‘1 Church, 1 Child’ Adoption Program Launched

The powerful influence of black ministers will be the centerpiece of an innovative program in which state officials will work with black churches to find adoptive families for 1,500 black children in California, it was announced Friday.

Several ministers and officials from the San Diego Urban League joined the Rev. George H. Clements, pastor of the Holy Angels Church in Chicago, to announce the beginning of the One Church, One Child program in California. The program, already in effect in 27 states, calls for a qualified family from each black church in the state to adopt one black child.

The outspoken Clements, 55, a priest for 30 years, defied Catholic Church officials in Chicago in 1980 and adopted the first of three sons, Joey, who is now 19. Clements adopted Friday, now 18, in 1983 and Stewart, now 17, in 1984. The sons, like Clements, are black.

Clements and 20 black Protestant clergymen founded the first One Church, One Child program in Chicago in 1980. When the program was launched in Illinois, there were 700 black children awaiting adoption in the state. Today there are about 40 children awaiting homes, said the Rev. James Hargett, a founding member of the Illinois program and now the statewide coordinator for the California program.

State to Support Program

Linda McMahon, director of the state Department of Social Services, attended the press conference that was held at the Bethel A.M.E. church in San Diego, to announce state support for the program.

“We are committed to bringing the One Church, One Child program to California and to commit state dollars to it,” said McMahon, who said there are about 5,600 children in the state eligible for adoption, 1,500 of them black.

According to Clements, the state will act as a facilitator by providing a listing of available black children to black churches throughout the state. The children will be drawn from private and state agencies who are working to find adoptive families for them.

But Clements made it clear that the plan’s success will hinge on the preachings of black ministers, who exert a tremendous influence on the black community.

Bureaucrats Mistrusted

“The leadership has to be from the clergy itself, because black people in general don’t trust bureaucrats,” said Clements.

Once the plan is established, photos and biographical information about available children will be given to individual churches. The plan also calls for some children to be brought to the congregation so they can become acquainted with prospective adoptive parents.

Clements, who has had a hand in all of the One Church, One Child programs in the United States, said that California has the highest number of homeless black children in the nation. The program, which is largely self-supporting, “should thrill the heart of every right-wing conservative in America,” he added.

One Church, One Child in California was formed through the efforts of the San Diego Urban League and the Bay Area Urban League of Oakland, who are working with black ministers throughout the state. Hargett said the program is emphasizing a statewide rather than regional adoption process, with the children to be placed where families are available.