Dear Senator or Representative...

Do me a HUGE favor and contact your local Senators & Congress members urging them to make the Adoption Tax Credit permanent!

The awesome people at Save The Adoption Tax Credit have written the sample letter below (go ahead and just copy and paste it).  I filled in my personal story in red.  This is very important to families, like mine, who are hoping to adopt or who have already adopted.  The tax credit, as it currently sits, doesn't do us much good.  Please, please, help out!

(Find your Senators athttp://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm.  Find your Representatives at http://www.house.gov/representatives/.)

Dear Senator ______ or Representative _________,

Thank you for making the Adoption Tax Credit permanent!  When Congress passed the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, it made the adoption tax credit permanent; as a result it helped children find forever families. The credit makes adoption a more viable option for parents who might not otherwise be able to afford adoption, allowing them to provide children with loving families. With more than 100,000 children in U.S. foster care available for adoption, and countless millions of orphaned and abandoned children around the world, the continuation of the Adoption Tax Credit is vital to providing love, safety, and permanency to children.

We are so grateful for your support of the Adoption Tax Credit, but more must be done. The Adoption Tax Credit was made permanent, but it lost a key provision when it was renewed – it is no longer refundable. This is devastating to many low and middle-income adoptive parents. One-third of all adopted children live in families with annual household incomes at or below 200% of the poverty level, meaning many do not have a tax liability and cannot utilize a non-refundable tax credit. Nationally nearly half  (46%) of families adopting from foster care are at or below 200% of poverty the level. A refundable Adoption Tax Credit makes an enormous difference in terms of which families are able to claim the credit. Many parents who provide loving homes to waiting children cannot use the non-refundable adoption tax credit at all – and these are among those who need it most.

We urge you to reinstate the refundable provision, which was in place in 2010 and 2011, so that all adopted children have the ability to benefit. It will encourage adoptions, particularly from foster care, and that will help ensure children have the permanent, loving family they need.

We have been waiting for a match with a birthmother for our domestic adoption for 1 year.  We are a low-middle income family.  My husband is a graphic designer and I stay at home with my 2 year old son.  I am unable to bear more children.  In 2011 I had cervical cancer and had to have a hysterectomy, 4 months after birthing my son.  We are very excited to adopt and cannot wait until a birthmother chooses us to parent her child!  However, with domestic adoptions averaging $30,000, this is a huge blow to our bank account.  After our adoption, we will have little to no savings account.  We realize that a child is more precious to us than money, and we will slowly rebuild our bank account.  With the adoption tax credit being non-refundable ,as it now is, we will be able to claim $500 for 5 years for a total refund of around $2,500.  It will definitely help, but it's a small dent in the bill!  If the adoption tax credit were once again refundable, we would receive a refund of around $13,000.  What a huge help that would be!  We would once again have financial security and could start college funds for our children.  We could even use the money towards another adoption, building the large family I've always dreamed of!

Please work with your colleagues this year to reinstate the refundable provision of the adoption tax credit – to ensure that children waiting to be adopted have the ability to thrive in a family of their own.

Sincerely,

Torri Hennig