CHAPTER 2: A History of the Adoption of Children with Handicaps

Summary Children with developmental disabilities were not considered adoptable until the 1960s when social and moral changes in society resulted in fewer infants and pre-school children being available for adoption. Consideration for adoption was given to children of color and those with special needs as emphasis on deinstitu-tionalization and normalization by developmental disabilities service providers created more children who needed adoption. Advocacy efforts of the 1970s led to changes in state and federal law and policy. Finding and maintaining families for more profoundly disabled children is a future challenge.