Mary Hansen: An Economic Perspective on Ethics in Adoption Policy

Dr. Mary Hansen, professor of Economics at American University, describes her research and policy work in the area of child welfare. She outlines the important ethical tensions inherent in adoption and ways that an economic lens is helpful in understanding and seeking to balance these tradeoffs. She reviews various changes in adoption law and policy and their impact on international and domestic adoption. She then discusses efforts to improve child welfare policy to remove barriers to permanency for children in foster care and promote positive outcomes through standardizing home study processes across states. For a transcript and more information visit emilyhelder.com.