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The multiethnic placement act: Implications for social work practice

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Abstract

The issue of transracial adoption has been a controversial issue in foster care and adoption placement decisions. In 1994, the 104th Congress passed the Multiethnic Placement Act (MEPA), forbidding agencies receiving federal funds from solely considering race, culture, and ethnicity in making foster care and adoption placement decisions. Congress mandated that the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) develop policy guidelines for child placement agencies to follow. In April 1995, DHHS issued the guidelines that agencies were to follow. The authors of the paper discuss the MEPA, DHHS's policy guidelines for agencies and the guidelines' legal support, and the implications for social work practice in foster care and adoption placements.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Social Work, Ohio State University, 1947 College Road, 43210, Columbus, Ohio

    Carla M. Curtis D.S.W. (Asistant Professor) &  Rudolph Alexander Jr. Ph.D. (Associate Professor)

Authors
  1. Carla M. Curtis D.S.W.
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  2. Rudolph Alexander Jr. Ph.D.
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Curtis, C.M., Alexander, R. The multiethnic placement act: Implications for social work practice. Child Adolesc Soc Work J 13, 401–410 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01875857

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