Governor Ducey, Children Need More than a 'Loving Family'

Governor Doug Ducey issued the following statement yesterday to Arizona media regarding a change in adoption practices he is making at the Arizona Department of Child Safety:

“I have made it abundantly clear since day one that my administration is unambiguously and unapologetically pro-adoption. With 17,000 children under the state’s care, we need more adoption in Arizona, not less. That’s why I feel strongly – as I have said many times before – that all loving families should be able to serve as foster parents and adopt. I also have said my administration will follow the law. Practices have been brought to my attention that do not match those priorities, therefore, I’m instructing the Arizona Department of Child Safety to immediately ensure that all legally married couples in Arizona are able to jointly serve as foster parents and adopt. All children deserve a loving home, and under my watch, I’m committed to making sure government encourages that."

Dear Governor Ducey:You are right about one thing: we do need more adoption in Arizona.But what constitutes “all loving families”? Are you going to develop a rating system to measure whether or not a family is “loving” enough? Will that be the only criteria used?Is a cohabiting family a “loving” family? Cohabiting women in the U.S. and Canada are nine times more likely to be murdered by their boyfriend than a woman by her married husband.Is a household headed by two homosexual men a “loving” family? For a first-person account of what this can be like for children in those situations, read the story of Dawn Stefanowicz.Is a household headed by two homosexual women a “loving” family? What about Phoenix Mercury player Britney Greiner? She and her fiancee just got arrested for "ultimate fighting"? Homes with higher rates of domestic violence are not the optimal environment for children.What is the optimal home environment for child-raising? Do you know? It's a home headed by a married man and woman.Where does the quality and stability of family home life enter in? Or does it even enter in at all?Is the State of Arizona going to fast-track children in to homes just to speed up adoption, regardless of the environment of those “loving” families? Is quantity more important than quality?What is the optimal family structure that can best support adoption? Have you thought about that? Or is political correctness your guide? Is your aim merely to appease as many people and groups as possible so you will get re-elected? While some children suffer in the so-called “loving” homes they have been placed in?Will the children have any say in the kind of homes they are sent to live in during their all-important formative years?Does it matter to you that children want a mom and a dad? Does it matter to you that children need a mom and a dad?Does it matter to you that children need a stable environment where domestic violence is not taking place? Where drug and alcohol abuse is not rampant? Where fidelity is practiced between committed parents? Where children are not subjected to beatings or sexual abuse by live-in boyfriends or by multiple adults briefly associated with one or more parent? Where children are not subjected to pornography?Will it matter to you that some children will be adopted by legally married adults who do not stay together very long?Have you really thought through all the potential circumstances of the affected children – without a political lens to guide you?Why purposefully make it worse for kids when it’s clear what’s best for kids?Anyone can say, "We're a loving family!" It's the quality of the family structure that offers adoptive children the most stable home life and the best chance of succeeding socially. That's what should by foremost among priorities for those determining adoption decisions.