I support  adoption/foster care regulations PROTECTING potential parents from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender, age, disability, religious or political affiliation, race, color or national origin.
 

I have worked in the field of Child Welfare for over 20 years, many of those as an adoption worker and a foster care worker.  I have worked in a number of states including Virginia.  I have approved numerous homestudies for prospective adoptive/foster parents of all ages, genders, marital status, sexual orientation, religion, race, color and national origin.  I have placed children in these same homes and monitored their progrss as well as the parent's abilities.  As a CPS worker I have conducted many assessments/investigations on folks of all types.  Sexual orientation, gender, age, disability, religious or political affiliation, race, color or national origin has NOTHING to do with the abilty to parent or the quality of parenting.  You might say I have first hand knowledge in this area.  We should worry about placing children in safe, nurturing and loving homes rather than playing politics and reducing the pool of available homes.  We need to insure a pool of homes is available within the communities our children live and not 60 or more miles away; cutting them off from thier commmunities, making removal even more traumatic.  In my opinion to allow discrimination in selecting adoptive/foster parents it is no different than the child welfare system potentially abusing the child a second time around. 

As resident and taxpayer in Virginia I hope that this great Commonwealth will put children first and leave out the politics.   ADOPT adoption/foster care regulations PROTECTING potential parents from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender, age, disability, religious or political affiliation, race, color or national origin.