We encourage the Texas Legislature to remove as many barriers to adoption as possible and make the process less intrusive while protecting children’s safety and best interests. We urge the Texas Legislature to adopt the following steps to promote adoption: a. Continue to privatize the process. b. Continue to allow faith-based agencies to set their own rules and requirements for adoptions. c. Change incentives to encourage successful permanent placement of children instead of continuation of foster care. d. Remove obstacles to transracial adoptions while continuing to increase the amount of minority adoptive parents. e. Enact legislation to permit foster parents to initiate adoption proceedings. We urge communities and people of faith to promote adoption and for those not called to adopt themselves to offer assistance to families that can. We believe that, in the best interests of the family and child, the State of Texas should allow children to be adopted only by married or single heterosexuals.