[Nathan]

RETRACTION NOTICE:

Yesterday, the Adoption Week emagazine published an article about the Infant Adoption Awareness Training Program (IAATP) that is operated under a federal grant by the National Council for Adoption.

The Adoption Week emagazine published content each week from a variety of different sources. This article was contributed by one of our partners, and we unfortunately published a short description of the article and a link to the article exactly as provided by our sources without adequately verifying the accuracy of the content provided.

This morning it was brought to our attention, that the information we published was inaccuracte, and the author of the article description has already published a correction.

Upon further review, we are concerned that the description of the article gives the impression that the majority of the IAATP trainers have had negative experiences, while the author only received responses from 21 out of 13,000 responses. We are further concerned that this article, because of the authors and organizations involved, lead to the assumption that the opinions based in the article are based on scientific research. However, upon further review, the article is merely the political or journalistic opinion of a group or groups with one point of view.

Further, the opinions expressed in this article do not reflect the views of the Adoption Week e-magazine, Adoption Media, or our Editors and staff. Further, based on response that we have received from a variety of adoption professionals prior to this article being written, we do not feel that this article reflects the concensus view of the adoption community. As a whole, we have received very positive feedback about the IAACP.

In fairness, we are reprinting below a response from the National Council for Adoption to the article and description:

NCFA Response to Flawed Guttmacher Institute Article
on the Infant Adoption Awareness Training Program

An unfortunate, inaccurate article has been distributed by the Alan Guttmacher Institute and the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, attacking the very successful and well-received Infant Adoption Awareness Training Program (IAATP) of the National Council For Adoption (NCFA). In the article, author Cynthia Dailard and interviewee Adam Pertman rely on input from a selected sample of 20 trainees to draw “majority” conclusions about the Program. NCFA addresses herein several considerations that prove the article fatally flawed:

Statistically insignificant sample size: It is creative statistics to suggest that one can draw, from a tiny sample of 20 interviewees, conclusions regarding what the “majority” of participants feel about NCFA’s IAATP that has trained more than 13,000 people. The Guttmacher-Donaldson sample represents one out of every 650 individuals who have participated in the Program, or less than one-sixth of one percent. NCFA’s scientific evaluations, on the other hand, are based on feedback from all trainees. When the other 12,980 participants are allowed to speak, the conclusions are very different from what the article reports.

Overwhelmingly positive evaluations: A select Inter-University Technical Panel that assists with the formal evaluation of the NCFA program has been collecting and analyzing the Program’s outcome data nationwide. Dr. Edmund V. Mech, University of Illinois, lead investigator and chair of the evaluation panel, states: “The objective data show outstanding success for the NCFA program on all measurable indicators, with 93 percent of participants rating the trainings ‘Excellent,’ and highly significant pre-post test gains in Adoption Knowledge and Adoption Awareness. NCFA’s Train-the-Trainer Model has been very effective in creating a national network of pregnancy counselors who are prepared to communicate adoption to pregnant clients.” NCFA’s IAATP also has countless personal testimonials from trainees, reporting how much better they understand adoption, and how much more prepared they feel to present it as an option, thanks to the trainings. The ongoing demand for NCFA trainings in all 50 states is perhaps the strongest evidence that a genuine need is being served.

Handpicked, non-representative sample: Contrary to research standards, the article does not indicate how the tiny sample of interviewees was selected. Even if the sample size were larger, the fact that the interviewees were handpicked makes the data unreliable and virtually guarantees skewed responses. Moreover, most of the interviewees quoted in the article are from Planned Parenthood clinics, which represent only a small segment of the eligible health centers targeted by the Program. NCFA’s IAATP is pleased to serve Planned Parenthood clinics, and has generally received excellent feedback from their participants as well, including some in the article.

Appropriate adoption focus: The article accuses NCFA’s IAATP of being overly directive in its trainings by focusing too much on adoption. On the contrary, as stated in the Program’s “Assumptions in the IAATP Curriculum,” the trainings teach that “Adoption information as well as information on her other options must be presented to every woman involved with a crisis pregnancy to assure that she has the information she needs to make a fully informed choice.” But the program’s name, Infant - Adoption - Awareness Training Program, clearly indicates the Program’s intended focus. While trainees are to be taught that counselors should present adoption non-directively, alongside other options, the purpose of the Program is to equip trainees with the adoption information and understanding they need to do that. NCFA and its trainers are experts in the field of adoption, but would not presume to be experts on pregnancy termination and single parenting. None of the grantees’ trainings provides information on all the options.

Program in compliance, with HHS oversight: In questioning whether the Program is in compliance, the article overlooks HHS’s extensive reporting and approval requirements. The Department of Health and Human Services has closely monitored, revised, and approved the entire training program from its inception. In approving NCFA’s curricular resources, HHS certified that they met the best practice standards required by statute. NCFA has worked closely with HHS to revise the curriculum and trainings, as needed. Program staff members and trainers have also actively sought trainees’ opinions and incorporated their responses into the Program when in keeping with the regulatory and legislative guidelines. Adjustments in accordance with these guidelines continue to be made.

Anecdotal misrepresentations: The article makes generalizations regarding the whole Program based on rare incidents that go against Program policies. NCFA’s IAATP has conducted 925 trainings in all 50 states. Through close monitoring of the trainings, NCFA works very hard, and takes corrective action when necessary, to insure that HHS guidelines and the intent of the legislation are honored and upheld, including with regard to the treatment of such issues as religion and abortion.

Trainer qualifications: NCFA’s IAATP is strict in its adherence to the legislation’s requirement that trainers be experienced adoption professionals who are “knowledgeable in all elements of the adoption process and are experienced in providing adoption information and referrals.” The Program’s more than 170 women and men who conduct the trainings come mostly from private adoption agencies. Their agencies’ reputations and track records in the field of adoption are outstanding. The average trainer in NCFA’s IAATP has more than ten years of experience in the field. It is quite inappropriate, to say the least, for Ms. Dailard and Mr. Pertman to question these exemplary trainers’ qualifications on the basis of their religious affiliation.

It is clear from the extensive evaluations that the National Council For Adoption is achieving Congress’s objectives for the Infant Adoption Awareness Training Program. NCFA has adhered to federal guidelines, is in compliance, and looks forward to the opportunity to continue its involvement in the IAATP so that complete, accurate, and up-to-date information about adoption can be shared with many more individuals.

It is puzzling why these two organizations would try to harm this positive program. It is especially puzzling that an organization with the asserted goal of adoption education, the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, would endorse such a flawed report that attacks this most successful adoption awareness program. NCFA’s IAATP is reaching many thousands of counselors and health care professionals, with overwhelmingly positive results for women, children, families, and adoption.

[Hatcher]

"...NCFA and its trainers are experts in the field of adoption, but would not presume to be experts on pregnancy termination and single parenting. None of the grantees' trainings provided information on all the options ...."

Nuff said