Report of the Governor's Committee to Promote Adoption Page: 6
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Average Length of Time
for Adoption*
15.3 18.1 7.4
Substitute Mo Terminate Mo Placement Mo
Care Parental Adiv Adoption
Placement Rights Aotv ia
Home
Total 40.8 months
*Five year average-of children whose adoption was completed in FY 91-95, the
length of time from placement in substitute care to final adoption.
the various aspects of adoption,reviewed relevant laws, policies,
and judicial procedures;
analyzed the issues involved;
and heard testimony from
professionals, citizens, and
foster and adopted children.
The Committee's findings
are presented in this report,
along with specific recommen-
dations and an outline for
action. Though the
Committee's efforts focused
primarily on children who are
in the state's conservatorship,
implementation of these rec-
ommendations will make Texas
more adoption-friendly for all
children and their families.
Every child deserves a safe,
nurturing, permanent home.
Changing the current system
will not be easy, but when the
needs of children are truly our
first priority, the system can and
will change!The Facts
OF THE CHILDREN for whom PRS had legal responsibility as of
July 31, 1996:
Almost 1,400 were legally free for adoption. "Legally free" means
that their parents' rights to them had been terminated. Nearly half
of the 1,400 children waited over two years to be freed.
After parental rights had been terminated 400 were in therapeutic
placement and not ready to be considered for adoption, nearly a third
had been waiting for more than two years to be placed in an adoptive
home, and 16% had been waiting over three years.
There were an additional 2,300 children for whom the permanen-
cy plan was adoption, who were still waiting for termination of
parental rights.
The time required at each stage of the process varied by child and
by region. Statewide, the average time required to place children in
an adoptive home after parental rights have been terminated was
18.1 months for adoptions consummated in fiscal years 1991-1995
(see chart above). However, in the Beaumont region, for example, it
took an average of only 10 months, while in the El Paso region the
average was 43 months.
Source: Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services6
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Texas. Governor's Committee to Promote Adoption. Report of the Governor's Committee to Promote Adoption, report, September 1996; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1204048/m1/6/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.