Speed up adoption rules

The adoption of foster children takes too long in South Carolina. Gov. Mark Sanford is right in wanting to speed up the process.

Currently, a child spends almost four years in state custody before becoming legally adopted. That's at least six weeks longer than the national average. A recent study suggested that South Carolinians expect the process to take no more than two years. ...

Sanford is going about the effort to increase adoptions in a thoughtful manner. He recently appointed a task force of lawmakers, judicial representatives and South Carolinians with experience in foster care to offer ideas for advancing the adoption process. ...

Advocates, foster parents and state officials say a number of obstacles slow down adoptions, including a backlogged family court system and a high turnover of social workers. ...

Being a foster parent is truly a calling. But there are many South Carolina parents who embrace the challenge -- over the past 10 years, almost 4,000 children were adopted in the state. It behooves neither parent nor foster child for the state to have a long and arduous adoption process.

This story was originally published September 15, 2007 at 12:40 AM with the headline "Speed up adoption rules."