Amanda T. Perez

Adoption policies that emphasize placing minority children with parents of their own race can be harmful, argues Amanda T. Perez in the following viewpoint. Minority children comprise a large percentage of youngsters in need of adoption, and they can wait years before being placed in permanent homes—which is often a hindrance to a child’s emotional development, Perez points out. These children should not be required to wait the extra amount of time that it can take to find them parents of their own race, Perez insists. If no same-race parents can be found, the child should be placed with parents of another race as soon as possible. Perez is a law clerk for a United States District Court in New Jersey.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. According to Perez...