"[James Payne] has basically and publicly said, 'I have no interest in funding it,' " [John Broden] says. "They think these families will still adopt. They don't think it's important for the children."

"They just keep running into the brick wall that is the Department of Child Services when it comes to this issue," he says. "I've been supportive of DCS on a number of issues," adds Broden, a former Child Protective Services attorney. "I just think this is one issue where they're wrong."

Elkhart parent [Julia Frick] says the adversarial adoption process "was hard, because at every turn you want to say, 'It's just money.' But then at every turn you have to say to yourself, 'It's about the kids ... and their standard of living.' "