December 23, 2024 • 29 mins
Former State Rep Paul DeMarco joins Jim Faherty for a look back at the biggest stories in our state in 2024 and a look ahead at what we can expect legislatively in 2025.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
I'm Jim Farrede and we're joined by a Republican former
state representative, Paul DeMarco. We're going to review some of
the top stories of twenty twenty four and take a
look ahead to twenty twenty five. Paul, thanks for joining us.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Glad to be with you. Jim, Well, the.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Big story of twenty twenty four this historic presidential election,
Donald Trump winning another term and Republicans winning control of
the Senate, retaining control of the House, and it looks
like Alabama stands to benefit in a number of ways
when the Trump administration comes in on January twentieth.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
That's right. There's a number of issues that we'll see
come twenty twenty five that will affect Alabama, and we
can go through first and foremost. One of the big
issues that we talked about this year was immigration into Alabama.
A lot of these small communities talked about the number
(00:55):
of immigrants Haitian immigrants in their communities Silicon, Albertville, Athens,
all across the state and this influx that they were
not prepared for the number, and they did not have
any notification nor advanced notice on where this was occurring
(01:20):
and coming from. There was a real concern about infrastructure, schools, healthcare,
and what it would do to the citizens in these communities,
and they didn't get any answers from any elected officials,
So that was a big issue that past year. A
lot of the concern was this was just more of
the bad administration. So clearly with the Trump administration, he's
(01:41):
saying that we're going to put an end to some
of these executive orders that allowed this, and we'll see
that will be one of the first changes we'll see
in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
Gym Well, as a former president one said, the elections
have consequences, and that certainly will be the case for
Space Command headquarters.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Recall, when the president left office, the US Air Force
had picked a Huntsful for the permanent location for the
Space Command, but then when the Biden administration took over,
they came back and said, no, it's going to stay
in Colorado. So I anticipate with President Trump coming back
(02:21):
in and we get a fair process and you look
at the merits. The Air Force had said that when
you look at infrastructure, when you look at human resources,
when you look at all the defense contractors and the
history cost of living across the board, Huntsville was the
(02:42):
place where Space Command needed to be the permanent location.
So hopefully the President will come back and say, look,
politics was part of the decision making in taking Space
Command away from Alabama, and now we will put it
back where it needs to be. And hopefully we'll hear
that in twenty twenty five as well.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Another area where Alabama could benefit from the incoming administration
widening of I sixty five. The President elect last year,
while visiting Montgomery to be the headliner at an Alabama
Republican Party dinner, said he would make it a priority
to why den I sixty five after speaking about it
with Lieutenant Governor will Ainsworth, who of course is a
very strong supporter of the idea.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
That's exactly right. And so I am hopeful that between
the immigration issue, space Command, and then I sixty five
and other infrastructure issues we have across the state of
Alabama that we will see some major changes based on
President Trump coming to Alabama. And plus you have JD. Vance,
(03:47):
who himself understands Appalachia and Alabama being part of this
entire region the needs that we have when it comes
to economic develop eliament and that will be another advantage
that Alabama has with President Trump and JD. Bance as
(04:09):
Vice President.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Senator Tommy Tubervall has become close with the President elect
and you've seen him front and center on some of
mister Trump's priorities. Also a Senator Katie Brett as well.
But on the House side, in our delegation, you have
Congressman Mike Rodgers as chairman of the powerful House Armed
Services Committee and Congressman Robert Adderholt on the Appropriations Committee.
(04:31):
We can certainly look to them to play major roles
in the next Congress as well.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
That's right when you look at Congressman Rogers Armed Services
and the number of military installations we have up and
down the state, he will play a key role the
next two years. And then you look at Congressman Aderholt
being one of the major appropriators in Congress. We've got
(04:59):
two two powerful members of the United States House of
Representatives right here in Alabama. So we are really set
to be in good shape when it comes to leadership,
and hopefully not just leadership, but conservative leadership who can
serve and represent the values of Alabama when it comes
to leading the nation.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
One of the big stories in twenty twenty four has
been the rise in violent crime across the nation, and
we've seen it here in Alabama as well. Recently, the
city of Birmingham broke its more than ninety year old
record for homicides. Can we expect any action when the
legislature begins the session in February.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Look, there has got to be a priority when it
comes to legislative leadership with the new session coming up
in February of twenty twenty five. Obviously, Birmingham tragically breaking
the records of the number of homicides, but it's been
really across the state of Alabama. You've seen you've seen
(06:01):
mass shootings actually in in UH, Dallas County, Baldwin County, UH,
the horrible shooting in Davidel, Alabama. UH, not too long ago.
It's been over and over, and we want to talk
about gun culture, but you also have to look at
what's going on at our courthouses. You've seen right here
(06:24):
in Jefferson County some really terrible plea deals and weak sentences.
You've got to look across the state, but you also
have to look at what's going on. UH In in Montgomery,
you have far left advocacy groups trying to undo the
criminal justice system to make it weaker, and so that's
(06:44):
why this upcoming legislative session will be very important and
one of the issues you mentioned, we really do need
truth in sentencing in Alabama to make sure that when
someone is sentenced they serve the time that is they
are sentenced to, because crime victims are not really getting
the justice they deserve.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
I'm jim Ferrede with Republican former state Representative Paul de
Marco reviewing some of the top stories of twenty twenty
four and look ahead to the new year. State Representative
reed Ingram's profiled a bill for the next session that
would allow the governor or Attorney general to appoint a
police chief in high crime jurisdictions. But what about the
problems in the courthouses.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Look, I think that's an issue that they really addressed
to Montgomery about the police and we've seen it here
in Birmingham. But you got to look at what's going
on with some of the district attorneys and some of
the prosecutions, but also some of the judges who are
approving some of these plea deals are just not taking
(07:47):
the opportunity to send it to violent criminals to the
time they deserve after their crimes. Another issue is corrections.
We've seen there are individuals who've been sentenced to prison
time for murder and they're out doing work release and
that has been an issue that has been raised by
crime victims. And so there are a number of issues
(08:08):
that state representative and senators need to look at this
upcoming session that are a real concern when it comes
to the criminal justice system in Alabama.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Well, one topic that never seems to go away in
Montgomery is gambling. In the last session, the gambling bill
went down to defeat, failing in the Senate by a
single vote after passing the House. Do you see another
attempt at a gambling bill in the upcoming session or
as the door closed for now?
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Well, that's one of those million dollar questions. The gambling
Constitutional Amendment, the comprehensive bill that had come up for
a vote lost by one vote in the Senate. There
was a lot of work, a lot of time in
the House on this bill. As a matter of fact,
House members like it took away from other issues. So
the question, Jim, is what will happen in the next session. Well,
the House leadership, the Speaker said, look, if there's something
(08:54):
that's going to happen with gambling, it's going to have
to originate the Senate. We took up way too much
time in the House. So then you look at the Senate.
There's new leadership in the Senate, there's a new pro
tem in the Senate, and the question is will they
take that up? And basically a lot of the senators
say the votes are not there. Actually it's lost votes
(09:16):
since they came up the first time, and so there's
the question is will it even come up? And then
the next year will be an election year, and you
really never see anything controversial come up in that last year.
So if it doesn't come up for a vote this year,
it may be another two to three years before you
see this come up again for a vote.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
And then after that last year, a new governor comes in,
and who knows what happens after that point.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Yeah, I think it took up so much oxygen in
last year's legislative session that prevented other important legislation from
coming up. So now anything's possible again. Gambling is one
of those issues that it's been a decade long issues
that comes and go, comes and go, So We'll watch
what happens, but I wouldn't literally bet on that being
(10:08):
a first and foremost issue that comes out in the
next slash side of session.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
One thing we've been hearing about lately is the overtime
tax exemption. Of course, the legislature repealing the tax on
overtime pay, but lawmakers admit that they seriously underestimated the
fiscal impact of doing that. So now you have State
Senator Arthur Orr floating the idea of putting a cap
on that tax exemption, while the sponsor of the bill,
(10:34):
the House Democratic Leader Anthony Daniels, said that would be
like a tax increase. On the other hand, Senator Or,
as chairman of the Education Budget Committee, is concerned about
the impact of the ETF. So we'll just have to
wait and see how this one plays out.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
Right, Yeah, I think everybody's in favor of maintaining that law.
But at the same time they've got to come back
and say, we've got to get our real calculations. Is
this is going to continue to grow, It's going to
eat into the budget, and so there's going to have
to be a question of priorities. Is that more important
or what is it cutting into so. But first and foremost,
(11:10):
they've really got to understand how did they get to
where they were before, how did those numbers really not
accurately get reflected. When they were debating this in the
legislature and passing it the first time.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
A lot of folks asking whether or not we'll see
another penny taking off the grocery tax. I heard Speaker
led Better say that would have less of an impact
on revenue than the overtime tax exemption, and of course
the grocery tax affects every Alabamian. It sounds like something
they'd like to take a look at.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
If you ask the average voter, they'd say that is
probably one of the most important things is taking sales
tax off of food. That there's no question that is
very popular. Most states have some sort of legislation that
does not tax food. So that's one of those issues
the voters want to see. And I know there's a
real effort to take that second off and eventually get
(12:01):
all four cents off, So I think there will be
some discussion about that as well. But unfortunately they're gonna
have to to really look across the board. You know,
what cuts are you gonna make? But you also say, hey,
is Alabama government running as efficiently as it could be.
We're seeing what's going on with the Trump administration and
(12:22):
the efforts to really streamline government. We need to look
across the Alabama I think there are some opportunities if
you look at the number of buildings owned by the
state and leases, there's some question about could Alabama state
government run more efficiently with some of their facilities. So
I think those discussions will be held as well.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
Maybe we'll have an Alabama version of Dog that looks
for areas where we can increase efficiency.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Yeah, there are going to be a lot of budget
discussion because you know, the state's losing some of the
federal COVID dollars. Those have to be spent. By twenty
twenty six, you've seen some income being reduced because not
only tax exemptions, but some other issues. So we've had
(13:09):
record budgets for the general fund and education in the
past three years post COVID, But now you're going to
have to start seeing some streamline and some priorities made
when it comes to how are you going to fund
state government?
Speaker 1 (13:23):
And you have some special interests out there who are
still pushing for a medicaid expansion. The Feds will give
you the upfront money, but then the state is on
the hook for the costs moving forward, and the governor
and legislative leaders have indicated that is something we just
cannot afford.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Yeah, that's exactly right. So Alabama state representatives, the Senator
and Governor Ivy are really sitting down at this point
before they go back in session in February and taking
the pen to paper to determine what stays at its
current budget levels and what may get flashed to balance
(14:01):
the budget, which is important in Alabama. The constitution requires
a balance budget, so that is one good thing as
opposed to Washington c where they get more and more
in debt.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
And of course that's when you see those reductions start
to kick in. Is when we have to do it
because we just don't have the same level of revenue
coming in.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
Yeah. So I anticipate that when we get the first
view at the governor's budget, there will be a lot
of areas that they say they don't have any choice
but to cut. We'll just kind of see what parts
of state government.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
That will be many issues to keep an eye on,
and we will be doing that in the year ahead.
It's been quite a twenty twenty four one will certainly
remember for a long long time, and we want to
thank you for joining US Republican former state Representative Paul
DeMarco for a review of some of the top stories
of twenty twenty four and look ahead to twenty twenty five.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
You do you're listening to Viewpoint Alabama, a public affairs
program from the Alabama Radio Network.
Speaker 4 (15:05):
It's December, and although National Adoption Month was technically last month,
this is also a great month to talk about this
important topic because when you think about the Advent story,
Joseph was very much an adoptive heaven or earthly father
of Jesus. Hello, I'm John Mounts and this week on
Viewpoint Alabama, I'm joined by Herbie Nole. He is the
president and executive director of Lifeline Child's Children's Services, a
(15:27):
leading Christian organization dedicated to defending the fatherlous and vulnerable
children worldwide. Herbie, Welcome to Viewpoint.
Speaker 5 (15:34):
John, Thanks for having me.
Speaker 4 (15:35):
There is no more noble cause than taking the challenge
of adopting and raising a child that's not your own.
But as challenging as it is, it can also be rewarding.
Speaker 5 (15:43):
Why is that, Yeah, I think because we're doing something
for someone else, right, And I think so much of
our culture is about how can I earn more? What
can I do for myself? How can I approve my
own status and setting. But even as you talk about
you look at what Joseph did in the Advent season.
He laid down his right, he laid down his reputation
in order to care for his betrothed who was with child.
(16:05):
And in the same way as Americans and as Alabamians,
when we reach out and take care of the vulnerable,
it's doing something outside of ourselves for the greater cause
of humanity, and as an organization committed to God's word,
Lifeline would say, it's also doing a god giving call
of caring for others.
Speaker 4 (16:21):
And as noble as it is, there's a lot of
It's not just as simple as I think I'd like
a kid. There's a lot of things that you have
to do to prepare to be a father or a
mother who's going to adopt a child, And rightly so,
because you don't want people. This isn't a decision you
just kind of wake up going, I think I'll adopt
a kid. You have to really think about it, pray
about it, to decide if it's right for you, if
(16:41):
it's right for your family. And that's one of the
reasons I guess there are so many barriers. But once
you decide that it is right for you, that's kind
of what your organization does is to sort of get
those parents perspective, parents connected with prospective adoptees that's right.
Speaker 5 (16:56):
You know, what we always say is it takes the
right parent, the right place, time, with the right qualifications
to be able to bring a child into their home.
And so our part is to find that child that
needs a family, but also to take that family through
the process to see, you know, what type of child,
with what type of needs from where, what system is
best for your family? Is going to make sure that
(17:18):
we're not just stewarding the life of the child well
in placing that child with a family, but we're also
steward in that family well, to make sure that we
don't inadvertently place a child in their home that's not
going to be a good fit, that maybe upsets the
dynamic of their home in a way that's neither good
for that family or for that child.
Speaker 4 (17:36):
Many of the children that you place. Are they often
are they newborns or are they you know, five ten,
all across the map? How does it usually land?
Speaker 5 (17:45):
Yeah, So each program that we have through adoption and
foster care are different. So typically in foster care, we're
going to see older children, ages five and up, sometimes
even sibling groups. Through inter country adoption, we're going to
see sibling groups, older children, children, maybe with some special needs.
And then domestically, typically our domestic adoption program is going
(18:06):
to be younger children, even newborns and infants. And so
the spectrum ranges from newborns to teenagers with all types
of needs and challenges that they might have. And certainly
the longer a child has been in care, either foster
care or the care of an orphanage, it's just the
amount of needs that they have they're going to increase
incrementally by the number of years that they were in.
Speaker 4 (18:27):
Care, and that's why it's probably good to get them
adopted into a stafe and safe and stable environment as
soon as possible. I've heard reports for people who have
adopted children internationally, especially from countries like China, that a
lot of times these children they are developmentally delayed, just
because they've not received any significant human interaction for the
first year or two of their life. So you might
(18:48):
adopt someone who is chronologically four, but they might have
more the social skills of an eighteen month old.
Speaker 5 (18:56):
Yeah, and if you think about it, you know, even
the way that God has ordained birth to happen and
a mom to take care of a child. When a
child is young, they're held a lot, they get a
lot of eye contact, they're held close to the skin,
and all of those things scientists will now tell you
really start with the brain development, with social development, with
(19:16):
social cues. When a child is not being held regularly
by a mom or a dad, not having the type
of love and care, eye contact, touch, but is more
in a in a crib, being cared for only a
few times a day, they lose that sensory integration that
they need. And there's actually, if if anybody really is
interested in more information, there's a there's a training called
(19:38):
tbri I Trust Based Relational Intervention and it came out
of Texas Christian University where they actually explored children and
they said children who had the touch, that had the senses,
that were really cared for did well cognitive much well more,
much much better cognitively than those children who were not.
Now what I would tell any family that's listening saying, well,
(19:58):
never will I adopt a child that's older than an infant.
There's so many things we've learned now though, to help
those kids catch up cognitively. So even those kids you
were mentioning they're coming home from China, we're seeing them
function well. We're seeing them do well cognitively because there's tools,
there's therapies and other things we can do to help
them catch up.
Speaker 4 (20:17):
We alluded to this a little earlier, but talks in
more depth with regard to the cost for the adoptive parent.
Like I said, I know it is palpable, but one
of the reasons why is to prove that you have
some skin in the game, you really want to do this.
This isn't just like adopting a puppy. This is like
a very serious decision. So there are costs, but for
a lot of what would otherwise be a very stable
(20:37):
and loving family, the cost puts things out of reach.
What are some places people can turn to to, you know,
kind of defray that cost.
Speaker 5 (20:44):
Yes, the first thing is Alabama has a state tax
credit for those families that are adopting up to five
thousand dollars. A lot of families don't realize that, and
that's a credit that's very lucrative against your state taxes,
and I know most people are going to my state
tax bills never that high. There's also a federal adoption
tax credit that's about fourteen thousand dollars that comes out
of that.
Speaker 4 (21:05):
And I also know that a lot of faith based
organizations make it a priority to help children, our parents
who are looking to adopt find ways to raise money
to be a fundraisers through the church. Sometimes the church
itself has a as a like a fund granting board
that says, you know, we had we put aside this
much money for adoption every year, and you know you
can apply and get grants from your church as well.
Speaker 5 (21:26):
Yeah, even this last you know, last month in November,
I was able to travel to several churches in our state,
and over and over I had families that came up
and said, yeah, my church, help pay this. You know,
show Hope is a great organization, they help pay this.
Life Song help pay this. And then even some families
that said Lifeline helped us. We have our Hope Adoption
Fund even at Lifeline to help dephrase some of the
(21:46):
costs for families. So again, getting those grants, getting that
support is not hard, especially in the state of Alabama.
The bigger thing is definitely going to be can I
maintain Can I bring a stable home to this child
for the long term?
Speaker 4 (22:01):
Herbie, I was just thinking about this. You know, there's
these things that are popping up all of the state
called baby boxes where parents can go, usually a mother
can go and with no questions asked, drop an infant off,
usuallysts at a fire station or something like that. I
think there's four or five of them. Now, have you
guys been the recipient of any of these children that
have been surrendered at one of these baby boxes?
Speaker 5 (22:19):
So we have a couple we've seen what we would
call as a drop in adoption. Typically, what those boxes
are doing is they're going through the state registry and
every licensed child placing agency. They're kind of rotating through
those and so when we come up, we've gotten the
call and certainly we're going to find the home for
that child. You know, certainly I would hope that any
(22:40):
woman would know in the state of Alabama that we
are a completely open state. You don't have to fear
retribution if you don't feel like you can parent. But
I know that these boxes are a safe haven for
those women who, for whatever reason in their life, they
don't feel like they can trust. They don't want to
be persecuted, they don't want to be, you know, accused
of abandonment of their child, and so having those places
(23:03):
where it's safe, it's free, it's an opportunity that's great
for those women. I would just tell all of your
listeners if you know a woman who's walking through that
situation and thinks that they cannot parent their child and
adoption is the right option, encourage them to call Lifeline
or another reputable organization, because what we want to do
is really be able to help that woman not just
with an adoption, but also to be staying connected to
(23:25):
that child, to have letters and pictures and updates, to
be able to know how her child is doing, and
really involve her in the process. So the heart of
Lifeline is not just the child, but we also want
to help that woman. And so while those boxes are good,
sometimes when you don't have the identity of the mom,
it does put that child at a disadvantage. That's less
health information than they have. So I would just tell
(23:48):
anyone those boxes are great, we don't need them to
go away. At the same time, encourage those moms that
they're organizations that will care for her, love on her,
and help protect her rights long term through adoption as well.
Speaker 4 (23:59):
How often does that become an issue where the adoptive mother,
you know, say maybe a couple of years down in
the road, she's cleaning sober, she changes her mind, she
wants to be a part of this child's life, and
then the adoptive parents go, well, I don't know if
we want to have that person be a part of
my child. So does that ever come up or is
that kind of dealt with in a case by case basis.
Speaker 5 (24:16):
It comes up, but it's really dealt with more in
a case by case basis. And what we would do
as an organization is have those conversations with that mom
up front so that the family knows what they would
be agreeing to today or even in the future. We
keep a record so if a family says, hey, if
she ever shows back up as you say, clean sober,
wants interaction, this is this is our line. We're not
(24:36):
willing to cross this line. That way, we can then
counsel that mom and say, hey, we've already talked to
this family. They might be willing to send you a picture,
for instance, or they may be willing to get on
the phone with you once a year, but this is
this is all they're going to do. So we want
to make sure we get capture as much of that
at the time of the placement, because we don't want,
you know, misunderstanding. We don't want disenfranchised ideas or unclear
(25:00):
concepts with the future hold both for that mom but
also for that family. We don't want any surprises for
that family who's trying to maintain normalcy and trying to
raise that child. In the same way, we don't want
to over promise and underdeliver to a mom.
Speaker 4 (25:12):
So it sounds like lifeline. Not only you don't just
say drop the kid with a parents say all right,
have a good life. You are kind of involved as
the journey continues to sort of help all along the way,
especially with situations like that.
Speaker 5 (25:24):
One hundred percent, we would tell any family that we're
here for you to help you raise your child, and
we would tell any mom we're there for you well
past the pregnancy. Our heart and our aim is to
see these children and these women and these families so
transformed that they're able to walk in wholeness and healing.
And so that means even with adoptive families that might
be listening, we have counseling, we have education services for
(25:45):
your child. We want to come alongside of you to
help you be able to get through any hurdles or
obstacles that might come. We have families that we worked
with in nineteen eighty one that we're still very much
in contact with. As a matter of fact, just had
a child adopted in nineteen eighty five that's come back
to adopt.
Speaker 4 (26:00):
That's what I was going to ask about. Does that
ever happen where an adopted child realizes how important the
adoption was, what a role it played in their life,
and so they opt to adopt themselves.
Speaker 5 (26:08):
One hundred percent As a matter of fact, and you know,
not that we were practicing numerology, but it so happened
that the hundredth child that we placed, she and her
husband ended up adopting the fifteenth hundredth domestic adoption that
we had, and it just happened to work that way.
But yeah, we have a lot of kids that have
been adopted experienced adoption that will come back and say, hey,
(26:30):
this was such a gift to me. I want to
give that gift forward to another child. The other thing
we see a lot of is biological children in families
that adoption was a reality that are coming and say, hey,
my parents adopted. I wasn't maybe the adopted child. I
was a biological child, but I saw what a gift
it was to me as a sibling, what a gift
it was to that child in my family, and I
also want to adopt. So it really is something that
(26:52):
you see. The families today have been touched by adoption
in a special way in a generation past.
Speaker 4 (26:57):
And there are so many stories of success. You go
back of famous people that you look into the background
and go, oh, I had no idea that they were
adopted or that they adopted. Someone Ronald. I'm trying to
think all the people who have adopted or been adopted
over there the years.
Speaker 5 (27:10):
Herbert Hoover, the President, Ronald Reagan adopted Michael Reagan, and
most people when Michael Reagan started his talk show had
no idea until he came out and said he was adopted,
that he had been adopted, And so you know, we
could continue to go on with the celebrities and the
people that we know. But I think most people would
be surprised of just even in your core relationships, your
sphere of influence, how many people have been touched by
(27:31):
adoption who it's not a part of what the way
they introduced themselves, but adoption is a part of their
story that you would have no idea that they were adopted.
I have the opportunity right now even to teach a class,
and one of my students came up several weeks ago
to share his own story about adoption and his mom
and just different things about his story. I would have
(27:51):
never known just by looking at him obviously or being
around him. He's just a member of this class, and
so what we don't realize is there's so many of
those around us. And what I like to say is
a lot of times the newspaper media will say, well,
this child was adopted if they did something negatively, But
we don't say stuff about a star honor student, well
(28:12):
they were adopted because they're just a student. And so
I think a lot of times we incorrectly label adoption
as something that's less than as opposed to seeing something
that's really life giving and very fulfilling to a child
and a family.
Speaker 4 (28:25):
Herbie Norle with Lifeline Children's Services for people who are
interested in perhaps beginning this journey or maybe just even
going as far as to dip their toe in to
see what it's all about. Where can people turn.
Speaker 5 (28:35):
Yeah, so they can always visit our website at Lifeline
child dot org. I would tell any person in Alabama,
you know, don't be afraid of DHR, your County DHR.
Your County DHR is a great place to go even
to say, hey, I'd like to be a respite family
and what does that mean? That means I'm just going
to take care of a foster child when the foster
parent needs to go on have a break, or have
a date or have a night out. You know, we
(28:57):
can also get you to your county offices as well.
We can help you learn about inner country adoption, domestic adoption. Certainly,
we would love to talk to anyone at Lifeline child
dot org. Our number here in Alabama is two O
five nine six seven eight one to one, and then
we're on every social media at Lifeline child.
Speaker 4 (29:13):
And so one more time, because people a lot of
times they don't have a pencil in hand when you
give the number, so one more time, a little bit
more slowly.
Speaker 5 (29:19):
That number again is two oh five nine six seven
zero eight one one. And then if you remember Lifeline Child,
we're Lifeline child dot org and Lifeline Child on all
social media platforms.
Speaker 4 (29:32):
Are renewal from Lifeline Children's Services. Thank you so much
for joining me.
Speaker 5 (29:36):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
John.
Speaker 3 (29:37):
You've been listening to Viewpoint Alabama, a public affairs program
from the Alabama Radio Network. The opinions expressed on Viewpoint
Alabama are not necessarily those of the staff, management, or
advertisers of this station.
I'm Jim Farrede and we're joined by a Republican former
state representative, Paul DeMarco. We're going to review some of
the top stories of twenty twenty four and take a
look ahead to twenty twenty five. Paul, thanks for joining us.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Glad to be with you. Jim, Well, the.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Big story of twenty twenty four this historic presidential election,
Donald Trump winning another term and Republicans winning control of
the Senate, retaining control of the House, and it looks
like Alabama stands to benefit in a number of ways
when the Trump administration comes in on January twentieth.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
That's right. There's a number of issues that we'll see
come twenty twenty five that will affect Alabama, and we
can go through first and foremost. One of the big
issues that we talked about this year was immigration into Alabama.
A lot of these small communities talked about the number
(00:55):
of immigrants Haitian immigrants in their communities Silicon, Albertville, Athens,
all across the state and this influx that they were
not prepared for the number, and they did not have
any notification nor advanced notice on where this was occurring
(01:20):
and coming from. There was a real concern about infrastructure, schools, healthcare,
and what it would do to the citizens in these communities,
and they didn't get any answers from any elected officials,
So that was a big issue that past year. A
lot of the concern was this was just more of
the bad administration. So clearly with the Trump administration, he's
(01:41):
saying that we're going to put an end to some
of these executive orders that allowed this, and we'll see
that will be one of the first changes we'll see
in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
Gym Well, as a former president one said, the elections
have consequences, and that certainly will be the case for
Space Command headquarters.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Recall, when the president left office, the US Air Force
had picked a Huntsful for the permanent location for the
Space Command, but then when the Biden administration took over,
they came back and said, no, it's going to stay
in Colorado. So I anticipate with President Trump coming back
(02:21):
in and we get a fair process and you look
at the merits. The Air Force had said that when
you look at infrastructure, when you look at human resources,
when you look at all the defense contractors and the
history cost of living across the board, Huntsville was the
(02:42):
place where Space Command needed to be the permanent location.
So hopefully the President will come back and say, look,
politics was part of the decision making in taking Space
Command away from Alabama, and now we will put it
back where it needs to be. And hopefully we'll hear
that in twenty twenty five as well.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Another area where Alabama could benefit from the incoming administration
widening of I sixty five. The President elect last year,
while visiting Montgomery to be the headliner at an Alabama
Republican Party dinner, said he would make it a priority
to why den I sixty five after speaking about it
with Lieutenant Governor will Ainsworth, who of course is a
very strong supporter of the idea.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
That's exactly right. And so I am hopeful that between
the immigration issue, space Command, and then I sixty five
and other infrastructure issues we have across the state of
Alabama that we will see some major changes based on
President Trump coming to Alabama. And plus you have JD. Vance,
(03:47):
who himself understands Appalachia and Alabama being part of this
entire region the needs that we have when it comes
to economic develop eliament and that will be another advantage
that Alabama has with President Trump and JD. Bance as
(04:09):
Vice President.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Senator Tommy Tubervall has become close with the President elect
and you've seen him front and center on some of
mister Trump's priorities. Also a Senator Katie Brett as well.
But on the House side, in our delegation, you have
Congressman Mike Rodgers as chairman of the powerful House Armed
Services Committee and Congressman Robert Adderholt on the Appropriations Committee.
(04:31):
We can certainly look to them to play major roles
in the next Congress as well.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
That's right when you look at Congressman Rogers Armed Services
and the number of military installations we have up and
down the state, he will play a key role the
next two years. And then you look at Congressman Aderholt
being one of the major appropriators in Congress. We've got
(04:59):
two two powerful members of the United States House of
Representatives right here in Alabama. So we are really set
to be in good shape when it comes to leadership,
and hopefully not just leadership, but conservative leadership who can
serve and represent the values of Alabama when it comes
to leading the nation.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
One of the big stories in twenty twenty four has
been the rise in violent crime across the nation, and
we've seen it here in Alabama as well. Recently, the
city of Birmingham broke its more than ninety year old
record for homicides. Can we expect any action when the
legislature begins the session in February.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Look, there has got to be a priority when it
comes to legislative leadership with the new session coming up
in February of twenty twenty five. Obviously, Birmingham tragically breaking
the records of the number of homicides, but it's been
really across the state of Alabama. You've seen you've seen
(06:01):
mass shootings actually in in UH, Dallas County, Baldwin County, UH,
the horrible shooting in Davidel, Alabama. UH, not too long ago.
It's been over and over, and we want to talk
about gun culture, but you also have to look at
what's going on at our courthouses. You've seen right here
(06:24):
in Jefferson County some really terrible plea deals and weak sentences.
You've got to look across the state, but you also
have to look at what's going on. UH In in Montgomery,
you have far left advocacy groups trying to undo the
criminal justice system to make it weaker, and so that's
(06:44):
why this upcoming legislative session will be very important and
one of the issues you mentioned, we really do need
truth in sentencing in Alabama to make sure that when
someone is sentenced they serve the time that is they
are sentenced to, because crime victims are not really getting
the justice they deserve.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
I'm jim Ferrede with Republican former state Representative Paul de
Marco reviewing some of the top stories of twenty twenty
four and look ahead to the new year. State Representative
reed Ingram's profiled a bill for the next session that
would allow the governor or Attorney general to appoint a
police chief in high crime jurisdictions. But what about the
problems in the courthouses.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Look, I think that's an issue that they really addressed
to Montgomery about the police and we've seen it here
in Birmingham. But you got to look at what's going
on with some of the district attorneys and some of
the prosecutions, but also some of the judges who are
approving some of these plea deals are just not taking
(07:47):
the opportunity to send it to violent criminals to the
time they deserve after their crimes. Another issue is corrections.
We've seen there are individuals who've been sentenced to prison
time for murder and they're out doing work release and
that has been an issue that has been raised by
crime victims. And so there are a number of issues
(08:08):
that state representative and senators need to look at this
upcoming session that are a real concern when it comes
to the criminal justice system in Alabama.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Well, one topic that never seems to go away in
Montgomery is gambling. In the last session, the gambling bill
went down to defeat, failing in the Senate by a
single vote after passing the House. Do you see another
attempt at a gambling bill in the upcoming session or
as the door closed for now?
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Well, that's one of those million dollar questions. The gambling
Constitutional Amendment, the comprehensive bill that had come up for
a vote lost by one vote in the Senate. There
was a lot of work, a lot of time in
the House on this bill. As a matter of fact,
House members like it took away from other issues. So
the question, Jim, is what will happen in the next session. Well,
the House leadership, the Speaker said, look, if there's something
(08:54):
that's going to happen with gambling, it's going to have
to originate the Senate. We took up way too much
time in the House. So then you look at the Senate.
There's new leadership in the Senate, there's a new pro
tem in the Senate, and the question is will they
take that up? And basically a lot of the senators
say the votes are not there. Actually it's lost votes
(09:16):
since they came up the first time, and so there's
the question is will it even come up? And then
the next year will be an election year, and you
really never see anything controversial come up in that last year.
So if it doesn't come up for a vote this year,
it may be another two to three years before you
see this come up again for a vote.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
And then after that last year, a new governor comes in,
and who knows what happens after that point.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Yeah, I think it took up so much oxygen in
last year's legislative session that prevented other important legislation from
coming up. So now anything's possible again. Gambling is one
of those issues that it's been a decade long issues
that comes and go, comes and go, So We'll watch
what happens, but I wouldn't literally bet on that being
(10:08):
a first and foremost issue that comes out in the
next slash side of session.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
One thing we've been hearing about lately is the overtime
tax exemption. Of course, the legislature repealing the tax on
overtime pay, but lawmakers admit that they seriously underestimated the
fiscal impact of doing that. So now you have State
Senator Arthur Orr floating the idea of putting a cap
on that tax exemption, while the sponsor of the bill,
(10:34):
the House Democratic Leader Anthony Daniels, said that would be
like a tax increase. On the other hand, Senator Or,
as chairman of the Education Budget Committee, is concerned about
the impact of the ETF. So we'll just have to
wait and see how this one plays out.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
Right, Yeah, I think everybody's in favor of maintaining that law.
But at the same time they've got to come back
and say, we've got to get our real calculations. Is
this is going to continue to grow, It's going to
eat into the budget, and so there's going to have
to be a question of priorities. Is that more important
or what is it cutting into so. But first and foremost,
(11:10):
they've really got to understand how did they get to
where they were before, how did those numbers really not
accurately get reflected. When they were debating this in the
legislature and passing it the first time.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
A lot of folks asking whether or not we'll see
another penny taking off the grocery tax. I heard Speaker
led Better say that would have less of an impact
on revenue than the overtime tax exemption, and of course
the grocery tax affects every Alabamian. It sounds like something
they'd like to take a look at.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
If you ask the average voter, they'd say that is
probably one of the most important things is taking sales
tax off of food. That there's no question that is
very popular. Most states have some sort of legislation that
does not tax food. So that's one of those issues
the voters want to see. And I know there's a
real effort to take that second off and eventually get
(12:01):
all four cents off, So I think there will be
some discussion about that as well. But unfortunately they're gonna
have to to really look across the board. You know,
what cuts are you gonna make? But you also say, hey,
is Alabama government running as efficiently as it could be.
We're seeing what's going on with the Trump administration and
(12:22):
the efforts to really streamline government. We need to look
across the Alabama I think there are some opportunities if
you look at the number of buildings owned by the
state and leases, there's some question about could Alabama state
government run more efficiently with some of their facilities. So
I think those discussions will be held as well.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
Maybe we'll have an Alabama version of Dog that looks
for areas where we can increase efficiency.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Yeah, there are going to be a lot of budget
discussion because you know, the state's losing some of the
federal COVID dollars. Those have to be spent. By twenty
twenty six, you've seen some income being reduced because not
only tax exemptions, but some other issues. So we've had
(13:09):
record budgets for the general fund and education in the
past three years post COVID, But now you're going to
have to start seeing some streamline and some priorities made
when it comes to how are you going to fund
state government?
Speaker 1 (13:23):
And you have some special interests out there who are
still pushing for a medicaid expansion. The Feds will give
you the upfront money, but then the state is on
the hook for the costs moving forward, and the governor
and legislative leaders have indicated that is something we just
cannot afford.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Yeah, that's exactly right. So Alabama state representatives, the Senator
and Governor Ivy are really sitting down at this point
before they go back in session in February and taking
the pen to paper to determine what stays at its
current budget levels and what may get flashed to balance
(14:01):
the budget, which is important in Alabama. The constitution requires
a balance budget, so that is one good thing as
opposed to Washington c where they get more and more
in debt.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
And of course that's when you see those reductions start
to kick in. Is when we have to do it
because we just don't have the same level of revenue
coming in.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
Yeah. So I anticipate that when we get the first
view at the governor's budget, there will be a lot
of areas that they say they don't have any choice
but to cut. We'll just kind of see what parts
of state government.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
That will be many issues to keep an eye on,
and we will be doing that in the year ahead.
It's been quite a twenty twenty four one will certainly
remember for a long long time, and we want to
thank you for joining US Republican former state Representative Paul
DeMarco for a review of some of the top stories
of twenty twenty four and look ahead to twenty twenty five.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
You do you're listening to Viewpoint Alabama, a public affairs
program from the Alabama Radio Network.
Speaker 4 (15:05):
It's December, and although National Adoption Month was technically last month,
this is also a great month to talk about this
important topic because when you think about the Advent story,
Joseph was very much an adoptive heaven or earthly father
of Jesus. Hello, I'm John Mounts and this week on
Viewpoint Alabama, I'm joined by Herbie Nole. He is the
president and executive director of Lifeline Child's Children's Services, a
(15:27):
leading Christian organization dedicated to defending the fatherlous and vulnerable
children worldwide. Herbie, Welcome to Viewpoint.
Speaker 5 (15:34):
John, Thanks for having me.
Speaker 4 (15:35):
There is no more noble cause than taking the challenge
of adopting and raising a child that's not your own.
But as challenging as it is, it can also be rewarding.
Speaker 5 (15:43):
Why is that, Yeah, I think because we're doing something
for someone else, right, And I think so much of
our culture is about how can I earn more? What
can I do for myself? How can I approve my
own status and setting. But even as you talk about
you look at what Joseph did in the Advent season.
He laid down his right, he laid down his reputation
in order to care for his betrothed who was with child.
(16:05):
And in the same way as Americans and as Alabamians,
when we reach out and take care of the vulnerable,
it's doing something outside of ourselves for the greater cause
of humanity, and as an organization committed to God's word,
Lifeline would say, it's also doing a god giving call
of caring for others.
Speaker 4 (16:21):
And as noble as it is, there's a lot of
It's not just as simple as I think I'd like
a kid. There's a lot of things that you have
to do to prepare to be a father or a
mother who's going to adopt a child, And rightly so,
because you don't want people. This isn't a decision you
just kind of wake up going, I think I'll adopt
a kid. You have to really think about it, pray
about it, to decide if it's right for you, if
(16:41):
it's right for your family. And that's one of the
reasons I guess there are so many barriers. But once
you decide that it is right for you, that's kind
of what your organization does is to sort of get
those parents perspective, parents connected with prospective adoptees that's right.
Speaker 5 (16:56):
You know, what we always say is it takes the
right parent, the right place, time, with the right qualifications
to be able to bring a child into their home.
And so our part is to find that child that
needs a family, but also to take that family through
the process to see, you know, what type of child,
with what type of needs from where, what system is
best for your family? Is going to make sure that
(17:18):
we're not just stewarding the life of the child well
in placing that child with a family, but we're also
steward in that family well, to make sure that we
don't inadvertently place a child in their home that's not
going to be a good fit, that maybe upsets the
dynamic of their home in a way that's neither good
for that family or for that child.
Speaker 4 (17:36):
Many of the children that you place. Are they often
are they newborns or are they you know, five ten,
all across the map? How does it usually land?
Speaker 5 (17:45):
Yeah, So each program that we have through adoption and
foster care are different. So typically in foster care, we're
going to see older children, ages five and up, sometimes
even sibling groups. Through inter country adoption, we're going to
see sibling groups, older children, children, maybe with some special needs.
And then domestically, typically our domestic adoption program is going
(18:06):
to be younger children, even newborns and infants. And so
the spectrum ranges from newborns to teenagers with all types
of needs and challenges that they might have. And certainly
the longer a child has been in care, either foster
care or the care of an orphanage, it's just the
amount of needs that they have they're going to increase
incrementally by the number of years that they were in.
Speaker 4 (18:27):
Care, and that's why it's probably good to get them
adopted into a stafe and safe and stable environment as
soon as possible. I've heard reports for people who have
adopted children internationally, especially from countries like China, that a
lot of times these children they are developmentally delayed, just
because they've not received any significant human interaction for the
first year or two of their life. So you might
(18:48):
adopt someone who is chronologically four, but they might have
more the social skills of an eighteen month old.
Speaker 5 (18:56):
Yeah, and if you think about it, you know, even
the way that God has ordained birth to happen and
a mom to take care of a child. When a
child is young, they're held a lot, they get a
lot of eye contact, they're held close to the skin,
and all of those things scientists will now tell you
really start with the brain development, with social development, with
(19:16):
social cues. When a child is not being held regularly
by a mom or a dad, not having the type
of love and care, eye contact, touch, but is more
in a in a crib, being cared for only a
few times a day, they lose that sensory integration that
they need. And there's actually, if if anybody really is
interested in more information, there's a there's a training called
(19:38):
tbri I Trust Based Relational Intervention and it came out
of Texas Christian University where they actually explored children and
they said children who had the touch, that had the senses,
that were really cared for did well cognitive much well more,
much much better cognitively than those children who were not.
Now what I would tell any family that's listening saying, well,
(19:58):
never will I adopt a child that's older than an infant.
There's so many things we've learned now though, to help
those kids catch up cognitively. So even those kids you
were mentioning they're coming home from China, we're seeing them
function well. We're seeing them do well cognitively because there's tools,
there's therapies and other things we can do to help
them catch up.
Speaker 4 (20:17):
We alluded to this a little earlier, but talks in
more depth with regard to the cost for the adoptive parent.
Like I said, I know it is palpable, but one
of the reasons why is to prove that you have
some skin in the game, you really want to do this.
This isn't just like adopting a puppy. This is like
a very serious decision. So there are costs, but for
a lot of what would otherwise be a very stable
(20:37):
and loving family, the cost puts things out of reach.
What are some places people can turn to to, you know,
kind of defray that cost.
Speaker 5 (20:44):
Yes, the first thing is Alabama has a state tax
credit for those families that are adopting up to five
thousand dollars. A lot of families don't realize that, and
that's a credit that's very lucrative against your state taxes,
and I know most people are going to my state
tax bills never that high. There's also a federal adoption
tax credit that's about fourteen thousand dollars that comes out
of that.
Speaker 4 (21:05):
And I also know that a lot of faith based
organizations make it a priority to help children, our parents
who are looking to adopt find ways to raise money
to be a fundraisers through the church. Sometimes the church
itself has a as a like a fund granting board
that says, you know, we had we put aside this
much money for adoption every year, and you know you
can apply and get grants from your church as well.
Speaker 5 (21:26):
Yeah, even this last you know, last month in November,
I was able to travel to several churches in our state,
and over and over I had families that came up
and said, yeah, my church, help pay this. You know,
show Hope is a great organization, they help pay this.
Life Song help pay this. And then even some families
that said Lifeline helped us. We have our Hope Adoption
Fund even at Lifeline to help dephrase some of the
(21:46):
costs for families. So again, getting those grants, getting that
support is not hard, especially in the state of Alabama.
The bigger thing is definitely going to be can I
maintain Can I bring a stable home to this child
for the long term?
Speaker 4 (22:01):
Herbie, I was just thinking about this. You know, there's
these things that are popping up all of the state
called baby boxes where parents can go, usually a mother
can go and with no questions asked, drop an infant off,
usuallysts at a fire station or something like that. I
think there's four or five of them. Now, have you
guys been the recipient of any of these children that
have been surrendered at one of these baby boxes?
Speaker 5 (22:19):
So we have a couple we've seen what we would
call as a drop in adoption. Typically, what those boxes
are doing is they're going through the state registry and
every licensed child placing agency. They're kind of rotating through
those and so when we come up, we've gotten the
call and certainly we're going to find the home for
that child. You know, certainly I would hope that any
(22:40):
woman would know in the state of Alabama that we
are a completely open state. You don't have to fear
retribution if you don't feel like you can parent. But
I know that these boxes are a safe haven for
those women who, for whatever reason in their life, they
don't feel like they can trust. They don't want to
be persecuted, they don't want to be, you know, accused
of abandonment of their child, and so having those places
(23:03):
where it's safe, it's free, it's an opportunity that's great
for those women. I would just tell all of your
listeners if you know a woman who's walking through that
situation and thinks that they cannot parent their child and
adoption is the right option, encourage them to call Lifeline
or another reputable organization, because what we want to do
is really be able to help that woman not just
with an adoption, but also to be staying connected to
(23:25):
that child, to have letters and pictures and updates, to
be able to know how her child is doing, and
really involve her in the process. So the heart of
Lifeline is not just the child, but we also want
to help that woman. And so while those boxes are good,
sometimes when you don't have the identity of the mom,
it does put that child at a disadvantage. That's less
health information than they have. So I would just tell
(23:48):
anyone those boxes are great, we don't need them to
go away. At the same time, encourage those moms that
they're organizations that will care for her, love on her,
and help protect her rights long term through adoption as well.
Speaker 4 (23:59):
How often does that become an issue where the adoptive mother,
you know, say maybe a couple of years down in
the road, she's cleaning sober, she changes her mind, she
wants to be a part of this child's life, and
then the adoptive parents go, well, I don't know if
we want to have that person be a part of
my child. So does that ever come up or is
that kind of dealt with in a case by case basis.
Speaker 5 (24:16):
It comes up, but it's really dealt with more in
a case by case basis. And what we would do
as an organization is have those conversations with that mom
up front so that the family knows what they would
be agreeing to today or even in the future. We
keep a record so if a family says, hey, if
she ever shows back up as you say, clean sober,
wants interaction, this is this is our line. We're not
(24:36):
willing to cross this line. That way, we can then
counsel that mom and say, hey, we've already talked to
this family. They might be willing to send you a picture,
for instance, or they may be willing to get on
the phone with you once a year, but this is
this is all they're going to do. So we want
to make sure we get capture as much of that
at the time of the placement, because we don't want,
you know, misunderstanding. We don't want disenfranchised ideas or unclear
(25:00):
concepts with the future hold both for that mom but
also for that family. We don't want any surprises for
that family who's trying to maintain normalcy and trying to
raise that child. In the same way, we don't want
to over promise and underdeliver to a mom.
Speaker 4 (25:12):
So it sounds like lifeline. Not only you don't just
say drop the kid with a parents say all right,
have a good life. You are kind of involved as
the journey continues to sort of help all along the way,
especially with situations like that.
Speaker 5 (25:24):
One hundred percent, we would tell any family that we're
here for you to help you raise your child, and
we would tell any mom we're there for you well
past the pregnancy. Our heart and our aim is to
see these children and these women and these families so
transformed that they're able to walk in wholeness and healing.
And so that means even with adoptive families that might
be listening, we have counseling, we have education services for
(25:45):
your child. We want to come alongside of you to
help you be able to get through any hurdles or
obstacles that might come. We have families that we worked
with in nineteen eighty one that we're still very much
in contact with. As a matter of fact, just had
a child adopted in nineteen eighty five that's come back
to adopt.
Speaker 4 (26:00):
That's what I was going to ask about. Does that
ever happen where an adopted child realizes how important the
adoption was, what a role it played in their life,
and so they opt to adopt themselves.
Speaker 5 (26:08):
One hundred percent As a matter of fact, and you know,
not that we were practicing numerology, but it so happened
that the hundredth child that we placed, she and her
husband ended up adopting the fifteenth hundredth domestic adoption that
we had, and it just happened to work that way.
But yeah, we have a lot of kids that have
been adopted experienced adoption that will come back and say, hey,
(26:30):
this was such a gift to me. I want to
give that gift forward to another child. The other thing
we see a lot of is biological children in families
that adoption was a reality that are coming and say, hey,
my parents adopted. I wasn't maybe the adopted child. I
was a biological child, but I saw what a gift
it was to me as a sibling, what a gift
it was to that child in my family, and I
also want to adopt. So it really is something that
(26:52):
you see. The families today have been touched by adoption
in a special way in a generation past.
Speaker 4 (26:57):
And there are so many stories of success. You go
back of famous people that you look into the background
and go, oh, I had no idea that they were
adopted or that they adopted. Someone Ronald. I'm trying to
think all the people who have adopted or been adopted
over there the years.
Speaker 5 (27:10):
Herbert Hoover, the President, Ronald Reagan adopted Michael Reagan, and
most people when Michael Reagan started his talk show had
no idea until he came out and said he was adopted,
that he had been adopted, And so you know, we
could continue to go on with the celebrities and the
people that we know. But I think most people would
be surprised of just even in your core relationships, your
sphere of influence, how many people have been touched by
(27:31):
adoption who it's not a part of what the way
they introduced themselves, but adoption is a part of their
story that you would have no idea that they were adopted.
I have the opportunity right now even to teach a class,
and one of my students came up several weeks ago
to share his own story about adoption and his mom
and just different things about his story. I would have
(27:51):
never known just by looking at him obviously or being
around him. He's just a member of this class, and
so what we don't realize is there's so many of
those around us. And what I like to say is
a lot of times the newspaper media will say, well,
this child was adopted if they did something negatively, But
we don't say stuff about a star honor student, well
(28:12):
they were adopted because they're just a student. And so
I think a lot of times we incorrectly label adoption
as something that's less than as opposed to seeing something
that's really life giving and very fulfilling to a child
and a family.
Speaker 4 (28:25):
Herbie Norle with Lifeline Children's Services for people who are
interested in perhaps beginning this journey or maybe just even
going as far as to dip their toe in to
see what it's all about. Where can people turn.
Speaker 5 (28:35):
Yeah, so they can always visit our website at Lifeline
child dot org. I would tell any person in Alabama,
you know, don't be afraid of DHR, your County DHR.
Your County DHR is a great place to go even
to say, hey, I'd like to be a respite family
and what does that mean? That means I'm just going
to take care of a foster child when the foster
parent needs to go on have a break, or have
a date or have a night out. You know, we
(28:57):
can also get you to your county offices as well.
We can help you learn about inner country adoption, domestic adoption. Certainly,
we would love to talk to anyone at Lifeline child
dot org. Our number here in Alabama is two O
five nine six seven eight one to one, and then
we're on every social media at Lifeline child.
Speaker 4 (29:13):
And so one more time, because people a lot of
times they don't have a pencil in hand when you
give the number, so one more time, a little bit
more slowly.
Speaker 5 (29:19):
That number again is two oh five nine six seven
zero eight one one. And then if you remember Lifeline Child,
we're Lifeline child dot org and Lifeline Child on all
social media platforms.
Speaker 4 (29:32):
Are renewal from Lifeline Children's Services. Thank you so much
for joining me.
Speaker 5 (29:36):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
John.
Speaker 3 (29:37):
You've been listening to Viewpoint Alabama, a public affairs program
from the Alabama Radio Network. The opinions expressed on Viewpoint
Alabama are not necessarily those of the staff, management, or
advertisers of this station.
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