Clinton Urges Foster Child Adoptions

President Clinton pushed Saturday to “make adoption a reality for America’s most vulnerable children.” But he and the first lady deferred any thought of adopting a child of their own until after their White House years.

“The holidays we celebrate this month teach us that through faith and love we can truly repair the world,” Clinton said in his weekly radio address. “I can think of no better way to fulfill the promise of this season than to bring a child into a family and a family to a child.”

The president moved to double the adoption of children in foster care by the end of the century.

“No child should be trapped in the limbo of foster care, particularly when there are families with open arms waiting,” he said.

Clinton said there are now nearly 450,000 children in the nation’s foster care system and of these, 100,000 will not return to their original homes.

Each year, at least two-thirds of the foster care children who will not return to their original homes are also not permanently placed elsewhere, forcing many to wait as long as three years, Clinton said.

Clinton ordered the Department of Health and Human Services to report back in 60 days on how best to increase adoptions, including the use of “sensible financial incentives to help states improve adoption rates.”

“We will double the number of children we move from foster care to permanent homes, from 27,000 a year today to 54,000 a year by the year 2000,” he said.

As for his personal plans, Clinton made it clear through his staff that he does not believe his duties as president permit him to become an adoptive father now.

First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton has said that they were considering adopting a child as a brother or sister for their 16-year-old daughter, Chelsea.

But White House spokesman Barry Toiv said the Clintons have decided that with their present responsibilities, “they would not be able to devote the time and attention a baby would need.”