The notion that the allegations by John Hemming MP and others concerning needless adoptions of poor people's children amount to a conspiracy theory (Unfit to be a mother?, G2, January 15) is nonsense. Hemming is alleging only that if you give people a profound incentive to do something, they will do it. To see the pernicious effects of such incentives one need only look at where it all began: the United States.For a decade the US federal government has been paying states a bounty for every adoption over a baseline number. Not only has this led to scandals over "quick-trigger" adoptions of poor people's children, it's also created a generation of legal orphans as terminations of parental rights far outrun actual adoptions."What's the alternative?" to Britain's embrace of America's take-the-child-and-run approach to child welfare, asks Anthony Douglas of the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service. The alternative is to stop taking so many children in the first place just because their parents are poor. The alternative is rent subsidies so children aren't taken because their parents lack decent housing. The alternative is childcare so parents don't have to choose between losing their jobs and losing their children on "lack of supervision" charges. The alternative is drug treatment. The alternative is intensive family preservation services.
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