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Abstract:
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The human services cost of adoption is about half the cost of long-term foster care for children
whose birth parents’ rights have been terminated. Because adoption is an effective intervention for
improving a variety of outcomes for those exposed to adverse childhood experiences, the total
savings to government in areas such as special education and criminal justice is of the same
magnitude as the child welfare savings. The private benefit to adopted children in terms of
additional income earned over their working lives is similarly large. In all, a dollar spent on the
adoption of a child from foster care yields about three dollars in benefits. |