|
It's all in the wording.
The first site you listed quotes the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997. Note that it says the placement can't be delayed or denied MERELY because the family lives in a different state. Yet, there are children for whom they are specifically seeking an in-state family for reasons they may or may not disclose. Then the refusal is no longer MERELY becasue the potential parents are out of state, it is also because the child needs to remain in-state. Eventually, if not placed soon, the child's need for any family will outweigh the need for a specific type or location of family and they would be willing to place the child out of state.
It's a very fine line, and it can certainly be abused, but it exists. The child's need could include bio family she should remain in contact with, or a special hospital in the state familiar with her case, or the fact that changing climates in addition to families would be TOO overwhelming to her, etc. The state is permitted to seek in-state families in the same way they might seek a two-parent family or a family with dogs. It sounds discriminatory, but even small things can make the difference between a successful and a failed placement.
The Act is used most often to counter those who would refuse an out of state adoption for a child who lived right beside the border of the state the adoptive parents live in, if and the social workers just didn't want to do the paperwork that accompanies an out of state adoption. THAT would be forbidden by that Act.
On the second site - the one from Tennessee - is an example of what I think is simply bad wording. What they probably mean to say is that you need to be a resident of TN in order to *use that website, and the form on that page, and the agencies to which it is sent* to adopt a child. If you live outside the state you have to go through your own state's process to get approved, then your agency can deal with TN. Since I know a family who adopted children out of TN I know the rule is not as it is actually stated on the website, and what I've said here is the most sensible explanation I can think of - they just used general words to explain something specific.
Hope that helps!
|