The establishment of adoption as a child welfare
institution, and as a major elelment in the array of child welfare
services, did not occur until the twentieth century was well along. But
its intent to benefit the adopting parents rather than the children has
been a persistent characteristic of adoption as a child welfare
service.

From Children of the Storm: Black Children and American Child Welfare
by Andrew Billingsley and Jeanne M. Giovannoni, the seminal text on the
historical precedent of the institutionalized racism and disparities of
African American children in the United States Child Welfare system.p. 36.