Judge John Bowman is an advocate for adoption and supports National Adoption Day initiatives. The National Adoption Day website addresses common myths about foster care adoption. It explains that the adoption process has been streamlined by the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997, which requires finding permanent families for children in foster care as soon as possible if they cannot live with birth parents. The website also dispels the myth that foster care adoption is expensive, noting that adoption agencies provide free services and federal tax credits help cover related expenses.

1. NATIONAL ADOPTION DAY ADDRESSES
FOSTER CARE ADOPTION MYTHS
Judge John Bowman

2. INTRODUCTION
 An elected circuit judge since 2002, Judge John Bowman works
in the 17th Judicial Circuit Court and is responsible for the
Juvenile Dependency Division in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Judge
John Bowman is a longtime advocate of adoption and supports
various initiatives that help children in foster care find permanent
families, including the National Adoption Day awareness
campaign.
While there are a wide range of resources included on the
National Adoption Day website, one of the most informative
pieces helps address the many myths surrounding foster care
adoption. For example, it’s widely believed that adopting a child
from the foster care system is a bureaucratic process with too
many challenges and obstacles.

3. NATIONAL ADOPTION DAY
 In reality, the foster care adoption process was effectively
streamlined when Congress passed the Adoption and
Safe Families Act of 1997. The law requires that children
in foster care be adopted and permanently settled as
soon as possible if they can’t live with their birth parents.
In response to the myth that it’s expensive to adopt a
child from foster care, the National Adoption Day website
explains that the process can essentially be free. Most
agencies provide foster care adoption services for free
and Congress implemented federal tax credits that help
with expenses related to the process, such as travel and
court costs.