Inspired by teen, lawyer decides to adopt hard-to-place child, finds doing so an uphill battle
Inspired by the story of a Florida teenager who made international headlines by going to church and speaking from the pulpit to ask for a family to adopt him, an in-house attorney for a company outside Minneapolis made an unusual decision.
Susan Olson decided that she would open her own home to a hard-to-place older child, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. But doing so has been an uphill battle, despite passing rigorous background checks, becoming licensed as a foster parent and taking classes on dealing with traumatized children.
After more than a year, no adoption has taken place, although Olson was approved to adopt a child. Olson, a senior attorney at Hormel Foods with a bright blue streak in her hair, hasn’t given up and has taken on a new cause—reforming adoption law to make it easier for older children to be placed with families that want them.
Olson complained to the governor’s office earlier this month, demanding to know why Blue Earth County interfered with the wishes of a child who wanted to be adopted as well as her own wishes as a qualified parent. Minnesota Human Services Commissioner Lucinda Jesson called Olson on Thursday to tell her the state would look at her case. Jesson told the Star Tribune on Friday that her agency will “work with them to make sure the needs of this child are met.”
Blue Earth County did not comment on the case to the Star Tribune, citing privacy laws.
“The process of trying to adopt a waiting child is significantly more grueling than it has to be. This is not just this case. This happens over and over. This is systemic,” said Michelle Chalmers, the director of Ampersand Families, one of the adoption agencies with which Olson has been involved.
See also:
Tampa Bay Times: “Amid churchgoers, orphan Davion Only pleads for a family”
Tampa Bay Times: “Finally, a family for Davion”
CNN: “Foster teen gets his forever home”
Updated at 12:26 p.m. to include more information from the Star-Tribune.
