Adoption Tax Credit - Recently Updated Pages

Letter or Phone Call Script to Representive from Adoption Supporter

Anonymous — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 12:17:49 CST

Hello ,
Our names are . We are prospective adoptive parents and may not be able to grow our family if you do not keep this very important tax credit. We are writing you to request your support of The Adoption Tax Relief Guarantee Act of 2010 S.2816.

The Adoption Tax Credit that this legislation would make permanent is very important for many families. As you may know, adoption expenses can easily exceed $20,000, a significant sum for most people. Without the adoption tax credit, many families would not be able to adopt a child. I truly believe many more children have found their forever homes because the Adoption Tax Credit has made adoption an affordable option for more and more families.

I know that this issue is important hope that you consider supporting this bill. Thank you for taking the time to read this and I will continue to follow the progress of The Adoption Tax Relief Guarantee Act through congress.

Sincerely,

Adoption Tax Credit Home

Anonymous — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 01:46:01 CDT

Help Make the Federal Adoption Credit Permanent by Writing to Your Legislator

Please help save the current adoption tax credit. Adoption can be expensive with the cost ranging between $15,000 - $40,000. These fees cover professional adoption agency and legal fees to coordinate all the background checks, home study and paper work necessary in the adoption process. It also covers medical expenses for the birth mother. Luckily, the federal government currently offers adopting families a $12,000 tax credit to help them offset the cost. However, this tax credit will sunset in December 2010 if it is not saved. Currently, there are bills in the house (H.R. 213) and senate (S.2816) that have been proposed to help save the tax credit.

If you have adopted, think you may look into adoption in the future or have friends or family who have or are trying to adopt, please write your representative and senators and ask them to co-sponsor and/or vote in favor of these bills. We recommend:

Calling your legislator's office - this is the quickest and most effective method. To find their office phone number visit our How to find your representative/senators section.
E-mail your legislator. To find their e-mail, just do a Google search of their name and the word "e-mail."
You can also write your Representative an e-mail at: https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml.
You can write your Senator an e-mail at: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Deal with taxation affairs at contractors taxsite. http://www.contractors-tax.co.uk

We recommend against sending a letter because snail mail gets very delayed because it must be examined for anthrax. Legislators won't receive the letter until weeks after you've sent it to them.

. .

*ALERT* The number of bill co-sponsors is increasing. However, we're not out of the woods yet. Most bills, even if they have several co-sponsors, don't make it out of committee to be voted on. If that happens on H.R. 213 and S.2816, the bills will die and the adoption tax credit will still sunset. To get the bills out of committee, please call or e-mail the committee members overseeing S.2816 (click here for a list) and H.R. 213 (click here for a list) and ask them to move the bill out of committee, so it can be put to a vote. If you live in there district, be sure to mention it in your e-mail/phone call. *ALERT*

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO ADD CONTENT TO THIS WIKI. For instructions on how to add content to this wiki, visit: http://www.wetpaintcentral.com/page/FAQ

Links to Other Resources

Anonymous — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 13:21:23 CDT

Save the Federal Adoption Tax Credit Facebook Page - http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=86211114808&ref=ts

Adoption Tax Credit blog - http://adoptiontaxcredit.blogspot.com/ - provides the lastest updates and several sample letters.

To see what bloggers are writing about the House bill, subscribe to this RSS feed:
http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h213/atom_blogs

To see what bloggers are writing about the Senate bill, subscribe to this RSS feed: http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-s2816/atom_blogs

Background on Tax Credit

Anonymous — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 10:10:48 CST

Here's a newsletter article from the National Adoption Council that provides a good overview of the tax creidt.

Another letter

Anonymous — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 08:32:48 CST

The Honorable FIRST NAME LAST NAME
U.S. Senate or U.S. House of Representatives
OFFICE ADDRESS
Washington, D.C. ZIP CODE
Dear Senator LAST NAME:
My family and I are your constituents in NAME OF TOWN. We request your support of The Adoption Tax Relief Guarantee Act of 2009, H.R. 213 (FOR HOUSE) or S.2816 (FOR SENATE). The adoption tax credit that this legislation would make permanent is very important to my family and me. Without this significant financial assistance, we would not have been able to adopt our beautiful son (or daughter), NAME. I am including a photo of my son/daughter. As you may know, adoption expenses can easily exceed $20,000, a significant sum to most families. Without the adoption tax credit, it would likely be very difficult or impossible for many families to adopt. Through this adoption tax credit, I believe that many more children will find new, loving families like my own. I urge you to co-sponsor H.R. 213 (FOR HOUSE) or S.2816 (FOR SENATE). This legislation is very important to me and I, along with other adoptive families across the nation, will be following its progress through Congress. Thank you in advance for your support of this legislation that truly serves children who need families.
Sincerely, YOUR NAME

Another letter from an adoption supporter

Anonymous — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 12:23:05 CST

Dear (add the name of your senator or representative),
We are writing today to request that you will pass current legislation, the Adoption Tax Relief Guarantee Act, which would make the Adoption Tax Credit permanent. (S. 2816 and H.R. 213) This Tax Credit is scheduled to expire on December 31, 2010. A permanent adoption tax credit presents a win-win situation as it promotes adoption , all the while making good economic sense. The cost of adoption is prohibitive for many tax payers. The need for and appropriateness of a permanent adoption tax credit could not be clearer with the number of children needing permanent homes and families. Adoption benefits all society, not only those who adopt or are adopted, because children raised in loving, stable families grow up to be good citizens and productive members of their communities.
Please vote to make permanent the Adoption Tax Credit. This is positive for everyone. Respectfully,
(Sign your name)

Letter or Phone Call Script from Adoption Supporter

STLAdoption — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 12:54:22 CST

In reviewing the cosponsors to (LIST BILL #) , I noticed that you were not listed as a cosponsor. It saddens me to think that you are against assisting families wanting to grow through the use of adoption. Adoption is a wonderful gift for the child and the adopting parents, that could not be made available to some families due to the high costs associated with adoption. By continuing the adoption tax credit, these families that would not normally be able to adopt, can provide a loving, nurturing environment for an adopted child.

Short letter from adoptive family

STLAdoption — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 12:53:56 CST

I am writing to ask that you continue the adoption tax credit, and not do away with it! So many families want to adopt and need this help in order to do so(not many have $20,000-$40,000 readily available for adopting). This tax credit will allow us to continue with our dream to bring home our daughters from Bulgaria and Ethiopia. Children grow better when raised in families and nothing can subsitute for that. You had said during your campaign that you wanted to expand the adoption tax credit...please be a man of your word!

Letter or Phone Call Script to Represenative from a Family Looking to Adopt

Anonymous — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 12:45:35 CST

Here is a sample e-mail addressed to a representative from Missouri. To find your representative, visit the "How to find your representatives/senators" on this wiki. If you would like to call your representative instead of sending an e-mail, feel free to use the below e-mail as a guide for your phone conversation.

Your name
Address
City, Sate, Zip code

February 11, 2010

The Honorable Robert Wittman
1318 Longworth House Office Building
United States House of Representatives
District of Columbia 20515-4601

Dear Representative Wittman:

As a resident of your voting district, I’m writing to urge you to sponsor and vote in favor of bill H.R. 213 (USE S. which will repeal the sunsetting of the Adoption Tax Credit in the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001.

As a couple suffering from infertility we endured two years of fertility treatments that not only drained us emotionally, mentally and physically, but it also drained us financially. Unfortunately, unlike Illinois and 14 other states, Virginia does not have a state law mandating coverage of medical treatments for infertility. We had to pay for everything out of pocket and, with the average treatment ranging from $3,000 - $15,000 a month, you can see how quickly that can add up.

The fertility treatments did not work for us, so adopting is our only choice for creating a family. Without the adoption tax credit, which is scheduled to sunset in December of 2010, we will not be able to afford domestic adoption. I’m sure many of the 120,000 families looking to adopt each year will also not be able to afford domestic adoption, which can cost between $20,000 - $40,000.

If the Adoption Tax Credit is not saved, it will no doubt be a crushing blow to the families looking to adopt. However, that is nothing compared to the impact it will have on the children who are looking for a family to love and care for them. Without the tax credit, these children may end up in child welfare system, costing the state much more than the amount of the tax credit.

Also, the recent tragedy in Haiti reinforces how important this tax relief will be to Haitian orphans who will need homes once the tragedy is sorted out. Many adoptions of these orphans will not be finalized in 2010, leaving many families who are trying to help those precious children with financial hardship.

Thank you for your consideration of this important matter. Please sponsor and vote in favor of bill H.R. 213 and show how much you care about the children and adoptive families in your community.

Sincerely

Your Name

How to find your representative/senators

STLAdoption — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:31:22 CST

Help Make the Current Federal Adoption Credit Permanent by Writing to your Representative

Here is how:

1. To find the name, phone number and Washington, D.C. mailing address of your Representative and Senators, go to http://www.congress.org/ and enter your zip code in the "Get Involved" box. To find e-mail addresses, click through to the Senator’s or Congressperson’s Web site or do a Google search with their name and the word "e-mail."

2. Log on to http://thomas.loc.gov/ to find out whether your legislators are already co-sponsors of the legislation. On the thomas.loc.gov opening page, under “Search Bill Summary and Status,” search by bill number for H.R. 213 (house of reprsentatives) and S.2816 (senate). Then click on “Bill summary and Status.” On the page that comes up, click on “Cosponsors.”

3. If your legislators have not signed on as co-sponsors of the bill, send them your request that they do so or, at least, vote in favor of the bill. To help you get started, pull some of the language from our sample section.

Sample e-mails/letters/phone call scripts

STLAdoption — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 15:55:56 CST

In this section, you'll find examples of e-mails, letters and phone scripts that adoption supporters have used to ask their representatives and senators to support the adoption tax credit.

Please feel free to add additional examples by going to "Add a New Page" at the bottom of the blue box on the left of this page. Name your page (basically just describe the type of information you're sharing) and hit okay. It will take you to a new page. Then hit the "Easy Edit" button, which is outlined in orange at the top of the new page. Finally, copy and paste in your letter.

Bill updates

STLAdoption — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 07:33:30 CST

To receive automatic updates on the House bill, subscribe to this RSS feed: http://www.govtrack.us/users/events-rss2.xpd?monitors=bill:h111-213

To receive automatic updates on the Senate bill, subscribe to this RSS feed: http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-s2816/atom or this RSS Feed: http://www.washingtonwatch.com/bills/status/111_SN_2816.xml

Letter to legislator from an adoptive family

STLAdoption — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 07:25:28 CST

And here is a sample letter that you can customize:
SAMPLE LETTER TO YOUR SENATOR or CONGRESSMAN:
The Honorable FIRST NAME LAST NAME
U.S. Senate or U.S. House of Representatives
OFFICE ADDRESS
Washington, D.C. ZIP CODE
Dear Senator LAST NAME:
My family and I are your constituents in NAME OF TOWN. We request your support of The Adoption Tax Relief Guarantee Act of 2009, H.R. 213 (FOR HOUSE) or S.2816 (FOR SENATE).
The adoption tax credit that this legislation would make permanent is very important to my family and me. Without this significant financial help, we would not have been able (or would have found it very difficult) to adopt our beloved son (or daughter), NAME. I include a photo of my son/daughter.
As you may know, adoption expenses can easily exceed $20,000, a significant sum to most families. (Or, if your expenses were more, say so.) Without the adoption tax credit, we would probably not be able to adopt another child.
I truly believe that the adoption expense tax credit results in many more children without homes finding new, loving families like my own.
I urge you to co-sponsor H.R. 213 (FOR HOUSE) or S.2816 (FOR SENATE). This legislation is so important to me that I will be following its progress through Congress. Thank you in advance for your support of this legislation that truly serves children who need new families.
Sincerely,
YOUR NAME

Adoption Talking Points to use in letters/phone calls

STLAdoption — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:44:31 CST

I pulled these from a variety of blogs/resources online. I apologize that I didn't keep track of where they came from, so I'm unable to give credit to the wonderful writers who shared these thoughts:

There are so many people that are willing, but financial barriers keep them from pursuing adoption- and that is WITH the tax credit. I fear that many more children will remain orphans if we don't continue to provide financial help to adoptive families.

It has been shown that increasing subsidies for adoptive families has been one of the most effective ways of boosting the adoption rate. It is also one of the only ways many families, ours included, can afford the high cost of adoption. With adoptions costing $20,000-$40,000, this credit is a critical component in financing adoption and allowing these families to offer a home to a child who would not otherwise have one.

Many families are in the process of adoption and this tax credit is critical for them to be able to afford to adopt, and give a child a home who needs a loving family.

If Congress votes against continuing the tax credit, many adoptive families will have to withdraw from their waiting pools, and many other couples who were dreaming about adoption will have that door closed to them forever.

In my opinion, adoption should not be about the money at all, but it's a real part of the process, and a limiting factor.

Besides hurting potential adoptive families, birthfamilies will then have a smaller pool of families from which to choose. If they cannot find an adoptive family that feels right for them, they may feel forced to parent, even if they don't have the means to raise a child.

Adoption Statistics

STLAdoption — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:43:35 CST

There are 147 million orphans in the world just waiting for a family.

There are 120,000 families looking to adopt each year.

6 in 10 Americans have had personal experience with adoption, meaning that they themselves, a family member, or a close friend was adopted, had adopted a child, or had placed a child for adoption. (Evan B. Donaldson Institute, 1997)

It is estimated that about 1 million children in the United States live with adoptive parents. (Stolley, 1993)

Adoption statistics for mothers who place a child for adoption
Significantly, unwed mothers who choose adoption do better than mothers who choose to be single parents:

They have higher educational aspirations, are more likely to finish school, and less likely to live in poverty and receive public assistance than mothers who keep their children.
They delay marriage longer are more likely to marry eventually, and are less likely to divorce.
They are more likely to be employed 12 months after the birth and less likely to repeat out-of-wedlock pregnancy.
They are no more likely to suffer negative psychological consequences, such as depression, than are mothers who rear children as single parents.
Source: McLaughlin SD, Manninen DL, Winges LD, Do Adolescents Who Relinquish Their Children Fare Better or Worse Than Those Who Raise Them? Family Planning Perspectives, 20:1 (Jan. - Feb., 1988), pp. 25-32

Adoption statistics for adopted children

Adopted children do as well as or better than their non-adopted counterparts, according to a 1994 study by the Search Institute, a Minneapolis-based public policy research organization providing leadership, knowledge and resources to promote healthy children, youth and communities. This study, the largest examination of adopted adolescents yet undertaken, concludes:

Teens who were adopted at birth are more likely than children born into intact families to live with two parents in a middle-class family.
Adopted children score higher than their middle-class counterparts on indicators of school performance, social competency, optimism and volunteerism.
Adopted adolescents generally are less depressed than children of single parents and less involved in alcohol abuse, vandalism, group fighting, police trouble, weapon use and theft.
Adopted adolescents score higher than children of single parents on self-esteem, confidence in their own judgment, self-directedness, positive view of others and feelings of security within their families.
On health measures, adopted children and children of intact families share similarly high scores, and both those groups score significantly higher than children raised by single parents.
Seven percent of children adopted in infancy repeated a grade, while 12 percent of children living with both biological parents repeated a grade.
Compared with the general child population, children placed with adoptive couples are better off economically.

Data indicates that adopted children:

Do better in educational attainment than single parent children and children raised by grandparents.
Enjoy a quality of home environment superior to all the other groups.
Have superior access to health care compared to all other groups.

There are more than 118,000 children in public foster care awaiting adoption (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2005).

How to address a letter to a senator/representative

STLAdoption — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 19:40:03 CST

So, you're going to write your Congressman? Good idea. Make it a good letter.

People who think members of Congress pay little or no attention to constituent mail, are plain wrong. Concise, well thought out personal letters are one of the most effective ways Americans have of influencing law-makers. But, members of Congress get hundreds of letters and emails every day. Whether you choose to use the Postal Service or email, here are some tips that will help your letter have impact.

Think Locally
It's usually best to send letters to the representative from your local Congressional District or the senators from your state. Your vote helps elect them -- or not -- and that fact alone carries a lot of weight. It also helps personalize your letter. Sending the same "cookie-cutter" message to every member of Congress may grab attention but rarely much consideration.

Keep it Simple
Your letter should address a single topic or issue. Typed, one-page letters are best. Many PACs (Political Action Committees) recommend a three-paragraph letter structured like this:

Say why you are writing and who you are. List your "credentials." (If you want a response, you must include your name and address, even when using email.)
Provide more detail. Be factual not emotional. Provide specific rather than general information about how the topic affects you and others. If a certain bill is involved, cite the correct title or number whenever possible.
Close by requesting the action you want taken: a vote for or against a bill, or change in general policy.

The best letters are courteous, to the point, and include specific supporting examples.

Addressing Members of Congress

To Your Senator:

The Honorable (full name)
(Room #) (Name) Senate Office Building
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator:

To Your Representative:

The Honorable (full name)
(Room #) (Name) House Office Building
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Representative: