Update from CEO’s Visit to CCAA
In October Janet Mintzer, PSBI’s CEO, and Elizabeth Beister, a member of the PSBI Board of Directors, visited the offices of the China Center of Adoption Affairs. It was a productive meeting.
· Time frames – Although we asked CCAA for guidance about the time frame between dossier registration and referral, they said that it is too difficult to predict at this time. Based on other conversations had during this trip, we remain optimistic that (1) the wait will not go up to 4 years and that (2) we will start to see a decline in wait times now that the Olympics are over. (As we’ve stated in previous newsletters, we don’t anticipate that this will happen quickly but we do hope to see it happening within the coming year.)
· Waiting child program - We finally received a clear explanation regarding why we have not been admitted to the new waiting child program. Because the new waiting child system is fairly time-intensive for CCAA, they prefer to work with agencies that will be placing large numbers of waiting children. They assign one staff person to work with each agency and it takes a lot of time and training to work together well. Their concern with small agencies is that, because there is not the volume of placements as there are at large agencies, CCAA’s staff will have to spend a disproportionate amount of their time with the small agencies. Welcome House® has always had a small China program, which has been one of the things that draws families to us – personal service. In our first full calendar year of the waiting child program we placed 16 waiting children and in the entire time we had a waiting child program we were able to match and place 18 of the 20 children referred to us. However, in comparison to some larger agencies, this is a very small number. CCAA encouraged us to continue to build the capacity of our program in order to successfully place larger numbers of children.
In addition, we learned that CCAA and the U.S. Central Authority (the Department of State) have been having ongoing discussions regarding the current waiting child system and the new Hague regulations in the U.S. Because of this, the committee that oversees the waiting child program has not met in quite some time to evaluate the admission of new agencies into the program.
I know that the news regarding the waiting child program will be very disappointing for some waiting families. If you have any questions about how this will affect your family or options for your family, please don’t hesitate to contact us at 215-249-0100 or welcomehouse@pearlsbuck.org. (I apologize but I will be out of the office next week so if you would like a timely answer it’s probably best not to email me directly. However, if you are able to wait until the following week for a response I would be happy to provide one.)
Important Update from USCIS
On October 14, 2008 USCIS issued a ruling affecting families that filed an I-600A prior to April 1, 2008 and who are adopting from a Hague convention country. Families are currently eligible for one free extension on their initial I-600A application. When that free extension nears expiration, USCIS will now allow families to file one additional I-600A rather than converting to the Hague form I-800A, as previously reported. The second I-600A will also be eligible for a free extension. In other words families that filed an I-600A to adopt from a Hague convention country prior to April 1, 2008 are now eligible to:
· File an initial I-600A (This has already been completed)
· Get a free extension on the initial I-600A – This will be valid for 18 months from the date of expiration of the initial approval.
· File a second I-600A (with filing fee) – This MUST be filed before the initial free extension expires. If the initial free extension has already expired, families must file an I-800A (the Hague form).
· Get a free extension on the second I-600A
To read the announcement visit http://www.uscis.gov/files/article/adoption_14oct08.pdf and to read a FAQ form regarding the announcement visit http://www.uscis.gov/files/article/adoptionFAQ_14oct08.pdf.
