NCFA began in 1980 as a project with a specific mission: to educate America about the downsides of a draft 'Model State Adoption Act' that had been produced by an Advisory Panel of the US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW). Dr. William L. Pierce, who continued as NFCA’s president for the next 20 years, and Ruby Lee Piester, executive director of what is now the Gladney Center for Adoption, founded NCFA to oppose the "Model Act" which would have dramatically changed the nature of adoption in the US by recommending a number of changes in state adoption policy and practice. Some of the Model Act's most controversial elements included:
- Confidential, sealed adoption records would have been opened retroactively.
- Pre-placement home studies, ensuring children are placed in safe homes, would not have been required for all adoptions.
- The minimum time for babies to wait in "limbo" before their mothers could sign adoption papers would be stretched out to two weeks against the advice of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW)—now the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)—published the Draft Model State Adoption Act in February 15, 1980, in the Federal Register for comments. Despite strong opposition from the public, the Model Act was still positioned to push through- which is when NCFA formally came into being.
Many adoption agencies and national organizations felt unable and unwilling to take on the adoption controversies presented by the draft Model Act. Subsequently, a group of concerned adoption agency representatives and individuals met at the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport and voted to charter the National Committee For Adoption (later changed to Council). With a shoestring budget, NCFA was launched. NCFA worked closely with HHS to ensure the revised Model Act would truly advance the cause of finding families for children with special needs. Since that time, NCFA has continued to advocate for children, birth parents, and families as America's top authority on adoption issues.
We are a nonprofit, non-sectarian organization which helps create and support sound ethical adoption policies and services. As part of our education efforts, we work to increase public understanding of adoption and present a positive image of adoption as a loving way to build nurturing, permanent families.
Over the course of our history, we have been repeatedly called on by policy makers to help craft adoption policies that benefit children and families. We support efforts that encourage and facilitate adoption, monitor federal and state legislation, and address policies and laws that form barriers to children finding the nurturing, permanent families they deserve.
We partner with community-based agencies, national groups and individuals, and child welfare authorities worldwide to find families for children. Our focus includes domestic infant adoption, international adoption, and adoption out of foster care. We fight for adoption regardless of a child's age, health, or nationality. We collaborate with our member adoption agencies across the country to serve the best interests of children and advance adoption policies and practices that promote the best interest of children everywhere.
Thanks to the hard work of our dedicated staff, our network of member adoption agencies, the generous support of our donors, and the efforts of thousands of volunteers, NCFA continues to make a positive impact in the world of adoption.
