monitored nearly twice as many foster children as recommended by national standards, and foster parent licensing is a convoluted, slow process.

In short, the needs of the children aren't being adequately met.

A legislative committee would study the foster care system with the assistance of a six-member subcommittee, which would include people familiar with the system, a foster parent and a member of the general public.

Their recommendations would be submitted to the 2001 Legislature.

Porter's third proposal is a resolution that urges the court system to increase the term of the juvenile judge to four years. Now the judge is chosen among his Family Court peers for one year. A longer term is needed for consistency.

Several other family issue-oriented bills are expected to be introduced this session in response to hearings conducted by the Legislative Subcommittee to Study Family Court. Porter was a member of that subcommittee and, like his colleagues, got an earful of complaints about how the court system destroys what's left of families after divorce.

One of the subcommittee's recommendations -- the rotation of judges in and out of Family Court to prevent burnout -- already has been passed by the Assembly.

Expect more legislative changes aimed at strengthening the court.

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