Swearingen, Ohio House Pass the Family Forward Act

State Rep. D.J. Swearingen (R-Huron) joined his House colleagues today in unanimously passing House Bill 405, the Family Forward Act, which creates the Adoption Linked Deposit Program to help remove financial barriers for families wanting to adopt. Swearingen is a co-sponsor of the legislation.

“Many families who are wanting to adopt to build a loving family for a child are met with financial difficulties, as it can be an expensive process,” said Swearingen.

According to the Department of Job and Family Services website, adoptions in Ohio can cost anywhere from $10,000 to $50,000.

“With the Family Forward Act, we want to ensure that adoption should be a celebratory time and that’s why this bill takes the initiative to help those families in their efforts as they use adoption to grow their family in our state,” Swearingen added.

To ease these financial burdens, under the legislation, the process will work similarly to existing linked deposit programs in Ohio. Families apply for the loan through their local lending institution, if approved, the Treasurer’s office will deposit funds with the lending institution at a below market rate. Additionally, the institution then passes the interest savings onto the borrowers with a reduced interest rate. This gives Ohio families a reduced interest rate loan for these adoption costs.

The loans are available up to $50,000 and can also serve as a line of credit for a five-year term with the opportunity to extend for an additional five years.

Many lending institutions and adoption organizations acknowledged their support of the legislation including Nationwide, Choosing Hope Adoptions, Ohio Children’s Alliance, Ohio Credit Union League, Ohio Bankers League, Adoption Network Cleveland, and the Public Children Services Association of Ohio.

The legislation now heads to the Senate for consideration.