Promoting Permanency for
the Poorest of the Poor in Ohio: Subsidized Intra-Family Adoptions
Lauren E. Bartlett, Ohio Northern University, Pettit College of Law
An increasing
number of children live with grandparents or extended family and the majority
of these families are raising children without a formal legal status. These informal family caregivers, or kinship
caregivers, face many obstacles to providing adequate care for the
children. Kinship caregivers are more likely
to be unemployed, receive government benefits, and be less educated, as
compared with parents raising their own children. In addition, many of these caregivers live in
poverty, and few receive kinship care subsidies or other financial support from
the state or federal government.
There has
been a big push towards permanency in child custody law at both the state and
federal levels. However, the only means
for kinship caregivers to obtain permanent parental status is often through
adoption and the fees and the costs associated with these private adoptions are
expensive, topping $3,000 not including attorney’s fees. While adoption fees are subsidized when
children are adopted out of foster care regardless of the adoptive parents’
ability to pay, no such subsidies are available for private
adoptions. This article argues for
subsidization of the fees associated with intra-family adoptions by kinship
caregivers who live in poverty.
However, no
such subsidies apply for private adoptions. This article argues for subsidization of the fees associated with
intra-family adoptions by kinship caregivers who live in poverty.
Menstrual Justice
Margaret E. Johnson, University of Baltimore School of Law
In the midst
of the #MeToo movement and another “Year of the Woman,” there is a growing
grass roots movement that is seeking and obtaining legislation for menstrual
justice. In Congress, the pending Menstrual Equity for All Act provides a
refundable tax credit for menstrual hygiene products for low-income
individuals; grants to service providers working with persons experiencing
homeless to provide such products; and a requirement for no-cost menstrual
hygiene products on demand to women inmates/detainees as well as employees of
large private employers. In addition, eighteen states have laws or
regulations regarding the provision of menstrual hygiene products to women who
are incarcerated. Eleven of those states require that the products be provided
at no cost. In this year alone, there are at least five pending bills in states
(including Maryland) to follow this trend and permit the provision of menstrual
hygiene products at no cost to women inmates. This paper examines the legal
history of and current movement for menstrual justice, including the treatment
of menstrual stigma. This paper also draws from my students' and my experience
of working within a grass-roots coalition to pass legislation in Maryland on
this issue.