More Firms Offering Adoption Help to Employees

Janice Belbeck dug deep into her pocket to adopt a baby from a South Florida mother. Very deep.

Fortunately, Belbeck works at Baptist Health South Florida and so does her husband. Baptist gives its employees $4,000 to use as adoption aid. It is one of a growing number of companies that offers some kind of adoption benefit to its employees. Some offer a financial stipend, others paid adoption leave.

''I'm not saying we wouldn't have adopted without the assistance but it definitely made a big difference,'' Belbeck says.

On Saturday, hundreds of volunteer lawyers, foster-care professionals, child advocates and judges are putting the spotlight on adoption to raise awareness of the more than 500,000 children in the U.S. foster-care system. The fourth annual National Adoption Day is a good time to look at companies willing to provide this benefit.

''While adoption is a deliberate family decision independent of whether a person receives benefits at work, when a family does chose to go through the process, having benefits available engenders company loyalty,'' says Rita Soronen, executive director of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.

Adoption is expensive. A private adoption can cost as much as $25,000 for an American-born child, as much as $30,000 for a child from Russia or as much $18,000 for a child from China. Adopters include many single, first-time parents and couples. Nationally, some companies give employees from $1,500 to $10,000 in financial assistance and from one week to 12 weeks of paid time off.

In the last decade, the portion of major U.S. employers providing some type of adoption assistance has increased from 12 percent to 16 percent. The numbers may not seem large but they show a growing recognition the workplace gives to family concerns.

Some employers with a local presence that offer adoption assistance include FPL Group, American Express, Bank of America, Ernst & Young, Fleishman-Hillard International, KPMG, Marriott International, Northern Trust, PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Wachovia.

Baptist Health South Florida believes a compelling reason to offer adoption benefits is fairness. It recently increased its financial assistance from $2,500 to $4,000.

''We've always paid excellent maternity benefits, and we felt that adopting parents also have certain needs that we want to meet,'' says Ann Streeter, a spokeswoman for Baptist Health South Florida. ``We never view being family friendly as a detriment. We feel people here give 100 percent knowing we're supporting them in their personal life.''

AutoNation of Fort Lauderdale, which employs 28,500 people, doesn't offer such benefits.

''No one has ever brought it up,'' says spokesman Marc Cannon.

JOBS SWITCH

After paying about $15,000 to adopt a child from China, Susan Miller says she couldn't afford time off unless it was paid. Her former employer's lack of adoption benefits contributed to her changing jobs.

''I worked with human resources at my previous place of employment for several months in hopes I could get them to provide some semblance of adoption benefits,'' she says. ``Despite my best efforts, I could not convince them that giving me three months paid leave for adoption would be no different than giving three months maternity leave to a woman who gave birth.''

Miller, communications manager for Steel Hector & Davis in Miami, says during the interview process she told management at the law firm of her pending adoption and need for paid time off.

'The executive director didn't blink an eye. He said, `Of course, no problem.' '' Miller says. ``That was a huge deciding factor in my coming to the firm, and it made leaving a job where I had been for five years a lot easier.''

Why would a company offer adoption benefits?

Because few workers actually utilize the benefits, the cost to the company is low. At the same time, the company gets goodwill for its sensitivity and fairness to its employees.

PROGRESSIVE TREND

Jolie Solomon, deputy editor of Working Mother magazine, says companies that compete for executives and staff must be seen as progressive in family-friendly areas.

''To add adoption benefits can still be thought of as forward thinking,'' Solomon says.

Barbara Litten has worked as an attorney at Steel Hector & Davis for seven years. During that time, she gave birth to a son and adopted a daughter from China. The firm gave her paid time off for both.

''In my dealings with a partner or administrators, all of them indicated it was the right thing to do,'' Litten says.

Litten believes companies that don't offer adoption benefits are shortsighted:

``Those with a long term view realize that employees develop stronger bonds to a firm and a greater desire to help it achieve its goals if their personal goals are met.

''It would be sad if someone didn't choose to adopt a child because they couldn't afford time away from work to bond appropriately with their kid,'' she says.

Like Litten, the Belbecks believe adoption assistance demonstrates a company's commitment to its workers.

''Its a sign that you value employees as people. Baptist has all types of benefits and everyone gets what they need,'' Belbeck says.

Human resources executive Sandy Sipari says her former employer, Sensormatic Electronics, accepted her proposal to offer adoption assistance. Her current employer, Rexall Sundown, declined.

''Companies are reluctant to offer it but they can't substantiate why,'' Sipari says. ``If they looked at the offset to childbirth claims on their medical plan, it would be equal dollars they were spending.''

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© This information is from the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse.

Reader Comments Comments are owned by the posters. American Adoptions are not responsible for their contents. ADOPTION LEAVE   (by CAROL MELANSON on Jan 03, 2005 06:16:02 PM) WHO CAN I WRITE TO OR VOICE MY OPINON ABOUT GETTING EQUAL RIGHTS FOR WOMEN WHO CANNOT CONCEIVE A CHILD. WE SHOULD BE ENTITLED TO THE SAME PAID MATERNITY BENEFITS AS WOMEN WHO CAN CONCEIVE A CHILD. THIS IS SUCH DISCRIMINATION IN TODAYS WORLD WHERE ADOPITION IS BECOMING MORE AND MORE POPULAR AND OPEN. [comment on this article]  [comment on this comment] Adoption benifits   (by dave & pamm on Apr 03, 2004 11:05:38 PM) I was wondering if the u.s, government, or federal employess receive adoption benefits? thanks in advance Pamm& Dave [comment on this article]  [comment on this comment]

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