Adoption benefits are a vital part of family-building support

November 21, 2024 4:25 PM

Mother and daughter nose to nose sitting next to window

Family-building benefits are table stakes for employers, and they are not complete without adoption support.

But a lengthy legal process, high associated costs and travel time make the adoption process complicated and, therefore, out of reach for many. Meanwhile, over 100,000 children are waiting to be adopted in the U.S. alone, according to AdoptUSKids.org. Employer-sponsored adoption benefits can break down some or all of these barriers and put this option back on the table.

Access to family-building platforms that help employees navigate the adoption process and financial assistance to offset fees and travel expenses are some of the main ways employers are meeting the needs of prospective parents. Expanded parental leave benefits that include paid time off for foster and adoptive families are also becoming more popular.

Here are the top stories from Employee Benefit News on the challenges, joys and ongoing efforts in the area of adoption benefits.

Making adoption achievable

Between years of paperwork and legal fees, parents who choose to adopt typically have an expensive and taxing journey ahead of them. But as employers expand their benefits into the fertility and child-care space, it seems like they're primed to make a difference for workers who want to adopt.

"I am not only the son of an adopted child, but I'm also a parent of an adopted child — I know from personal experience that adoption is expensive," says Robertson. "I know this plan could be a powerful tool for a person going through adoption."

Read more:

Why employers should offer an adoption savings plan

The best adoption support offerings

For 68% of Americans, paid leave and other adoption benefits would impact their decision to adopt a child, according to research by The Harris Poll and the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. Yet according to recent data from SHRM, only 34% of employers offer paid adoption leave, and just 25% provide paid foster child leave. In an effort to highlight the companies that are best supporting their workforce, the foundation released its 17th annual ranking of the 100 best adoption-friendly workplaces.

"[We are] thrilled to see a growing number of organizations offering robust benefits to employees who open their hearts and homes as foster and adoptive parents," Rita Soronen, president and CEO of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, said in the release. "When organizations offer benefits and join the Foundation in raising awareness of their importance to inspire others, we are one step closer to ensuring that every child has a permanent home and a loving family."

Read more:

20 companies with adoption benefits and financial support

Where adoption benefits are top priority

Starting a family looks different for everyone. For some, it means turning to alternative options like adoption or foster care, and these families deserve the same support from their workplace.

"Adoption and foster care benefits are easy additions to any employee benefit policy," says Rita Soronen, president and CEO of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. "They show a commitment to supporting all the ways that employees' families are formed. Every group needs to find the benefit policy that fits for them, but we are encouraged by the conversations happening."

Read more:

NVIDIA, American Express and Disney among companies with the best adoption and foster care benefits

A foster care-to-adoption success story

When Felicia Lewis and her partner, Ruth Jacks, met the three young girls who would become their adopted daughters, the connection was instant. The adoption process itself took much longer — seven years — but Lewis's employer, Bank of America, supported her family through each step.

"The children had recently been displaced from their birth parents and they were staying with relatives," Lewis says. "We showed up, and it probably took about 15 minutes before they adopted us."

Read more:

From foster care to family: How BofA's adoption benefits supported this exec

Making benefits more inclusive

"We have very rich fertility benefits, but the reimbursement level for adoption and surrogacy, for someone like me who has to go that route, was very low. It was an easy sell to leadership to increase that to be more equitable. My husband and I adopted a daughter last April — she's nine months old now — and Lyft supported that financially.

If you think about fertility and family-building benefits, the number of employees that need those may be small in the scheme of things, but the impact it makes to those who need it is huge. If we're able to show we know something is important, even those that don't need it will look at that and say, 'Wow, Lyft really cares about who we are as people.'"

Read more:

Lyft's head of benefits shares the moment when benefits became personal