News & Events

Seminar Addresses Special Needs Adoptions

March 1 event hosted by the Justice for Children Project

January 6, 2002

 

Children with special needs, whether physical, emotional, or educational, often languish in the foster care system when they could be adopted into a safe, caring family, according to Professor Katherine Hunt Federle, director of the Justice for Children Project at the Moritz College of Law at The Ohio State University.

"These children are loving individuals who want to be in a secure, happy home," said Professor Federle. However, families seeking to adopt a child often overlook these youngsters because of the unknowns involved in their care.

"If prospective parents were aware of their options regarding a special needs adoption, they would understand exactly what they are getting into," added Professor Federle.

A no-nonsense Special Needs Adoption Seminar at the Moritz College of Law will help prospective adoptive parents, along with attorneys, social workers, and others on the front lines of adoption services, to understand the resources available (and the pitfalls to avoid) in considering a special needs adoptions. It will be held March 1, 2002 at Drinko Hall on the campus of The Ohio State University.

The seminar will cover practical issues such as ethics, tax considerations, full disclosure and wrongful adoption, community resources, and school law. Among the speakers, in addition to Professor Federle, are Susan Garner Eisenman, chair of the Ohio Adoption Law Roundtable; Timothy O'Hanlon, executive director of the Center for Adoption Policy and Reform; Donald Tobin, a Moritz College professor and tax expert; and Samuel C. Totaro, Jr., past president of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys.

The seminar is sponsored by the Justice for Children Project at the Moritz College of Law in cooperation with The Ohio Adoption Law Roundtable, the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys and the Central Ohio Juvenile Lawyers Association.

Approval is pending from the Ohio Supreme Court for six hours of continuing legal education, including ethics and substance abuse training for attorneys. Continuing education credit for social workers also is pending.

For more information, contact Katherine Hunt Federle, Director of the Justice for Children Project at the Moritz College of Law, 614-292-9177.

The Moritz College of Law at The Ohio State University is Ohio's flagship law school and is ranked 17th nationally among public law schools, according to U.S. News and World Report. Approximately 650 students attend classes at the school's John Deaver Drinko Hall, located at 55 West 12th Avenue. Notable alumni include the Honorable Howard M. Metzenbaum '41, former Ohio Senator; the Honorable William B. Saxbe ’45, former U.S. Attorney General and Ambassador to India; Ohio Senator George V. Voinovich '61; Ohio Congressman David L. Hobson '63; the Honorable Thomas J. Moyer '64, Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice; the Honorable Paul E. Pfeifer '66, Ohio Supreme Court Justice; Ohio Congressman Michael G. Oxley '69; Erin Moriarty '77, CBS News/48 Hours reporter; and Evelyn Lundberg Stratton '78, Ohio Supreme Court Justice.

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