BY TOM O'NEILL
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The open-visitation agreement in the Chase Reed custody case is becoming increasingly common, but local and national experts say no statistics on its success are available.
Ken and Nancy Goodwin of Montgomery and Vivian Rodgers, then of Hyde Park, had a verbal agreement for periodic visitation, and for several months, the Goodwins say, the arrangement was working, though Ms. Rodgers' visits were sporadic. On one visit last November, however, Ms. Rodgers asked to have Chase overnight so she could take him to Sunday church services. It was a first, but the Goodwins reluctantly agreed.
Instead, she fled to her hometown of Fort Worth, Texas.
"We are seeing more of these (non-adoption) agreements, how much, I don't think anyone can say," said Patrick Purtill, director of government relations for the National Council for Adoption. "But these others don't provide the permanency of adoption. It depends a great deal on the people involved."
Congress has in recent years passed several laws that encourage adoption, including tax credits. But Patrick Purtill, director of government relations for the National Council for Adoption, said that 11 years after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services was required to gather state-by-state statistics on foster care, no numbers are available.
"I'm not sure why it's taken so long," Mr. Purtill said. "I think it's sheer inertia on the states' part. Plus, some states might classify things differently. The government can't tell you, and that's scary."
In the meantime, public and private organizations that deal with often complex adoption and custody issues have formed resource alliances. The Springdale-based Adoption Awareness Alliance of Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky was established four years ago, and coordinator Veronica Berry said its membership has steadily grown.
The alliance now includes nine agencies, three public and six private, and 17 support groups.
It has 300 books on file and a team of volunteers that provide referrals.
