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Families With Children from China Family Camp 2012 |
The Families With Children From China Family Camp started with a vision of two adoptive moms and has become a great annual tradition shared with fellow adoptive families. This year is their 3rd annual Family Camp at beautiful Camp Namanu in Sandy, Oregon. The camp is set for October 5th-7th, 2012. Registration is open and we encourage families to register early as they've filled up each year.
Who Can Attend?
Registration is open to families (and their friends) who have adopted from China or Asia. FCC membership is not required. If extended family want to join you, great, invite them along too. The common thread is adoption from China and Asia. FCC wants camp to be relaxing and fun and a safe place for our children to feel “at home”.
All the Details
Please visit the website at http://www.fccfamilycamp.com/ for all the details and registration information. Whether this is your first time considering Family Camp or a returning family, FCC is glad to have you join in the fun in 2012!
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ASIA's response to the NY Times Article |
You may have seen this article (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/05/world/asia/05kidnapping.html?_r=2) in the NY Times about child abductions in China. It has created much discomfort and frustration amongst adoptive parents and adoptive parents alike. As a result we'd like to share our response and opinion on the topic. Please know that we are always here to allay your concern on this topic or any other adoption topic.
"Recently the New York Times published an article reviewing several old cases of child abductions from Longhui County in Hunan Provence, China between 1999 and 2006. Since the potential for child trafficking is an issue that greatly concerns our families, as well as us here at ASIA, we thought we would take a moment to share a couple of important points on this topic:
• At no time has the Chinese government ever condoned the illegal removal of children from their birth families to place them with adoptive families in order to make money. These actions have been conducted by a very few corrupt officials or local criminal gangs. Over the last few years the Chinese government has been aggressively cracking down on traffickers, which is evident by them capturing and breaking up two child-trafficking gangs within the last six months. Additionally, the Chinese authorities continue to evaluate additional steps to determine a child’s legitimate status as an orphan.
• Contrary to how this may be presented by the media, this problem is not widespread. The number of children being abducted and being made available for adoption is miniscule compared to the thousands of children that are legitimate orphans and in great need of permanent, loving families.
• The number of non-special needs adoptions has decreased and the majority of adoptions now are primarily special needs. As many of you know already, the Chinese culture as a whole is not yet accepting of children with special needs, so they are not adopted within China and in particular would not be targeted by traffickers.
• ASIA and CCCWA are parties to the Hague Convention and work hard to support the regulations put forth by The Hague Convention, which is highly concerned with the prevention of child trafficking. This is why ASIA makes every effort to work with the Chinese authorities to ensure that all our adopted children have proper documentation before they are adopted and enter the U.S. The U.S. Government is also very particular about receiving legitimate documentation proving a child's orphan status before allowing a child into the U.S.
• Part of the process to prevent child trafficking in children that are available for adoption includes placing a finding ad in local newspapers in China with the child’s photo. If a child were stolen, it would be likely that parents looking for that child would recognize their photo.
• ASIA’s mission is to find families for legitimate orphans in need and we wouldn’t continue to advocate for the children of China if we thought any of our placements were in any way unethical. In fact, ASIA is absolutely committed to maintaining integrity in adoptions and we strongly support the ideals of the Hague Convention.
As an organization who works with the Chinese government every day, we hope that this helps put the media reports in perspective and dispel any concerns about adopting from China. If you have any additional questions or concerns, we encourage you to contact us."
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CCAA announces significant changes |
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The China Centre for Children’s Welfare and Adoption (CCCWA…formally known as the CCAA) has announced some significant changes in the next several months. The changes are related to homestudy requirements and post placement reports.
As you may already know, international adoption is continually changing and the China Centre for Children’s Welfare and Adoption (CCCWA…formally known as the CCAA) is making some significant changes in the next several months.
For families who have not yet started their home study process or who anticipate having their dossier submitted to China after October 1, 2011, the following are new requirements:
• All home studies and post placement reports must be completed by Hague accredited agencies only
• There must be four face–to-face meetings with a social worker
• Families must have at least three reference letters sent directly to the home study agency. If the applicants have a child over the age of 18, it is preferred that the adult child write one of the letters, covering his/her relationship with parents, evaluation of their merits and shortcomings, discipline and any family violence or maltreatment or reason to believe the parents are not suitable to adopt a child. If the parents have children in school, it is preferred that one letter be written by a teacher.
• Families with a history of receiving counseling, with a history of alcohol problems, mental health issues or abuse of any kind, or other reasons which the social worker deems necessary, are required to have a professional psychological evaluation
• Pre-adoptive education must be a total of 12 hours or more
For all families receiving their Travel Approval after August 1, 2011, the following new requirements regarding post placement reports will apply:
• All post placement reports must be completed by Hague accredited agencies
• Reports must be prepared at one month, six months, twelve months, two years, three years and five years after adoption
• For adoptees who are close to fourteen years old at adoption, reports are required following the above format until the adoptee turns 18 years old
• Reports due at two, three and five years after adoption should include doctor reports and school evaluations and if applicable, a short essay by the adoptee describing their everyday life if he/she is at least 10 years old
• Each post placement report must include at least eight photos of the child
Additionally, the CCCWA also indicated their interest in future visits to the U.S. to see how adopted children from China are doing with their new families as a way to continue their support of intercountry adoption.
As usual, we appreciate everyone’s ability to remain flexible in order to meet these new requirements and we will continue to keep you aware of new developments as they arise.
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CCAA Single Parent Adoption Notice |
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March 1, 2011
The CCAA announced that single women will be able to adopt again from China, starting March 15th!
The CCAA is opening the program to aid in finding good families for their Special Focus Children.
Special Focus Children are:
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Those who have been waiting on the shared list for more than two months. These children are older (pre-school and school age) and have an identified special need
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Or school age children who are either healthy or have a special need and have been on the shared list for more than 2 months.
You qualify for this program when:
The following is the notice released by the CCAA:
--Begin Notice--
Government departments and adoption agencies in receiving countries, In order to promote special needs child adoption and guarantee the basic interests of the orphaned and disabled children, CCAA decides to accept the adoption applications from female single applicants to adopt according to the requirements listed in this notice, starting from March 15, 2011:
- Female single applicants are allowed to adopt special focus children listed on the special Needs System of CCAA.
- One applicant can only adopt one special focus child at a time, with an interval of at least one year between two adoptions.
- The applicant shall have reached the age of 30 years and are under 50. For applicants over 50, the age difference between the child to be adopted and the applicant shall be no more than 45 years.
- The applicant shall provide her civil status certificate. Unmarried applicants shall provide certification for being single and non-homosexual; divorced applicants shall provide the divorce certificate of the last marriage; and widowed applicants shall provide the death certificate of their ex-spouse.
- The reason of being single and attitude towards marriage. Applicants shall have clear indication of willingness to appoint male figures as role models for the adopted child, and welcome male friends to join family gatherings.
- Applicants shall have received inter-country adoption training and training specifically for special needs child adoption so as to understand fully the physical and psychological needs of special needs children.
- Detailed nurturing and rehabilitation plan. Applicants shall be qualified personally and socially for caring special needs children and have wide social and family supporting network which can provide assistance any time.
- Guardians appointed by the applicants shall provide written statement as consent to act as the guardian of the adopted child. X. If the applicant has a stable relationship and lives with a male partner, t he requirements of couple applicants shall be applied.
- Applicants shall be healthy both physically and mentally according to the requirements by CCAA for prospective adoptive couples.
- Applicants shall be law abiding with no criminal records, and have good moral quality and conduct
- The family annual income shall reach $10,000 per family member, including the prospective adoptee and the family net assets value should reach $100,000.
- The applicant shall have good medical insurance which can cover the medical expense of the adopted child.
- Applicants shall be experienced in child caring or be occupied in child-related fields, such as doctor, nurse, teacher, child psychological counselor, etc. It's best that the applicants have already had successful experience in caring for special needs children.
- The number of children in the applicant's family under the age of 18 years shall be no more than two, and the youngest one should have reached the age of 6 years old.
- Applicants shall be fully prepared for adopting a special focus child.
- Social workers shall provide the following information fully and timely in the home study reports besides family visit interviews: Adoption motive. The decision to adopt a special focus child shall be well-considered. Applicants shall be capable of caring for a special need child and be responsible for the well-being of the child.
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