Cleveland. I am Dan Moulthrop, chief executive here and also a proud member. It is my pleasure to welcome you and introduce our speaker today. Chief executive of the Donaldson Adoption Institute, April Dinwoodie. Before i get into this, let me acknowledge that it may seem strange that today after a four days after a historic election, we are talking about adoption. But there is a few reasons why. One, we anticipate at this point, people may be exhausted by the campaign and the election and need something to think about, something completely different. And that may in fact be the case. Two, we have all been reminded that as this election has been, there is work to be done in so many areas that were never mentioned during the campaign and seldom get mentioned in at all in the context of national politics. And part of our job here at the citadel of free speech is to provide a platform for issues and perspectives that do not often get heard but are vitally important. November is National Adoption awareness month, an annual campaign to raise awareness for children and youth in foster care who are waiting for families. Right now more than 107,000 , children are currently in foster care. While this Awareness Campaign is only two decades old, the formal process of adoption dates back to the 1850s when massachusetts passed what is thought to be the first modern adoption law. Since then, adoption has evolved and changed with society moving from a secretive and often stigmatized process to one more open and widely recognized. Not only a viable way to build a family but a viable act to make the world a little bit better one childhood at a time. It is not that simple or always that straightforward. Movements around feminism, lgbt equality and civil rights as well as the increased acceptance of single mother lead households and interracial and interethnic families have also helped contribute to adoption. As exact figures cited above, 107,000 children in foster care, there is still work to be done. And for children who remain in the system and age out, the work is even more challenging, although it is a different set of work that needs to be done there. I am sure we will discuss at that. Let me tell you about our speaker. Ms. April dinwoodie, a National Recognized leader and chief executive of the Donaldson Adoption Institute. She works to change laws, policies, and practices through research, education and advocacy. She is also cofounder of fostering change for children, a nonprofit that strives for innovation for children. Before joining donaldson, she crated a Mentor Program called which adults who were adopted or spent time in foster care serve as mentors. As a transracially adopted person herself, she shares her experiences at workshops and conferences to help potential adoptive parents and professionals understand the beauty and complexity of adopting children of a different another race. Before she entered the nonprofit world, ms. Dinwoodie served as a Senior Executive within the Marketing Communications department of some the most recognized brands in the world including nine west, kenneth cole, not a car, and jcpenney. Please join me in welcoming April Dinwoodie. [applause] April Dinwoodie hi. Good afternoon. Im so happy to be warmly welcomed here. It is an honor and a privilege one i do not take lightly and , one that especially now feels more special more important. ,so i am grateful for all of you in this room and i am grateful for the warm welcome i received. A special thanks to city club of cleveland and to stephanie dansky for all of the work she did with the teams here to make this a successful event. Also i heartfelt thank you to betsy nourse with the Adoption Network cleveland. Our fierce advocates for adoption. A heartwarming group of people to be around. I spent some time with them this week, and i cannot think of a more important or poignant time to have a conversation with you about adoption in America Today. November became National Adoption month under the Clinton Administration more than two decades ago expanding from the , weeklong celebration it had been. The idea was to highlight the need for families for 100 plus thousand children waiting for foster care for adoption, which is a laudable goal, considering many of the children in foster care today are older. Today, National Adoption month is actually expanded. It encompasses more of the voices of the adoption experience and the extended family of adoption, highlighting the diverse experiences and the realities. November is when we also celebrate thanksgiving. We can agree for many of us on the 24th as we spend time with family, we will be reflecting on what family really means to all of us. Honoring our families today actually means that we cannot talk about it transactionally, we celebrate all of the parts, the complexity and the beauty and the joy. We see how when we do this, they can be in a bald view of all of our families evolved view of all of our families. Over the last few decades, the definition of family has expanded and evolved. It spans races, classes, cultures, adoptive, foster, lgbtq families, and those with thirdparty reproduction. However, the laws and policies and policies for these families have not kept up. Family is family, regardless of how they are formed. And they all deserve to be happy, healthy, and strong. Regardless of how your family is formed and even when they are reminding us of our most embarrassing moments, family is the foundation of our humanity. Under the best of circumstances, maintaining family connections that are healthy is challenging and requires understanding, thoughtfulness and patients. This is even more so for the extended family of adoption. With members of the adoption community representing less than 4 of the population, adoption is often seen as a niche issue, and many fail to understand the bigger, more complex societal issues and the very real notion that the definition of family is evolving. Too often, discussions on behavior surrounding adoption have centered on the competing interests of adults and not what is best for children. When we mindfully address the issues related to adoption, this can be part of a broader mandate to really strengthen all families and regain family values with a modern sensibility. Adoption is not a niche issue. And 60 of americans talk about it in connection through friends, family, other families that have adopted or adopted people themselves. This Community Grows exponentially when we think about birth families who are so often always left out of the conversation around adoption. Adoption is all around us. Since 1971, i have had a very personal connection to adoption. In october of that year, my biological mother entered a boston hospital in massachusetts. On the 27th, i was born. On the 29th, she left the hospital, and i entered temporary foster care. Nearly eight months after that, i joined the dinwoodie family in rhode island. In 1973, i was legally adopted. I spent the last 45 years being fiercely loved by them and fiercely loving them right back. I also spent the better part of the past 20 years searching for my family of origin to learn more about my genetic history. Since 1996, the Donaldson Adoption Institute or dai, has worked to improve the lives of children and family through research, education advocacy. We investigate the issues of greatest concern to expecting parents, adoptive parents, birth parents, and the families that extend to them, and the professionals who serve them. Our pioneering work has ranged from how to eliminate barriers from foster care to the impact of the internet on adoption to policies and perceptions. Surrounding expectant and birth families. In 2013 after many years in corporate marketing, i began work at dai just shy of the 20th anniversary. The first matter of business to understand was the impact of our work. After analyzing 40 publications, 180 recommendations from dai, i had to ask myself, why havent policies and practices advanced and moved far and fast enough . We started a Movement Really because it was no longer a matter of knowing what to do. Our Research Tells Us what we need to do. It is a matter of understanding where our perceptions are and then moving forward and in an organized way, help understand and unravel what is happening in adoption today. Our work in this area feels more urgent than ever. With all of that in mind, dai watched lets adopt reform, a Movement Really and initiative, a play on words to start a , National Conversation in the 21st century. We conducted Qualitative Research with a wide range of professionals, and we did one of the biggest qualitative projects in this area to date. We set up a National Town hall , and we tackled tough issues, explored opportunities, shared Life Experience and asked tough questions. We arrived at several themes that we think are the bedrock of adoption moving forward. Adoption is not a onetime transaction. We must recognize the basic human rights of everyone in the extended family of adoption. Children are not commodities. Adoption in this country lacks uniformity. And last but not least there , will be no reform without education. First, we must acknowledge that adoption is not a onetime transaction but rather a transformational journey for everyone involved. Although the day a parent finalizes adoption is a powerful one, adoption will always be more than one moment in time. We must recognize this as a starting place. Throughout National Adoption month, you will see headlines and heartwarming stories of the ns ofzation finalizatio adoptions. It is a powerful thing. We must acknowledge that the day that the Legal Mechanism that commences adoption is that one day, and there is so much more to think about and to experience. There is a vital need to candidly consider the many different elements that create adoption, those that warm our hearts and some that may not. Recognizing that families need support is at the heart of this. That is really about preand post adoption services. In 2014, dai analyzed publicly funded postadoption services in this country, and the truth is only a handful of states actually require this. 17 states were rated as good and substantial, and at least 13 had absolutely no support at all. So preadoption services vary by state, and different numbers of requirements of education happens from 27 hours for foster care to 10 hours for intracountry adoption, but the truth is, there has to be some standardization of this, and that is about more than one day and onetime transaction. For expectant parents who are considering adoption, they must have unbiased counseling so they know the full range of their options. Prospective adoptive parents must also receive comprehensive educational training and support and include the idea of gains and losses. The availability of postadoption Services Require laws to change and funding to be available. And lastly if we are to mandate , these supports, professionals that deliver them must be educated. Next we have to recognize the , basic human rights of everyone in the extended family of adoption. Adoption is in urgent need of a culture shift. And that requires us first and foremost to make adoption through the lens of human rights and practice adoption in ways that fundamentally respect and uphold humanity of all connected to it. Too often, adoption is handled like a business transaction. When this happens, the extended family of adoption is objectified. Working to ensure transparency means parents, expectant and first birth are well informed and prepared. This means allowing adoptive people and allowing them access to their original birth certificates and knowledge of their origins. 69 of americans believe that adopted people should have access to their records and their birth certificates. And they should be made available to people. But due to state laws, so many of us are denied access. Even after we turn 18. Imagine what it would be to lose a part of your identity permanently. Similarly, open adoption is a healthier way to act. We are building relationships with families and acting with openness today, but there is still a lot of work that needs to be done. Three in five americans believe people to stay in contact with their families of origin. But they should also be evaluated on their qualifications, not Sexual Orientation or any other aspect of their humanity that has impact on their ability to love and nurture a child. Another element of human rights is something that is known as rehoming. It is the illegal and transfer of adoptive children. A 2013 investigation analyzed ads placed through yahoo , and 2012, the report indicated that 261 ads posted to have children moved from one home to another without legal oversight. Most of these children, 70 that were advertised were adopted , from other countries. 8 had been born the u. S. And the other 22 we dont know. Rehoming occurs outside of the court with the legal Child Welfare system, so there are no statistics kept, and we dont know how many children this affects each year. This practice though without legal oversight has led to consequences and exemplifies the worst that can happen when there are not appropriate checks and balances, including a robust system of postadoption services. In one home is too many. Next, hard to hear, hard to look at, subtle references in my slides which look at different price tags on babies. Children are not commodities. Money is necessary. It is complicated to talk about, and it is even more obligated to talk about when we put it next to adoption. Over the last several decades, the institution of adoption has arguably become more business versus social service to place children in need of permanent families. Although adoptions occur ethically, the reality is that money and Market Forces have distorted adoption and created forces that are like commercial transactions. This reality can lead parents, expectant, birth, and adopted open to possibility of coercion and emotional despair and make adopted people feel like commodities. Since these rules and regulations vary by state, aspects including fees differ and it is hard to know how much , is being charged for adoption. But there are some patterns. According to the u. S. Department of health and human services, child information gateway we , estimate there are a range of cost including 0 to 2500. 5,000 to 45,000 plus for an agency. 30,000 for an intracountry adoption. Although adoption has historically carried with it this idea of a charitable action, it is also an assumption that stands in sharp contrast to what happens with adoption demanding very high fees. We cannot deny that birth parents fight a lack of resources and support for voluntarily relinquishing their children. This marketplace that undeniably exists privileges some over others and distorts the essence of what family is really and should be about. More than 75 of the adoption community believes money distorts adoption. More research in this area is needed, and we have to know how this is impacting our experience today before we can draft sound proposals for the ethics around adoption policies. If it is created which strongly regulates the fees that can be paid on adoption, no agency or entity should be able to base Fee Structure and on race or ethnic background or needs of a child. When money is equated to the childs characteristics, it is difficult to argue that the fee is not for the services but rather for the child. Providing incentives for adoption from foster care is an important endeavor, but money should not be an impediment for families seeking to become parents for a waiting child or a reason for a child to be removed from a family. We must also create policies that incentivize the creation and provisions of evidencebased services to preserve families when appropriate and safe for children. Similarly expecting parents , considering their options must surrounding an unintended pregnancy must be provided with all information that exists for parenting their child, including the financial support. Adoption in this country lacks uniformity. The inconsistency and policy that vary by state can lead to fraud, coercion, and undue stress on families and children. Also, whatever country is part of it with domestic policies, regulations and practices can differ. With domestic adoption processes policies, regulations can very vastly, things like the home study requirement, services to expectant parents, and postplacement supervision are all over the map. 75 of the general public support a greater regulation for adoption and foster care. At the same time, Research Shows the public does not place high importance or urgency on the issue. There will be no reform without education. One of the greatest impediments to meaningful reform of adoption and foster care is the societal misperceptions and general lack of knowledge surrounding the realities. This has plagued families and individuals for decades. And in some cases, Holding Families back from healthy experiences and others impeding the wellbeing and contributing to serious, serious challenges. People connected to adoption represent just one of the many challenging and changing dynamics in family today. Nontraditional is the new traditional in todays modern world, with the definition of family continuing to expand. What remains problematic is policies and practices that have kept have not kept up with the reality of families, and that continues to negatively impact those closest to adoption. All children and families come into contact with many different systems, Schools Health care , systems. When these providers fail to have an education and create an inclusive environment, the needs are left unmet and children and families feel unsupported. What also fuels this lack of knowledge are the stereotypes perpetuated in the media and Popular Culture which often highlight the dramatic fairytale or the cautionary nightmare. The reality of this experience is many more shades of gray with most of us willing somewhere in between dwelling somewhere in between. The headlines and madefortv movie plots increased stigma. This makes it extremely difficult to advance the needed policy changes we know must happen and ultimately hurt children and families. Dais Public OpinionResearch Revealed adoption reform is a highly supported issue, yet 60 of americans admit they do not know much about it and how it works. They were given a basic quiz. About adoption. The general public and those closest to adoption received an average score of a c. It is essential we create ample spaces for members of the adopted community to share realities as well as a means for overcoming stigma perpetuated by unrealistic depictions of foster care and adoption. We must address the stigmatizing depictions in media, on television, and in the movies. Professionals must be better educated about the unique needs of adoption and foster care needs. In order to better serve them at school, at the doctor, criminal justice we have to understand. , much more needs to be done by building a stronger immunity within the adoption space and Community Within the adoption space and with us close to the experience, we have to stand shoulder to shoulder and show ourselves and make sure policies change. What is the state of america adoption, adoption in America Today . It depends on where you live. Laws vary widely statebystate. It depends on who you love. Because we were with the win for america equality the rights of , the Lgbt Community are not always recognized. It depends how much money you have because of the private and public adoption systems are really worlds apart. It depends on where you your , adoption begins. Foster care, private adoption intracountry, private, domestic , with an attorney. It depends on how adoption has impacted you as a birth parent, and adoptive parent, and adopted person or an expended extended member of this community. It depends on whether you view adoption as a onetime transaction or lifelong. Families and professionals today have an amazing ability to provide an experience that is enshrouded in secrecy or tainted with shame. Good,e honor the acknowledged the bad, and use what we know to innovate a path of reform, we can acknowledge the highest ethical standards with mindful preparation and Healthy Development for everyone. It is time we move from the fractured and transactional process to one that is more uniform and transformational. Bringing a child into a family whether by birth or adoption or blending of families is like lifechanging for everyone. When we recognize the impact and put children at the center, adoption can truly represent the evolved definition of family. This Holiday Season as you reflect on your families, remember that adoption is not just someone elses family, it is about all of our families. And our families, when they are strong we will build stronger , communities and those communities will make a better world. Our commitment to children and families being strong feels more urgent than ever before. So lets make it a priority. Lets face the bad with insight and courage, and lets celebrate the good every day in every way possible. Being here with you today is a true honor and a gift, and i hope it has created a little space for us to think about our world as it relates to our center of gravity and how important these families will be as we march onward over this next time. Grateful for the opportunity and will be happy to take your questions. [applause] Dan Moulthrop today we are enjoying a friday forum in the middle of november with April Dinwoodie. April dinwoodie dinwoodie. Dan moulthrop where is the emphasis . Executive i felt like i mispronounced it chief executive of the Donaldson Adoption Institute. We are about to begin the traditional audience q a, and we welcome questions from everyone and those of you joining us by our radio broadcast, webcast, or this might the simulcast, all made possible with our partnership with ideas trim ideastream, which is our npr affiliate. If you would like to tweak my question because you are in the tweet a question because you are in the room or not in the room, you can tweet us. It at the city club, and our team will work it into the program. Your questions should be brief and to the point. It goes without saying for twitter, but more important for you in the room. Holding our microphones today is our coordinator Teddy Eisenberg and stephanie. May we have our first question, please . The drama of adoption points to the drama of creating a family. Effort. It is such a complex matter, and you sketched that vividly. I think it will always be enormously difficult and complex. One of the things that you touched on that does seem to me to be in transition, and i would really welcome whatever wisdom your experience and Empirical Data has begun to bring to this question, and that is, at what point in an adoptees life should an adoptee have legally supported rights to go back and find birth data . And there are so many rights competing here the rights of the , adopted, the rights of the birth family that might want some degree of secrecy or confidentiality, and the rights of the adopting family and the rest of society in general for clarity on these issues and so the city. And simplicity. I would really welcome hearing from you what is the prevailing wisdom of those who study this question and work in the field . April dinwoodie a powerful question. Thank you for that. So i will start with my personal , because i think that is in some ways, the right way, the right place to start for me anyway. I believe in the truth. Ok . At whatever point that feels it feels as in the beginning. I think operating from a place of truth and giving the people the people most close to this involved the support they need, research has shown that when an expectant parent and a birth parent have good counseling and good support, they can make a decision that does not have to be shrouded in secrecy or shame, and they can be connected to their children. This is new. This is something new we are working on. We are still unraveling the years when it was the closed , adoption era, which was no information whatsoever. That has been my personal experience. That has created such a challenging dynamic, most though for the adopted person. When they want to search, the pathology of knowing who you are. Their adoptive parents, you do not set parents up for success when you dont allow them to speak the truth to their children. The truth on many levels. We are seeing this in Reproductive Technology today donor sperm,g and and we have to begin to center on truth. We are unraveling the past on that. It is still a work in progress to really know now when we have gotten still this movement to open records from the closed system. But today i think we have the opportunity to start with the truth for everyone. And that to me feels like the most important place to begin. Ask for a tiny clarification on whether the age of the adoptee is a critical factor in determining when a child should be able to go pursue this truth . April dinwoodie well i think , every child is different, right . And their development is different. I think you can there are a lot of amazing professionals and parents who that parents that know how to discuss challenging topics with children that are ageappropriate. I think today you start now with your children at whatever age they are. If you have not been talking about it since day one, which is , you know the best for , everyone, and i do not remember when my parents told me when i was adopted. It is something they did very artfully and skillfully and organically. A child should not remember that day. It should be organically baked in. In the absence of that, start today as a family. Get educated as a parent and get the support that you need for how this may happen and unfold with your child. But i say generally, the time is , now and make sure you have support around you so that, because later is not better. Later is not better. We see this in our research. It says, you know it points to , the importance of the truth. And some people have come to us much later in life with their Adult Children that they have not told and asking us what to do. We know people are coming to these realities and really really not knowing what to do. That iis no exact age can say. But i say if you have not told , your kids, start figuring out how to tell them today. And to do what is best for your family and get the support that you need. Miss dinwoodie, over here. April dinwoodie hi. You talked about the difference in state laws governing adoption. You have advocated for not only transparency but uniformity. I cannot resist the question seeing we just had an election here of an administration thats probably going to be very committed to keeping government out of our lives. And that leads me to the question of what action is , presently pending that has any hope of bringing this uniformity, first of all of the which federal level i rather doubt. And secondly, there is something called i forget the name the uniformity in state laws, is there any action currently pending that might bring some uniformity across the country to state laws . Motivated by state action. April dinwoodie it is a great question. When you talk about things the way i did today, it has got to be up here. What we learned in the course of time in doing this work, there is a lot of steps to getting to some of this uniformity, and there is not going to be a light switch that says, we will have uniform standards now. It is not a realistic idea but it is one that we have to talk about as a concept. With that, there are pieces and parts of the process of adoption that i think can be more uniform as they starting place. One of the things is the universal homestudy, and that is done on the federal level. That would help too, at least part of the process, make it more uniform and something that right now, if you have a private domestic adoption, you do that with an attorney, you usually see it looks very different than a home study for foster care placement. Those two things have to come closer to one another, and we have to have the same criteria for parents across the board. That is one thing. There is the homestudy act that has been introduced. We are recalibrating now. Pieces and parts and when that gets embedded, and if we can do that, that leads the way for other things that we can do as part of the process. It will be bits and pieces, not of the whole thing. That is one answer. And then, on the state level, because states have closed and open adoption records over time, that is where you see a lot of action around state activity today in adoption is working to , advocate for those state laws to change so adopted people can have access to their original birth certificates. There is one of a forwardlooking sort of federal mandate, and then local in terms of access to records. There is also the idea of closed adoption services, and that varies statebystate as well. So think about this idea that states are going to still have to implement what happens. And that may be slightly different in regulations and all those Different Things that happen within our law system. I think there is some good starting places, and i hope and pray we can pick up some of the momentum we had. But it is going to be piecemeal. It will not be sweeping sweeping , changes we would love to say. That is ok. Our movement, like i say, is in its teenage years. We are getting our identity in place. We do not really know who we are exactly in terms of a movement. We have got to solidify some of our solidarity and then move this forward, but there is a lot of great, hopefully great things in the works. Thank you for coming today. My family is a transracial adoptive family. And i was wondering if you could give some tips to me and others in the room who i know are in the same experience, especially i think of someone like Colin Kaepernick, a whole ball of wax that we do not need to unravel. But when he made his statement, people told him he was not black. And i took offense to that for him. So could you speak to that . I really want for my children i apologize i am becoming emotional. I do not want that world for my kids. I know you do not have the answer to that. [laughter] April Dinwoodie well, i do have thoughts on this, though. I do a workshop called what my white parents didnt know and how i turned out ok anyway. [laughter] it speaks toie and that over time, my time as a transracially adopted person, it talks us through that. Then you arrive at a place like today, and i had a very emotional conversation with my mother about seeing color in adoption. We wanted to live in the space, my family wanted a space that you are not, you know, we dont see color. When i walked outside of this family, people see color. Ok . I need a safe place to come. I cant be one person in my family system and another person outside my family system. I am coming into my racial identity in this late stage and truly embracing that and being vocal. On top of that, i cannot think of a more empowering time. Because i have to be settled in my racial identity because of the world is dangerous emotionally and physically for people of color. This is not about going to and operating within the transactional way of oh, we went to this parade, we did this. It is very novel. You have to embrace differences of race in adoption like it is your business. We cant keep sending our children out into the world unprepared for what they will no doubt face in this world today. The hopeful side of all this there are many examples of this, i think quite frankly my family has figured out how to do it, and we are still figuring it out and loving each other and trying to manage through some very painful Colin Kaepernick situations. We are uniquely designed as these families to actually talk about this in a in a productive , way because it is urgent for us. Ok . We have to do it. It is coming like this thing that is happening, and i never thought it would be harder today to be in a transracially adopted life than when i was born into it in 1971, but it is. So we are not, you know we have , got to move forward, and it is going to be hard, it is going to be emotional. Start with yourself. Look in the mirror. Say the words you do not like to hear. Hear them on your years so when your kid comes home and says that, you will know what to say. Have conversations about race daily, regularly in your family, outside of your family. Make it a part of you. Because if you dont you will be , faced with the rest of the world that is coming into your conspicuous family uninvited to help you figure it out. You will not be ready for that. Thank you very much for reintroducing a very challenging subject. I had an opportunity in the 1970s to deal with this issue in the ohio legislature. And our big approach at that point was to try to convert the independent adoption to public adoption so that you had the public supervision and the public regulation of what essentially was a private process. One thing that we never could figure out is what happens when the arrangement for the private adoption is made before the person is born. And the birth does not turn out well. It is one of the more tragic situations that we have had firsthand several times. Progress made over the last 40 years in that difficult subject . April well, first and foremost, i do not think an adoption should ever be arranged before a child is born. We do not know as individuals how our lives will change dramatically upon giving birth to a baby. So, and there should be time and space for that decision to be solid. And that means that for adoptive parents out there, you have to go into the situation educated. To help us understand what we are walking through because it is doable, it is workable. We do not want to talk down the details of these feelings of what will happen. I would say very little progress has happened in that area if i , am honest. When you do, when you have private adoption, that can be the do it yourself model which is taking advantage of our internet today and having an attorney and saying we are looking for a family. When there is no supervision and oversight in that, that is where the real challenge comes. There can be coercion, there can be fraud and major disappointment and devastation on both sides, for the birth parents and the adoptive parents. I would love to see that move us, moved to a system where the private adoption system really oversees all adoptions and really reinforcing that and taking into consideration all those things we talked about today. And it is stuff we do not like to talk about. We do not like to talk about sex and babies, and things that happen, and that makes it difficult for us to treat this with the care that it needs to have. But i appreciate your work when you were doing it and i wish we had come much further and i could tell you Something Different today. Hi. Again, thank you for being here today. I am an adoptive parent that created a multiethnic family and i am also a professional that has worked with both the domestic and interNational Adoption. One of my concerns that i think is really quite ironic is that we are limited in the amount of training that we can give to parents who are adopting domestically, particularly through the public system in terms of dealing with the issues that are incumbent in raising a complex family due to racial and ethnic differences. Whereas in interNational Adoption, we are permitted and expected to provide that kind of training. Do you have some guidance as how to manage those ironies . April it is really a concern because some of the laws in place surrounding that are really about not impeding an adoption based on race. It does not say you cannot have the conversations about it. People act on it in that way. But impeding an adoption by talking about race, you are not impeding an adoption by talking about race, class and culture. You are actually fortifying the whole idea and the process and educating parents so they can make good decisions with good information. So, i think we have come into this belief that you cannot do that. Quite frankly, in a lot of cases, because sometimes it is easier to not. When the paperwork i read that came with me that my parents were being told about a baby being available, me. She might be of mixed race. And in the paperwork it says, there is a chance because of some genetic things that she may be a child of mixed race. But they would not say whether , or not it was true. Of course, it is true, and i still am. [laughter] what that set up is we do not need to have this conversation about race. Today with some of the laws that exist, you cannot impede the adoption, but it does not mean you cannot talk about it. That is where we but there are limited number of hours that you are required. So how much do you fit into that time . There are some great agencies and places that are digging into this topic and going above and beyond. And i think we are trying to figure it out. But you should not be left to your own devices on that. We should have the ability to have these conversations which will impact a family over the course of a lifetime and go like this depending on where we are , culturally. If you look at it today, we cannot not talking about it. I have a transgender grandchild, so i am very interested in the welfare of transgender kids. Statistically, kids. They need a a lot of love and support. Statistically, thinking of the thousands and thousands of children in foster care, some of them must be transgender and i wonder if you can comment on the special issues there . April it is a topic that is becoming so much a part of the dialogue today as rightly it showed. My experience has been working with young people in foster care, you know, and i think it centers so much on identity, right . Saying the healthy , Identity Development children require the healthy admitted me development Identity Development of adults who are working closely attached to children, so i think with the issue of transgender, there is, first of all, this identity exploration with young people in foster care and also adoptive people. This idea of exploring our identity. That means we are more interested in really exploring and getting to the heart of who we are. Sometimes, that means there is transgender, Sexual Orientation, who you want to love and how you want to love and all of this, so i think it is particularly important to have spaces where young people who are really exploring their identity in these areas have to go. There are some great places in new york by me that are safe spaces for people to, and be in community, and people are invited, professionals are invited in, parents are invited in, to be in conversation about this new frontier we are all embarking on with our children at the center. But no less important for us to look in the mirror and talk about and say transgender, talk about these things out loud so when they come into our space, we are not jarred and we can come and support them. That is a very important and not just about transgender, but identity, looking at identity overall. You are a great grandma. [laughter] april great grandma, not greatgrandma. [laughter] you have answered part of this i suppose, in talking about some of the more difficult issues of transgender and so on, but i am wondering if there are any standards or how frequently we find them about investigating the Health History of the parents and keeping the adopted parents and adoptee informed as those issues develop. There certainly might be genetic and other family traits they would be well advised to know about in advance in terms of preventive actions and so on. April sure, well, over time, we have gone i think there is a lot of dynamics. It is a good, exciting opportunity, and there are some historical practices that have been about, i am borrowing this from a friend amputating a child , from one family system and grafting them onto another and not taking into consideration what we now are much more informed about today which is family Health History, things that present when you are in your young adulthood many mental , Health Issues that dont present until later in life where you need that extended Family History where you need to make sure you are well informed and you have the best information. Again, we are Getting Better at that in this country, more are active in our health, but at the same time, we struggle with figuring out exactly how that would work and should work. Should there be a short form birth certificate and a long form that talks about medical family, medical Health History . Related to intercountry adoption, where there is a lot more history where a child was before they entered into the adoption experience. And so many more acute issues that come with being in care in an orphanage, let us say, so on the radar, but we are not sure exactly what makes the most sense in terms of how to deliver this and that would access and what access points. At the very beginning of this should be the time where you are getting as much information as possible and then, you know, over time, there should be a place always go, considering the fees with adoption. You should be able to walk back in to walk back into any agency and get more information, support, and the counseling you need and connections to birth family, right . It is of great importance now. And then, there is dna testing. I just did my dna testing. I am part european, 60 , and part west african. How cool is that . I have never known that until now. [laughter] we have the ability now with all these innovative elements, so let us just say we do not want to have more transparency at the beginning, we can get at some of the genetics and dna through our testing and that should be in tandem with what we know from a family Health History that is given to us. Is, i know that some family families are not adopted and dont talk about family Health History. You know . We have a long way to go at that but i think there is advancement coming with that, and a new spirit of wanting to know what we are made up of and how identity both as our personalities and also our health. Hi, occasionally adopted and it does adopted not work out with the adoptive family and they return the child, which is devastating for the child. A lot of what you said today addresses how that can be prevented, but could he you specifically talk to how that can be prevented and when that happens, what can be done for the children . April sure. The study drumbeat of education, education, education. I liken it to surgery when you go into an elected or needed surgery, take a medication, you say, here are the things we know might happen. We are now at a point in time where with research and experiences, we actually know what things could happen. Is a higher incidence of learning disability. We know not every family has that. You know, that experience. By no means are we saying that this is across the board, but when a parent enters into this experience, knowing that some of these things may happen and giving them the support system, the access to those things, that when they need to tap into them, it is that, but also unraveling this idea that it is ok to ask for help. So often, this societal need, and a human need to have a family, and sometimes, it becomes urgent for people to do this, and they go into it, and then they are sitting, going oh my gosh, and it is supposed to be once the transaction is over, all you need is love, and all of a sudden, there is heavy duty stuff that goes on and you are going, i cannot go back for help. This is what i wanted. Then you find instances where families are overwhelmed and we have not really been a Great Society of, if you are having a problem as a parent, we got you, we will help you. That is called the Child Welfare system and you dont want to be anywhere near that if he can help it. So how do we . Class thing that goes on there. If you have needs, send your child to the best psychologist. If you dont have the space or time to do that, you are faced with serious challenges. Education is first and really understanding that all families need help and we know some of the areas that may be of concern and challenge for us, so we have got to be opening that door and providing the services for families when we know that they could need them. Hi, our daughter is four, and we are still in contact with her birth mother. We dont know anything about her birth father and we want to be able to give more information to our daughter about her birth family. Do you have any advice on getting the birth mother may be to open out more about those issues . April first of all, i love that you are in touch and you are creating this space for your daughter. It is transformational. It is hard work, but i am grateful to you are doing it on behalf of your daughter. You know, people i think, it is all about relationships. That is the first thing. You know, trust, and the mutual love that you have for your daughter and her healthy Identity Development, which he you would not be in this situation if you both did not have that, it is, that is the vehicle, for, over time, getting to more information. Traditionally, birth fathers have been completely left out of i mean, i am almost certainly my birth father i dont know him, in the world, he is somewhere, but i am almost certain he did not know. That is a really hard use to get. Ece to broader societal issues when it comes to this. I would say, creating that relationship and space on behalf of your daughter and creating that trust so that there is at a certain point may be an idea that there is an opening for that, but it also goes back to the facts. Your job is to raise her daughter and protect her and set her up for success. When we dont have information, that its harder to do, so there is another factual side of things. Both, the real kind of information and then the relationship she may or may not, you may or may not, over time, want to have a relationship. It does not make it clear that this is not always about not everybody wants that relationship. That will be up to your daughter. You will raise her with the ability to do that. You will not have this divided loyalty and she will be able to make these decisions with your blessing. Which is so beautiful. And she may decide, i want to know this, i want to know that. Getting to that place with her birth mom, that would be the starting place so that there is some flow to this and it doesnt , out of left field. You are already doing that, working your way toward that right now and maybe dont even know it, right . So just keep it up and ask the questions when you feel ready and ask them again. Today could be a yes tomorrow, depending on lifes circumstances. [applause] there are a lot more questions but we are at the end of our hour. And it today at the city club we have been enjoying a friday forum with April Dinwoodie. Our partners include the Adoption Network to cleveland and fostering hope. We thank you very much for your partnership. Additionally, we welcome guests. We thank you all for being here. That brings us to the end of our forum. Thank you very much. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, our forum is adjourned. [bell tolls] [applause] next on cspan, the foster care system and how to please more children and permanent homes. Then a look at Foreign Policy in the trump administration. And an investigative journalist reporting on segregation in u. S. Schools. If James Madison is the architect of the constitution, then George Washington is the general contractor. If you build a house, you know this is more with the general contractor has in mind. Talking about president George Washingtons role in unifying the country and ratifying the First Federal documents, and his book. They wanted to recruit washington. Hamilton had already spoken to washington about the democracy stuff never going to work. Of course, washington was a true republican and he believed in a republican government. Sunday night on cspan. Cspan, where history unfold daily. Was created as a Public Service by American Cable Television companies and is brought to you today by your cable or satellite provider. Peter samuelson is the president of her star, a charity that helps abused and neglected children get into college. In an interview with solo that obrien, he talked about problems in the foster care system. This is about an hour and 20 minutes. Gabriel welcome, everybody. Welcome. Thank you so much for being here, on such a beautiful day. My name is gabe brodbar, the executive director of the nyu reynolds program in social entrepreneurship. Our program has two goals. The first is to scour the globe, find the best change making talent, and help them transform themselves into social entrepreneurial game changers. And the other goal is to build the Global Community to prepare the people for the many roles that a true system change requires. I am thrilled to be welcoming all of you to the 10th anniversary of our social entrepreneurship in the 21st century speakers series. I want to say a huge thank you to Cavendish Global for cosponsoring tonights event. I also want to say thank you to tiller communications for their help, and welcome all of those joining our live simulcast. Tonights event is titled voiceless children the civil rights struggle that never began. And our guests are peter samuelson, a selfdescribed recovering movie producer. And a really extraordinary serial social entrepreneur that has founded an Organization Called first star, helping foster kids get into and be successful in college. Also with us tonight is soledad obrien, a deeply respected journalist who is doing work through her starfish foundation. I think the conversation is going to be informative, and