Legal Definitions - Multiethnic Placement Act of 1994

The Multiethnic Placement Act of 1994 (MEPA) is a federal law designed to ensure that children in the foster care system are adopted or placed with foster families as quickly as possible, without discrimination based on race, color, or national origin. It aims to achieve this by:

• Reducing delays in finding permanent homes for children.
• Encouraging the recruitment of a diverse pool of foster and adoptive parents who can meet the needs of all children awaiting placement.
• Prohibiting adoption agencies from delaying or denying a child's placement, or an individual's eligibility to adopt or foster, solely because of the race, color, or national origin of the child or the prospective parents.

Here are some examples of how MEPA applies:

• Example 1: Preventing Racial Matching Delays

  A qualified Caucasian couple applies to adopt a child of Hispanic heritage who has been waiting in foster care for an extended period. Under MEPA, the adoption agency cannot delay the placement or deny the couple's application solely because their racial or ethnic background does not "match" the child's. The law requires the agency to focus on the child's best interests and the parents' ability to provide a loving, stable home, rather than using race as a barrier to placement.

• Example 2: Active Recruitment of Diverse Parents

  A state's foster care system identifies a significant number of children from various ethnic backgrounds, including a growing population of children of Asian descent, who need permanent homes. MEPA encourages the state's adoption agencies to actively recruit foster and adoptive parents from diverse communities, including Asian communities. This proactive recruitment ensures there are enough qualified families to meet the needs of all children, helping to reduce waiting times and broaden the pool of potential families for every child.

• Example 3: Challenging Discriminatory Practices

  An African American couple applies to adopt a child and meets all qualifications. However, an adoption agency informs them that they prioritize placing children with families of the same race as the child, suggesting the couple would have to wait longer for a child of African American descent to become available, even though other children of different backgrounds are currently available. MEPA prohibits this discriminatory practice. The agency cannot use race as a primary factor to delay or deny a placement. If the couple is otherwise qualified, the agency must consider them for any available child, regardless of the child's or the couple's race, color, or national origin, to prevent discriminatory delays.