Kentucky lawmakers are being asked to establish an adoption task force, the proposed legislation is awaiting action in the state Senate.
House Majority Caucus Chair David Meade said the panel would work to modify the adoption process in Kentucky. He said it took 3-years for he and his wife to adopt their daughter. The Stanford lawmaker said it’s very expensive and requires a lot of redundant paperwork.
“The more that we pile on to the folks in the adoption process, the harder we make it. So, the whole point of this is to streamline the process, cut as much cost as we possibly can, and make it easier on our families,” he said.
Kentucky Health and Family Services Deputy Commissioner Tim Feeley said, over the past year, the adoption process has been sped up by about two months. He said a deep-dive review will be done to see what other changes can be made to improve the process, including cases involving foster children.
“We’re going to speed up the adoption process when we know we cannot reunited the children with the biological parent. That’s always primary. Then we need to be looking aggressively for permanent homes for our children,” he said.