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Arkansas Law Review

Abstract

This article argues that the same administrative or judicial process that protects children under established state law principles must also safeguard rehomed children. The states should be compelled to enact specific prohibition against the practice of rehoming. For instance, the adoption statutes should be expanded to require an administrative process where adopted children suffering from attachment disorders are identified and supported by specially staffed post adoption service agencies.

Since these disorders are often the bedrock of rehoming, this article highlights in Part II a rehoming anecdote involving severe attachment disorder of older adopted children. Part III discusses the advent of technology as a contributor to rehoming. Part IV points out the failures of recent legislation which ignores the value of a legal process that ensures the best interest of the child. Part V discusses how rehoming violates the states’ ICPC administrative tracking protocols, and how the protocols need to be extended to more directly protect adopted children who are transferred across state lines. Part VI argues that established state law should protect rehomed children through the judicial process as in parental termination and emancipation cases. Finally, Part VII stresses the importance of constructing an administrative process for state post adoption service agencies to specifically identify and provide support for adoptive families struggling with attachment disorders. This article opines that the rehomed child’s best interest begins with the identification of underlying emotional and psychological disorders that otherwise might not be diagnosed without an administrative or judicially mandated avenue for assessment and treatment.

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