Adoption advocates say legislation signed by Governor Mike Pence instituting a tax credit for adoptive parents is a great tool to encourage more adoptions, but they also say efforts shouldn't stop there.
The legislation the governor signed creates a $1,000 tax credit per adopted child beginning next year. Pence calls it a step toward making Indiana the most pro-adoption state in the nation.
Sharon Pierce is the CEO of The Villages, an Indiana adoption agency that's facilitated about 400 special needs adoptions in the last four years. She says the legislation affirms the importance of adoption.
"Often there are financial challenges in that adoption journey so I think it acknowledges that investment that any of us who are parents make in our children and will help with that," Pierce said.
She says the next step Indiana needs to pursue is restoring the State Adoption Subsidy.
"We're one of only two states that no longer provides a State Adoption Subsidy of support for particularly those children who have been abused and neglected and have some special needs," Pierce said.
Pierce says providing that subsidy could help broaden the pool of potential adoptive parents, which she says is critical to matching up children with the best fit.