Blue Steel and Jasmine

China Adoption Program Update
From: Bethany Christian Services

For those of you who want to know the latest and greatest on our adoption. Lots of reading, but now you know as much as I do!! We keep praying for this process to quicken. We have now been waiting 2 1/2 years. I hope we don't get pushed out to the 4 year mark! If you have any questions after reading, feel free to call or email and ask.



China Adoption Program Update
As 2009 closes, we reflect back on a year of celebration and challenges within the China adoption program. The CCAA issued traditional referrals for one calendar month (March 2006) worth of LID’s (log-in-date). Although these families waited three plus years for a referral, they entered the program when the wait was only twelve months long. While we rejoice with these families who welcomed their Chinese child home in 2009, we also empathize with the families that continue to wait for their family to grow. BCS welcomed home 101 Chinese children in 2009; 25 (traditional referrals with non-identified special needs) and 76 (special needs referrals).

The China Team is frequently asked to predict the future of China adoptions, particularly the time frames for a referral. Unfortunately, we cannot do this. No agency can do this. Websites that offer a time line predictor when you enter your LID cannot do this. CCAA cannot even do this. The nature of Intercountry adoption includes the unpredictability and the unknown. No one in the world can predict if/when more babies/children in China will become orphaned, nor do any of us hope for this. None of us can predict how many families around the world will submit new dossiers to CCAA, withdraw from the adoption process, accept referrals of waiting children, or complete their traditional adoption. All these factors influence the wait time for a referral. We have witnessed the CCAA make great progress in carefully monitoring and processing their adoptions, expediting the referrals of waiting children and opening new programs to help serve underprivileged children with care. Not having control of this adoption process can be very frustrating for all involved, but thankfully, we have a God that is in control of all of this for us. We praise Him for this process, for the gifts and for the lessons learned while awaiting his reveal.

As we celebrate the birth of our Savior and rejoice in His presence in our lives, we are reminded of all the Greatness that we are blessed with. We congratulate all the families that grew through adoption this past year and warmly embrace those that continue to wait for that amazing gift.

China “Waiting Child” Program Update and Statistics

These numbers are approximate and can change daily. The numbers change when new families submit their paperwork to join the program, when families are matched with a referral or when families withdraw from the program.

As of this afternoon, there are 65 families (two-parent and single applicants) in the China Waiting Child program.

21 have a LID in 2006
18 have a LID in 2007
5 have a LID in 2008
12 have a LID in 2009
9 have an approved home study but not yet LID

Although these numbers resemble the May 2009 SN program update, there has been approximately 50% turnover of families. Many families have come in and out of this program in the last six months. There is no “master list” of which family will get matched next. Please see below for the matching process.

Of the 65 current families, 55 are requesting a female referral under the age of five with minor/correctable special needs. The 10 remaining families are open to male referrals, female referrals over the age of five years old or female referrals with more moderate/severe special needs.

Bethany Christian Services currently has 60 families matched with referrals of special needs children, all awaiting travel! Some of these families are matched with “Camp kids” while others were matched through the CCAA shared portal.

REFERRALS:
The referrals that we’ve matched to date range from 8 months old to 14 years old, boys and girls, but the majority of the referrals are of females 1-5 years old with minor/correctable special needs. We have families that have been in the waiting child program since it’s inception in August 08, we have families that have turned down referrals (sometimes multiple), we have families that have “lost” referrals (the child has become unadoptable or new information was more severe than initially anticipated) and we have families who are matched within hours or days of submitting their paperwork.


MATCHING:
When the special needs referrals are presented on the CCAA portal, some require a family to have a dossier LID while others do not. Bethany Christian Services and the CCAA require a family to have an approved home study to match a referral to a family, while The Hague Convention requires USCIS (I-171H or I-797) approval prior to officially accepting a referral matching. When there is a referral that can be matched to multiple families, The China Team takes great care in prayerfully determining which family is appropriate. We review the personal letters that families compose, we review the home study and dossier carefully, we consult with your social worker, note previous experience with the particular special need, and we review your local medical resources, to name a few subjective factors. Beyond these subjective factors, we also must take into consideration objective factors such as your LID, how long you’ve been in the SN program, and if you’ve been considered for previous referrals. Oftentimes, but not always, a family with a dossier through the review room may have a faster paperwork process at CCAA. Other times, the child’s Province or orphanage may influence the expediency of the CCAA paperwork process and timing. It is difficult to predict time frames for a special needs adoption as they can vary from case to case. We’ve also noticed that I-800 Hague families take a little longer for travel clearance with a few extra paperwork processing steps involved.


CURRENT NEEDS:
The China Team welcomes all families into our Waiting Child program. Please consult with your social worker for the paperwork and assessment process and additional training requirements. We currently need families for:
-Children of either gender and age with: moderate to severe ophthalmic diseases/disorders (including blindness), moderate to severe heart conditions, mental delays, significant developmental delays, missing or deformed (one or more) limbs, cerebral palsy, spinal bifida, spinal meningocele, chromosome disorders, genitalia deformities
-Children of either gender over the age of four with medical conditions: Hepatitis B, CL/CP and various heart conditions
-Boys aged 3+ with any medical diagnosis
-Boys and girls without any identified special needs over the age of 7

If you have submitted your WC program paperwork (previously known as COP 1 documents) and would like to provide The China Team with a more detailed or thorough list of special needs you are open to considering, please check with your social worker. It is appreciated and helpful during the matching process.

We just completed our “Beijing #2 Camp” for special needs children. Once the official referral paperwork on the children we met with comes through from CCAA, we will begin matching them with families in our WC program. We will then begin advocating for the unmatched referrals shortly there after. More details to follow!

The China Team recognizes that not all adoptive families are prepared for or open to a special needs adoption. We respect each individual family’s openness and limitations of parenthood. Families that wish to be considered for a special needs adoption will need to demonstrate preparedness through assessment and additional trainings to qualify. The China Team is thankful for the many families that have opened their hearts and homes to children that wait… and although they may not be perfect to most, they’re perfect to Him which is why He has chosen to share them with us.

Thank you for taking the time to read our lengthy update on our China adoption programs.