MEPA (The Multiethnic Placement Act)
MEPA-IEP is one of several recent federal initiatives and laws aimed at removing the barriers to permanency for the hundreds of thousands of children who are in the child protective system. The specific intentions of MEPA-IEP are to:
- Decrease the length of time that children wait to be adopted,
- Facilitate the recruitment and retention of foster and adoptive parents who can meet the distinctive needs of children awaiting placement, and
- Eliminate discrimination on the basis of the race, color, or national origin of the child or the prospective parent.
To achieve these goals, MEPA-IEP has three basic mandates:
- It prohibits states and other entities that are involved in foster care or adoption placements, and that receive federal financial assistance under title IV-E, title IV-B, or any other federal program, from delaying or denying a child's foster care or adoptive placement on the basis of the child's or the prospective parent's race, color, or national origin;
- It prohibits these states and entities from denying to any individual the opportunity to become a foster or adoptive parent on the basis of the prospective parent's or the child's race, color, or national origin; and
- It requires that, to remain eligible for federal assistance for their child welfare programs, states must diligently recruit foster and adoptive parents who reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of the children in the state who need foster and adoptive homes.
MEPA-IEP is fully consistent with the Adoption 2002 Initiative and its goal of doubling by the year 2002 the number of adoptions of children who cannot return to their biological parents. MEPA-IEP also complements the emphasis of the 1997 Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) on a child's health and safety as the paramount concern in child welfare decisions. This emphasis implies that no factors, including racial or ethnic factors, should be taken into account in placement decisions unless they have a specific and demonstrable bearing on the child's health and safety.
View the MEPA
MEPA (The Multiethnic Placement Act)
MEPA-IEP is one of several recent federal initiatives and laws aimed at removing the barriers to permanency for the hundreds of thousands of children who are in the child protective system. The specific intentions of MEPA-IEP are to:
- Decrease the length of time that children wait to be adopted,
- Facilitate the recruitment and retention of foster and adoptive parents who can meet the distinctive needs of children awaiting placement, and
- Eliminate discrimination on the basis of the race, color, or national origin of the child or the prospective parent.
To achieve these goals, MEPA-IEP has three basic mandates:
- It prohibits states and other entities that are involved in foster care or adoption placements, and that receive federal financial assistance under title IV-E, title IV-B, or any other federal program, from delaying or denying a child's foster care or adoptive placement on the basis of the child's or the prospective parent's race, color, or national origin;
- It prohibits these states and entities from denying to any individual the opportunity to become a foster or adoptive parent on the basis of the prospective parent's or the child's race, color, or national origin; and
- It requires that, to remain eligible for federal assistance for their child welfare programs, states must diligently recruit foster and adoptive parents who reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of the children in the state who need foster and adoptive homes.
MEPA-IEP is fully consistent with the Adoption 2002 Initiative and its goal of doubling by the year 2002 the number of adoptions of children who cannot return to their biological parents. MEPA-IEP also complements the emphasis of the 1997 Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) on a child's health and safety as the paramount concern in child welfare decisions. This emphasis implies that no factors, including racial or ethnic factors, should be taken into account in placement decisions unless they have a specific and demonstrable bearing on the child's health and safety.
View the MEPA