Hi Everyone,
On Tuesday, CCAA announced progress on matching. They have now matched dossiers registered through May 29th, 2006. That represents six calendar days, and four business days worth of matches. The dossier review date remains the same, 11/30/2009. I am very pleased to announce that our next group of families will leave for China to meet their children on January 13th, 2011.
We had 15 children from China placed with loving Welcome House families in 2010. I will post additional program updates in early 2011, but I wanted to wish everyone in the Welcome House China program a happy holiday and a happy, healthy and peaceful 2011. I anticipate having lots more good news to report in January.
Amy
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Friday, December 3, 2010
NOVEMBER? CHINA PROGRAM UPDATE
Good Morning! We have all kinds of positive news to report with the China program.
First, while we had no placements from China in the month of November, we currently have two families in China right now who are having an amazing experience. Both families are Hague cases who were matched with waiting children this summer. They have both successfully completed their adoptions at the provincial level and just arrived safely in Guangzhou for the final leg of their journey. Both families left for China on Thanksgiving Day and will be home in December. When these two babies arrive home it will bring our number of placements for China for the fiscal year, which began on July 1st to 10, and our number of placements for the 2010 calendar year to 15.
We sent 4 new dossiers to China in the last two weeks. Three dossiers were sent on November 19th, and 1 dossier was sent today on Dec. 3rd. We have sent 7 dossiers to China FYTD and 9 dossiers CYTD. Almost all new applicants to the program. Congratulations to all four families, who all wish to be matched with waiting children.
As I previously reported referrals for our next dossier group with a log in date of May 19th, 2006 arrived at our offices on November 1st, 2010. Both families waited 54 months for their referrals of a healthy child, but both little girls are BEAUTIFUL and were just 7 months old at the time of referral, and I am thrilled to announce that both family's travel approvals arrived at our offices yesterday. We anticipate that these families will leave for China in early January.
We have four other families who have been successfully matched with waiting children who are waiting for travel. One of these four families has their travel approval, and one family has received their letter of confirmation, and returned it to CCAA this week.
I am thrilled to announce that Becki Buck, (keep up the great work, Becki), matched two more families with waiting children from the shared list right before the Thankgiving Holiday and both families
have already received their pre-approvals from the CCAA web-site and their letters of confirmation should be on the way to the United States. Both families are grandfathered i-600 A cases who thought long and hard about the waiting child option before deciding to move forward. The children are both beautiful, a 14 month old boy and a 19 month old girl. If you are a grandfathered i-600 a case in process, please know that Becki and I are always happy to talk to you about this option, and she can match you very quickly if you elect to go this route, depending upon the special needs you are willing to consider, of course. However, neither Becki nor I will call you to encourage this option, because it is a very personal decision, and you and your spouse are the best judges about whether you are the right adoptive parents for a waiting child.
In general, letters of confirmation are generated very quickly when grandfathered i-600 a cases are matched with waiting children, because your dossier was literally translated YEARS ago. With i-800 a cases it takes significantly longer for the LOC to be generated, because they have to send your dossier out to be translated, and then review it before the LOC can be issued.
As of November 1st, 2010 CCAA has matched dossiers submitted through May 23rd, 2010 with referrals. This represented 5 calendar days, and 3 business days worth of dossiers. CCAA has reviewed dossiers submitted through November 30th, 2009. There has been no change in matching or review dates yet this month, but we will keep you posted. Our next dossier group that will be matched with healthy children had their dossiers logged in on July 24th, 2006, so it will be some time before our next families are matched with healthy children, but hopefully it will be sometime in the next 8 to 12 months.
One final word about your immigration renewal. Freida and I try hard to track this, and send out update packets to everyone, because we know it is easy to forget about your renewal with the long wait times. Officially your service agreement stipulates that the family's are responsible for monitoring their immigration approval and keeping it current. However, we try our best to send reminders whenever possible, but PLEASE, particularly if you are an out-of-area family with another home study agency, help us to monitor this. You should receive your update packet from your home study agency no later than 3 months prior to the expiration of your immigration approval. For Hague cases renewals happen every 15 months, and a visit to the home is required. For non-Hague cases, renewals happen every 18 months, and no visit to the home is required, unless your state licensing standards require this.
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! The China Waiting Child Program continues to be a wonderful option for families, if it is the right choice for your family.
First, while we had no placements from China in the month of November, we currently have two families in China right now who are having an amazing experience. Both families are Hague cases who were matched with waiting children this summer. They have both successfully completed their adoptions at the provincial level and just arrived safely in Guangzhou for the final leg of their journey. Both families left for China on Thanksgiving Day and will be home in December. When these two babies arrive home it will bring our number of placements for China for the fiscal year, which began on July 1st to 10, and our number of placements for the 2010 calendar year to 15.
We sent 4 new dossiers to China in the last two weeks. Three dossiers were sent on November 19th, and 1 dossier was sent today on Dec. 3rd. We have sent 7 dossiers to China FYTD and 9 dossiers CYTD. Almost all new applicants to the program. Congratulations to all four families, who all wish to be matched with waiting children.
As I previously reported referrals for our next dossier group with a log in date of May 19th, 2006 arrived at our offices on November 1st, 2010. Both families waited 54 months for their referrals of a healthy child, but both little girls are BEAUTIFUL and were just 7 months old at the time of referral, and I am thrilled to announce that both family's travel approvals arrived at our offices yesterday. We anticipate that these families will leave for China in early January.
We have four other families who have been successfully matched with waiting children who are waiting for travel. One of these four families has their travel approval, and one family has received their letter of confirmation, and returned it to CCAA this week.
I am thrilled to announce that Becki Buck, (keep up the great work, Becki), matched two more families with waiting children from the shared list right before the Thankgiving Holiday and both families
have already received their pre-approvals from the CCAA web-site and their letters of confirmation should be on the way to the United States. Both families are grandfathered i-600 A cases who thought long and hard about the waiting child option before deciding to move forward. The children are both beautiful, a 14 month old boy and a 19 month old girl. If you are a grandfathered i-600 a case in process, please know that Becki and I are always happy to talk to you about this option, and she can match you very quickly if you elect to go this route, depending upon the special needs you are willing to consider, of course. However, neither Becki nor I will call you to encourage this option, because it is a very personal decision, and you and your spouse are the best judges about whether you are the right adoptive parents for a waiting child.
In general, letters of confirmation are generated very quickly when grandfathered i-600 a cases are matched with waiting children, because your dossier was literally translated YEARS ago. With i-800 a cases it takes significantly longer for the LOC to be generated, because they have to send your dossier out to be translated, and then review it before the LOC can be issued.
As of November 1st, 2010 CCAA has matched dossiers submitted through May 23rd, 2010 with referrals. This represented 5 calendar days, and 3 business days worth of dossiers. CCAA has reviewed dossiers submitted through November 30th, 2009. There has been no change in matching or review dates yet this month, but we will keep you posted. Our next dossier group that will be matched with healthy children had their dossiers logged in on July 24th, 2006, so it will be some time before our next families are matched with healthy children, but hopefully it will be sometime in the next 8 to 12 months.
One final word about your immigration renewal. Freida and I try hard to track this, and send out update packets to everyone, because we know it is easy to forget about your renewal with the long wait times. Officially your service agreement stipulates that the family's are responsible for monitoring their immigration approval and keeping it current. However, we try our best to send reminders whenever possible, but PLEASE, particularly if you are an out-of-area family with another home study agency, help us to monitor this. You should receive your update packet from your home study agency no later than 3 months prior to the expiration of your immigration approval. For Hague cases renewals happen every 15 months, and a visit to the home is required. For non-Hague cases, renewals happen every 18 months, and no visit to the home is required, unless your state licensing standards require this.
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! The China Waiting Child Program continues to be a wonderful option for families, if it is the right choice for your family.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
NOVEMBER CHINA PROGRAM UPDATE
Dear Welcome House families in the China Program,
We have GREAT NEWS to report!!!
I am absolutely thrilled to announce that our next dossier group whose dossiers were registered on May 19th, 2006, FINALLY received their referrals this past week. Both little girls were very healthy, and were just seven months old at the time of referral. Both families are thrilled and waited a whooping 54 months, from the time their dossiers were registered with CCAA until receiving their match. A BIG CONGRATULATIONS!!! to Andrew and Nina and Andrew and Karen... your patience and perseverance finally paid off.
Even though CCAA has not updated their web-site yet, Li has informed us, that as of October 29th, 2010, CCAA has matched children up through May 23rd, 2006!!!! This means that five calendar days, and three business day's worth of dossiers were matched in October. As far as I know, CCAA's review date remains unchanged. They have reviewed dossiers submitted through November 30th, 2009.
Placement and Travel News
I am also very pleased to announce that we had one placement from China in the month of October. A Big Congratulations goes out to Matt and Tana, and siblings, Timothy, Elisa, and Natalie on the placement of their baby sister Anna. The total number of placements from China for fiscal year 2010-2011 is eight and the total number of placements for the calendar year is 13.
We have four more families matched with waiting children from the shared list who have not had placement yet. Two of these families have their travel approvals, and confirmed visa appointments at the US consulate in Guangzhou and will be leaving for Beijing on November 25th, 2010, Thanksgiving Day! Yeah!! Another family, one of the grandfathered single women allowed to adopt under the old rules, has received and returned her signed letter of confirmation to CCAA the last week of October, and should receive her travel approval in approximately four weeks time by the beginning of December. The final family matched with a waiting child is a brand new Hague family, whose dossier was just logged into the system. They have received their pre-approval through the CCAA web-site, but it always takes just a little longer for the actual Letter of Confirmation to arrive at our offices, for a brand new family, because their dossier has not usually been translated yet. However, hang in there, your letter of confirmation should arrive at our offices shortly.
Applications and Dossier Submissions
We received no new applications for the China Program in the month of October. The total number of applications fiscal year to date (FYTD) is three, and the total number of applications calendar year to date (CYTD) is 13. We sent no dossiers to China in October. However, we have six new families with completed, approved home studies whose dossiers will be sent to China very shortly, in the next two months. We have sent three dossiers to China fiscal year to date, (FYTD) and five dossiers to the Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs calendar year to date, (CYTD). It is anticipated that we will send a total of eleven dossiers to China in 2010. Almost all of the new applicants to the program are families who wish to be matched with waiting children.
I hope you all had a happy Halloween. As always do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns.
Amy
We have GREAT NEWS to report!!!
I am absolutely thrilled to announce that our next dossier group whose dossiers were registered on May 19th, 2006, FINALLY received their referrals this past week. Both little girls were very healthy, and were just seven months old at the time of referral. Both families are thrilled and waited a whooping 54 months, from the time their dossiers were registered with CCAA until receiving their match. A BIG CONGRATULATIONS!!! to Andrew and Nina and Andrew and Karen... your patience and perseverance finally paid off.
Even though CCAA has not updated their web-site yet, Li has informed us, that as of October 29th, 2010, CCAA has matched children up through May 23rd, 2006!!!! This means that five calendar days, and three business day's worth of dossiers were matched in October. As far as I know, CCAA's review date remains unchanged. They have reviewed dossiers submitted through November 30th, 2009.
Placement and Travel News
I am also very pleased to announce that we had one placement from China in the month of October. A Big Congratulations goes out to Matt and Tana, and siblings, Timothy, Elisa, and Natalie on the placement of their baby sister Anna. The total number of placements from China for fiscal year 2010-2011 is eight and the total number of placements for the calendar year is 13.
We have four more families matched with waiting children from the shared list who have not had placement yet. Two of these families have their travel approvals, and confirmed visa appointments at the US consulate in Guangzhou and will be leaving for Beijing on November 25th, 2010, Thanksgiving Day! Yeah!! Another family, one of the grandfathered single women allowed to adopt under the old rules, has received and returned her signed letter of confirmation to CCAA the last week of October, and should receive her travel approval in approximately four weeks time by the beginning of December. The final family matched with a waiting child is a brand new Hague family, whose dossier was just logged into the system. They have received their pre-approval through the CCAA web-site, but it always takes just a little longer for the actual Letter of Confirmation to arrive at our offices, for a brand new family, because their dossier has not usually been translated yet. However, hang in there, your letter of confirmation should arrive at our offices shortly.
Applications and Dossier Submissions
We received no new applications for the China Program in the month of October. The total number of applications fiscal year to date (FYTD) is three, and the total number of applications calendar year to date (CYTD) is 13. We sent no dossiers to China in October. However, we have six new families with completed, approved home studies whose dossiers will be sent to China very shortly, in the next two months. We have sent three dossiers to China fiscal year to date, (FYTD) and five dossiers to the Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs calendar year to date, (CYTD). It is anticipated that we will send a total of eleven dossiers to China in 2010. Almost all of the new applicants to the program are families who wish to be matched with waiting children.
I hope you all had a happy Halloween. As always do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns.
Amy
Thursday, September 30, 2010
SEPTEMBER CHINA PROGRAM UPDATE
Hi Everyone,
Lots of good news, and some disappointing news to report for the China program. First the good news. A big congratulations go out to Mike and Kim on the placement of their beautiful daughter Hannah this month. Hannah is a healthy, happy 21 month old, with a mild correctable medical condition, who was matched from the shared list.
Also we have another family who just left for China last week to meet their daughter. They were originally slated to travel with our September family but we were unable to secure a consulate visa appointment at the same time for them. Consulate appointments are somewhat difficult to secure these days, as there are lots of traveling families and lots of holidays this fall. In fact the consulate has recently asked US agencies to submit five potential visa appointment dates when they submit their visa appointment requests.
Arranging the travel groups is also an extra challenge these days, as we typically have both non-Hague and Hague families who are ready to travel at about the same time. Processing of travel approvals is faster for the non-Hague cases. So I am able to secure non-Hague familys visa appointments first. We try as much as possible to send at least two families together, but we also don't want to hold up families who understandably anxious to bring their children home too long either.
We have two more families both Hague cases, who have their i-800 Approvals, and NVC letters who are slated to travel at the very end of November or very beginning of December. One of these two families already received their travel approval from CCAA last week and the second family's paperwork is currently being processed at the US consulate in Guangzhou. Both families will travel together because all of the travel blackout dates this fall, make staying in Guangzhou in October and November virtually impossible.
Now onto the somewhat disappointing news for our next Welcome House families in the cue. Yesterday CCAA announced that they had matched three more calendar (also three business days) worth of dossiers. CCAA has matched up through May 18th, 2006. However our next dossier group who is more than ready to be matched with healthy child referrals has a log-in date of May 19th, 2006. So they missed the matching by one day! Which was particularly disappointing as CCAA had indicated that they thought we had families in the next group. However, both families are hanging in there, as they will now definitely be in the next group to be matched. The CCAA dossier review date remains unchanged at November 30th, 2010.
I am thrilled to announce that Becki Buck has successfully matched two more families with waiting children from the shared list this month. One of these families was a grandfathered I-600A case, and one family who was successfully matched was a brand new Hague case whose dossier was JUST registered with CCAA in August 2010. Becki Buck continues to do a fantastic job successfully matching families who are open to special needs or mild correctable medical conditions very quickly.
We received 2 applications for the China Program in the month of September. The total number of applications fiscal year (FYTD) is 3, and the total number of applications CYTD is 13. We sent no dossiers to China in September. We have 4 families with completed, approved home studies whose dossiers should be sent to China very shortly. We have sent 3 dossiers FYTD and 5 dossiers CYTD.
Lots of good news, and some disappointing news to report for the China program. First the good news. A big congratulations go out to Mike and Kim on the placement of their beautiful daughter Hannah this month. Hannah is a healthy, happy 21 month old, with a mild correctable medical condition, who was matched from the shared list.
Also we have another family who just left for China last week to meet their daughter. They were originally slated to travel with our September family but we were unable to secure a consulate visa appointment at the same time for them. Consulate appointments are somewhat difficult to secure these days, as there are lots of traveling families and lots of holidays this fall. In fact the consulate has recently asked US agencies to submit five potential visa appointment dates when they submit their visa appointment requests.
Arranging the travel groups is also an extra challenge these days, as we typically have both non-Hague and Hague families who are ready to travel at about the same time. Processing of travel approvals is faster for the non-Hague cases. So I am able to secure non-Hague familys visa appointments first. We try as much as possible to send at least two families together, but we also don't want to hold up families who understandably anxious to bring their children home too long either.
We have two more families both Hague cases, who have their i-800 Approvals, and NVC letters who are slated to travel at the very end of November or very beginning of December. One of these two families already received their travel approval from CCAA last week and the second family's paperwork is currently being processed at the US consulate in Guangzhou. Both families will travel together because all of the travel blackout dates this fall, make staying in Guangzhou in October and November virtually impossible.
Now onto the somewhat disappointing news for our next Welcome House families in the cue. Yesterday CCAA announced that they had matched three more calendar (also three business days) worth of dossiers. CCAA has matched up through May 18th, 2006. However our next dossier group who is more than ready to be matched with healthy child referrals has a log-in date of May 19th, 2006. So they missed the matching by one day! Which was particularly disappointing as CCAA had indicated that they thought we had families in the next group. However, both families are hanging in there, as they will now definitely be in the next group to be matched. The CCAA dossier review date remains unchanged at November 30th, 2010.
I am thrilled to announce that Becki Buck has successfully matched two more families with waiting children from the shared list this month. One of these families was a grandfathered I-600A case, and one family who was successfully matched was a brand new Hague case whose dossier was JUST registered with CCAA in August 2010. Becki Buck continues to do a fantastic job successfully matching families who are open to special needs or mild correctable medical conditions very quickly.
We received 2 applications for the China Program in the month of September. The total number of applications fiscal year (FYTD) is 3, and the total number of applications CYTD is 13. We sent no dossiers to China in September. We have 4 families with completed, approved home studies whose dossiers should be sent to China very shortly. We have sent 3 dossiers FYTD and 5 dossiers CYTD.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
MATCHING AND THE WAIT CONTINUE
I wanted to let everyone know that CCAA made some more progress with reviewing dossiers. They have now reviewed dossiers submitted through 11/30/09. The matching date remains the same 5/15/06... HANG in there families with a dossier log-in date of 5/19/06... it is coming!
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
AUGUST PROGRAM UPDATE
Dear China Families, Contractors, and Welcome House Staff:
Below is a brief update which I just posted to our China Yahoo Group. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. (215) 249-0100 ext. 119
China Program Update
Placements
I am very pleased to announce that we will have six placements from China in the months of July and August. Four Children came home in July. (I previously posted about two children adopted through the shared list who became US citizens when they touched down in early July.) I am also very pleased to report our first placements through the regular referral process took place in the second half of July. Both families matched through the regular referral process waited 49 months for the referral of their daughters, but had an amazing experience in China. A very big congratulations to Barb and to Chuck and Mariann and big brother, Matthew on the placement of their beautiful daughters from Jiangxi province.
Then in early August, we had two more families take off to meet their beautiful daughters. Li has been incredibly busy this summer, with groups literally leaving for China every 2 to 3 weeks! WHEW!! The two little girls just placed with their families this August were both waiting children, under two years of age, from two separate orphanages in Guangdong Province. Heartfelt Congratulations to Steve and Karen and to Eric and Robin on the adoption of their beautiful daughters this month.
The total number of placements so far in the new fiscal year 2010-2011 which just began on July 1st, 2010 is already 6, and the total number of placements calendar year to date is 11.
Pending Travel
We also have two more families who will be leaving for China in early September to meet their daughters. Both families are also adopting waiting children under two years of age. One little girl is from Guangdong province and one little girl is from Guangxi Province. After the September travel group leaves for China, there are two additional families adopting waiting children who have their letters of confirmation and should receive their travel approvals within the next month or so. Finally, we anticipate that our next dossier group, whose log-in date was 5/19/2006 might receive their referrals through the regular process in the next two months. Unfortunately, adoption travel in October and November will be virtually impossible. There are large trade shows in Guangzhou as well as the Asian Games which are slated to take place. There are no hotel rooms available in October and November and all adoption visas must be processed at the US consulate in Guangzhou. Accordingly, I anticipate that our next travel group, after the September families depart, will leave for China in early December 2010.
New Applications and Dossiers submitted
We have received 11 new applications for our China program Calendar year to date. We sent 2 dossiers to China in early August and anticipate sending three more dossiers to China very shortly. We have sent 2 dossiers FYTD and 4 dossiers CYTD.
Current Status of Referrals and Dossier Reviews
As of August 16th, 2010 dossiers that were registered on or before July 31st, 2009 have been reviewed and families with dossiers registered on or before May 15th, 2006 have been successfully matched with children.
CCAA announces new Special Children of Focus Program
CCAA announced this week that they are rolling out a Special Children of Focus program, for harder to place special needs children who have been listed on the shared list for at least two months without an adoptive resource for the child being identified. We will be sharing more details about this initiative as they are shared with us, but adoption agencies will be able to recruit adoptive families for harder to place children, and families will be given up to six months to submit their dossiers to CCAA.
Congratulations to all of our brand new parents this summer. I will post again soon.
Amy Durie
China Program Coordinator
Below is a brief update which I just posted to our China Yahoo Group. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. (215) 249-0100 ext. 119
China Program Update
Placements
I am very pleased to announce that we will have six placements from China in the months of July and August. Four Children came home in July. (I previously posted about two children adopted through the shared list who became US citizens when they touched down in early July.) I am also very pleased to report our first placements through the regular referral process took place in the second half of July. Both families matched through the regular referral process waited 49 months for the referral of their daughters, but had an amazing experience in China. A very big congratulations to Barb and to Chuck and Mariann and big brother, Matthew on the placement of their beautiful daughters from Jiangxi province.
Then in early August, we had two more families take off to meet their beautiful daughters. Li has been incredibly busy this summer, with groups literally leaving for China every 2 to 3 weeks! WHEW!! The two little girls just placed with their families this August were both waiting children, under two years of age, from two separate orphanages in Guangdong Province. Heartfelt Congratulations to Steve and Karen and to Eric and Robin on the adoption of their beautiful daughters this month.
The total number of placements so far in the new fiscal year 2010-2011 which just began on July 1st, 2010 is already 6, and the total number of placements calendar year to date is 11.
Pending Travel
We also have two more families who will be leaving for China in early September to meet their daughters. Both families are also adopting waiting children under two years of age. One little girl is from Guangdong province and one little girl is from Guangxi Province. After the September travel group leaves for China, there are two additional families adopting waiting children who have their letters of confirmation and should receive their travel approvals within the next month or so. Finally, we anticipate that our next dossier group, whose log-in date was 5/19/2006 might receive their referrals through the regular process in the next two months. Unfortunately, adoption travel in October and November will be virtually impossible. There are large trade shows in Guangzhou as well as the Asian Games which are slated to take place. There are no hotel rooms available in October and November and all adoption visas must be processed at the US consulate in Guangzhou. Accordingly, I anticipate that our next travel group, after the September families depart, will leave for China in early December 2010.
New Applications and Dossiers submitted
We have received 11 new applications for our China program Calendar year to date. We sent 2 dossiers to China in early August and anticipate sending three more dossiers to China very shortly. We have sent 2 dossiers FYTD and 4 dossiers CYTD.
Current Status of Referrals and Dossier Reviews
As of August 16th, 2010 dossiers that were registered on or before July 31st, 2009 have been reviewed and families with dossiers registered on or before May 15th, 2006 have been successfully matched with children.
CCAA announces new Special Children of Focus Program
CCAA announced this week that they are rolling out a Special Children of Focus program, for harder to place special needs children who have been listed on the shared list for at least two months without an adoptive resource for the child being identified. We will be sharing more details about this initiative as they are shared with us, but adoption agencies will be able to recruit adoptive families for harder to place children, and families will be given up to six months to submit their dossiers to CCAA.
Congratulations to all of our brand new parents this summer. I will post again soon.
Amy Durie
China Program Coordinator
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
JULY CHINA PROGRAM UPDATE
CHINA PROGRAM UPDATE
Placements
I am pleased to announce that we will have four placements from China in
the Month of July. One family arrived home July 2nd, one family arrived
home on July 3rd, and two additional families are anticipated to arrive
back in the United States with their daughters on July 17th, 2010! A
very big heartfelt congratulations to Lori and David and big sisters,
Isabella, Arianna, and Emelina, on the placement of their baby sister
and to Kathy and Bill and big sister Kayla on the placement of their
little brother. The total number of placements for fiscal year 09-10
which just ended on June 30th, 2010 was 14. The total number of
placements so far in the new fiscal year 2010-2011 which just began on
July 1st, 2010 is already 4, and the total number of placements calendar
year to date is 9.
Pending Travel
We have two more families who are slated to leave for China on August
5th, 2010, who have received their travel approvals, one Hague case and
one non-Hague case who will be traveling together to the same province
to meet their daughters. We have five additional families who have
been matched with waiting children from the shared list. Two of these
five families have already received their letters of confirmation from
CCAA, and the three remaining families are still waiting for their
letters of confirmation to arrive.
Waiting Child Program- More Successful Matches from the Shared list in
June
Welcome House is pleased to announce that Becki Buck, our waiting child
coordinator successfully matched two more Welcome House families with
waiting children from the most recent Shared List that was just released
in June 2010. Both families are awaiting the arrival of their letter
of confirmation from CCAA confirming their match.
New Applications and Dossiers submitted
We received 1 application for the China Program in the month of June.
The total number of applications FYTD is 17, and the total number of
applications CYTD to 10. I am very pleased to announce that home studies
for five brand new China families were approved in the last month and
they are now working diligently on their dossiers. We will be sending
additional dossiers to China shortly. We sent 0 dossiers to China in
May. We have sent 4 dossiers FYTD and 2 dossiers CYTD.
Current Status of Referrals and Dossier Reviews
As of July 7th 2010 dossiers that were registered on or before July
31st, 2009 have been reviewed and families with dossiers registered on
or before April 26th, 2006 have been successfully matched with children.
CCAA matched 5 days worth of dossiers this month 3 of them business
days.
Placements
I am pleased to announce that we will have four placements from China in
the Month of July. One family arrived home July 2nd, one family arrived
home on July 3rd, and two additional families are anticipated to arrive
back in the United States with their daughters on July 17th, 2010! A
very big heartfelt congratulations to Lori and David and big sisters,
Isabella, Arianna, and Emelina, on the placement of their baby sister
and to Kathy and Bill and big sister Kayla on the placement of their
little brother. The total number of placements for fiscal year 09-10
which just ended on June 30th, 2010 was 14. The total number of
placements so far in the new fiscal year 2010-2011 which just began on
July 1st, 2010 is already 4, and the total number of placements calendar
year to date is 9.
Pending Travel
We have two more families who are slated to leave for China on August
5th, 2010, who have received their travel approvals, one Hague case and
one non-Hague case who will be traveling together to the same province
to meet their daughters. We have five additional families who have
been matched with waiting children from the shared list. Two of these
five families have already received their letters of confirmation from
CCAA, and the three remaining families are still waiting for their
letters of confirmation to arrive.
Waiting Child Program- More Successful Matches from the Shared list in
June
Welcome House is pleased to announce that Becki Buck, our waiting child
coordinator successfully matched two more Welcome House families with
waiting children from the most recent Shared List that was just released
in June 2010. Both families are awaiting the arrival of their letter
of confirmation from CCAA confirming their match.
New Applications and Dossiers submitted
We received 1 application for the China Program in the month of June.
The total number of applications FYTD is 17, and the total number of
applications CYTD to 10. I am very pleased to announce that home studies
for five brand new China families were approved in the last month and
they are now working diligently on their dossiers. We will be sending
additional dossiers to China shortly. We sent 0 dossiers to China in
May. We have sent 4 dossiers FYTD and 2 dossiers CYTD.
Current Status of Referrals and Dossier Reviews
As of July 7th 2010 dossiers that were registered on or before July
31st, 2009 have been reviewed and families with dossiers registered on
or before April 26th, 2006 have been successfully matched with children.
CCAA matched 5 days worth of dossiers this month 3 of them business
days.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
CCAA HAS MATCHED THROUGH 04/26/06
Subject: RE: Great News!! CCAA has matched 5 more calendar days worth of
dossiers
Good Morning! CCAA just posted on their web site over the weekend and
they
have now matched dossiers with log in dates through April 26th, 2006.
This is 5
calendar days, and 3 business days worth of dossiers.
The dossier review date remains 4/30/09.
In terms of Susan's excellent question about the reasons for the slow
down in
Chinese adoptions. We have not received a definitive answer on that
question.
There has certainly been some growth in domestic adoption within China,
and Li
feels that this is definitely part of the slow down. There are also more
Chinese parents who have sufficient discretionary income to pay the
penalties
which allows them to have more than one child.
Finally, the implementation of the Hague treaty, has resulted in more
stringent adoption policies and procedures. The Chinese government has
been
more scrupulous about making sure that children who come into the
orphanage
system truly meet the definition of an orphan, and they cracked down on
some
corrupt orphanage officials in Hunan province a number of years ago.
Some
prognosticators speculate that new more rigorous implementation of the
rules has
caused the slow down.
The good news for those of you who are waiting longer or who have opted
to adopt
special needs children, is there are greater safeguards in place, and
there is
more assurance that proper procedures were followed.
All that being said, I can't say for certain why there has been a slow
down in
the rate of referrals either.
dossiers
Good Morning! CCAA just posted on their web site over the weekend and
they
have now matched dossiers with log in dates through April 26th, 2006.
This is 5
calendar days, and 3 business days worth of dossiers.
The dossier review date remains 4/30/09.
In terms of Susan's excellent question about the reasons for the slow
down in
Chinese adoptions. We have not received a definitive answer on that
question.
There has certainly been some growth in domestic adoption within China,
and Li
feels that this is definitely part of the slow down. There are also more
Chinese parents who have sufficient discretionary income to pay the
penalties
which allows them to have more than one child.
Finally, the implementation of the Hague treaty, has resulted in more
stringent adoption policies and procedures. The Chinese government has
been
more scrupulous about making sure that children who come into the
orphanage
system truly meet the definition of an orphan, and they cracked down on
some
corrupt orphanage officials in Hunan province a number of years ago.
Some
prognosticators speculate that new more rigorous implementation of the
rules has
caused the slow down.
The good news for those of you who are waiting longer or who have opted
to adopt
special needs children, is there are greater safeguards in place, and
there is
more assurance that proper procedures were followed.
All that being said, I can't say for certain why there has been a slow
down in
the rate of referrals either.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
JUNE CHINA PROGRAM UPDATE
Dear China Families:
Below is the most recent update which was just posted to the China Yahoo
group this afternoon. There continues to be lots of positive news to
report with China. The waiting child program remains a particular
bright spot. I hope you all get an opportunity to relax and take a few
days off with your loved ones this summer. As always do not hesitate
to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. That is what I am
here for. Amy
Matches, Referrals and Travel
May was a great month for the China program. Becki successfully matched
two more WH families with waiting children from the Shared List this
month, and as I reported in my last post, the next WH dossier group with
a log in date of 4/19/2006 FINALLY received referrals of beautiful
healthy litte girls after 49 months of waiting! We have already returned
the signed letters of confirmation to China for this dossier group, and
anticipate receiving travel approvals in the next three weeks.
Altogether we have 8 families matched with children who should have
placement over the next several months. Six of the eight families were
matched with waiting children through the shared list, and two families
just received healthy child referrals through the regular process. Two
of these eight families have already received their travel approvals,
have their confirmed visa appointment at the US Consulate, have
purchased their airline tickets, and will arrive in Beijing on June
18th, 2010 and will return to the US with their children at the very
beginning of July. Four of the eight families have received their
letters of confirmation from CCAA and are awaiting their final travel
approvals. And the final two families who were just matched with waiting
children from the shared list this month, and are still waiting for
their letters of confirmation from CCAA. Three of the eight families who
have been matched with children are Hague cases and five families are
grandfathered i-600 cases.
Welcome House may have as many as six placements from China in the month
of July. It all depends upon when the travel approvals arrive at our
offices and when we are able to confirm the final itineraries. The total
number of placements from China fiscal year to date is 14 and the total
number of placements calendar year to date is 5, but the number of
placements this calendar year will go up significantly after July.
Processing Time in Hague vs. Non-Hage cases
A quick word about the anticipated wait between a family returning their
match acceptance paperwork including their signed letter of confirmation
and receiving their travel approvals. Non-Hague families generally
travel to China within 6 to 8 weeks of signing and returning their match
paperwork. There are just more steps involved in a Hague case, both in
the United States and in China. I am very pleased to report that we have
gotten our second I-800 approval from US CIS for one of our China
families, and it is now just a matter of time before our second Hague
family gets their travel approval, YEAH!! (There are a few more hoops to
jump through, the National Visa Center (NVC) has to send its approval
letter yet and our courier in Guangzhou can't get the letter of
confirmation signed by US Consulate staff or get the article 5 letter
issued until the NVC letter arrives. But these are the final steps in
the process before, CCAA issues the Travel approval... so we are almost
there. Non-Hague families, I know you have had a terribly long wait, but
the end of your adoption journey is simpler, so that is a bit of a
silver lining.
In general Hague cases are currently taking from 3 to 6 months from the
family signing the letter of confirmation to travel to China. Our first
two Hague cases took/will take around 4 months from the family signing
their letter of confirmation to travel. Hopefully, we will be able to
whittle this down closer to 3 months, as Li and I gain full mastery over
the details of processing a Hague case. However, even when we are fully
proficient, Hague cases still involve more paperwork steps. They just
take a little longer to process. If you are a Hague case, Be patient...
Li and I will keep working until we get you on that plane and get your
child in your arms. I am very stubborn. I keep telling my husband this
is a positive attribute. Both of the brand new families who were just
matched with waiting children are Hague cases, and their letters of
confirmation have not arrived at our offices yet, so the families who
were JUST matched will probably not travel until September or October,
but still that is not too bad.
We received 3 applications for the China Program in the month of May.
The total number of applications FYTD is 16, and the total number of
applications CYTD to 9. I am very pleased to announce that home studies
for five brand new China families were approved in the last month and
they are now working diligently on their dossiers. We will be sending
additional dossiers to China shortly. We sent 0 dossiers to China in
May. We have sent 4 dossiers FYTD and 2 dossiers CYTD.
As of June 4, 2010 CCAA has matched children up through 4/21/2006 and
they have reviewed dossiers submitted through 4/30/2009. Our next
dossier group to be matched with healthy children have a log in date of
5/19/2006, so that will probably take some time, but it should be within
the next year. Lets HOPE that CCAA keeps with the recent trend of
matching 4 to 6 business days at a pop!
Finally, I wanted to remind everyone about the upcoming China picnic on
June 27th, 2010. I have cut and pasted from the most recent flyer below:
Birth Culture Awareness Event
Please join us for the China & Nepal Birth Culture Awareness Event,
Sunday, June 27th, from 12 to 3 p.m., on the grounds of Pearl S. Buck
International. This annual event is a fun time for adoptive and
pre-adoptive families to reunite with old friends, make new
connections, and learn more about the culture of China & Nepal.
Register now online by June 23 at: www.psbi.org/birthcultureevents
Cost: $5 for adults, $3 for children
Please bring: Your own picnic lunch and lawn chairs/blankets. Note: we
will be outside if the weather permits. If not, we
will be inside the Cultural Center. PSBI will provide beverages and
ethnic dessert treats.
Fun activities: Families will enjoy live music, dancing and other
performance art from China. Celebrate the Year of the Tiger by making a
folk craft and have an adventure on a Chinese Dinosaur Dig - both
presented by Chinese for Families. Dr.Tulsi Marharjan of Friends of
Nepal, New Jersey will teach us some Nepali phrases, cultural do's and
don'ts, and display clothing from Nepal. Plus you
can play traditional Chinese games to play like Catch the Dragon and
Hawk Catching the Young Chicks
Below is the most recent update which was just posted to the China Yahoo
group this afternoon. There continues to be lots of positive news to
report with China. The waiting child program remains a particular
bright spot. I hope you all get an opportunity to relax and take a few
days off with your loved ones this summer. As always do not hesitate
to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. That is what I am
here for. Amy
Matches, Referrals and Travel
May was a great month for the China program. Becki successfully matched
two more WH families with waiting children from the Shared List this
month, and as I reported in my last post, the next WH dossier group with
a log in date of 4/19/2006 FINALLY received referrals of beautiful
healthy litte girls after 49 months of waiting! We have already returned
the signed letters of confirmation to China for this dossier group, and
anticipate receiving travel approvals in the next three weeks.
Altogether we have 8 families matched with children who should have
placement over the next several months. Six of the eight families were
matched with waiting children through the shared list, and two families
just received healthy child referrals through the regular process. Two
of these eight families have already received their travel approvals,
have their confirmed visa appointment at the US Consulate, have
purchased their airline tickets, and will arrive in Beijing on June
18th, 2010 and will return to the US with their children at the very
beginning of July. Four of the eight families have received their
letters of confirmation from CCAA and are awaiting their final travel
approvals. And the final two families who were just matched with waiting
children from the shared list this month, and are still waiting for
their letters of confirmation from CCAA. Three of the eight families who
have been matched with children are Hague cases and five families are
grandfathered i-600 cases.
Welcome House may have as many as six placements from China in the month
of July. It all depends upon when the travel approvals arrive at our
offices and when we are able to confirm the final itineraries. The total
number of placements from China fiscal year to date is 14 and the total
number of placements calendar year to date is 5, but the number of
placements this calendar year will go up significantly after July.
Processing Time in Hague vs. Non-Hage cases
A quick word about the anticipated wait between a family returning their
match acceptance paperwork including their signed letter of confirmation
and receiving their travel approvals. Non-Hague families generally
travel to China within 6 to 8 weeks of signing and returning their match
paperwork. There are just more steps involved in a Hague case, both in
the United States and in China. I am very pleased to report that we have
gotten our second I-800 approval from US CIS for one of our China
families, and it is now just a matter of time before our second Hague
family gets their travel approval, YEAH!! (There are a few more hoops to
jump through, the National Visa Center (NVC) has to send its approval
letter yet and our courier in Guangzhou can't get the letter of
confirmation signed by US Consulate staff or get the article 5 letter
issued until the NVC letter arrives. But these are the final steps in
the process before, CCAA issues the Travel approval... so we are almost
there. Non-Hague families, I know you have had a terribly long wait, but
the end of your adoption journey is simpler, so that is a bit of a
silver lining.
In general Hague cases are currently taking from 3 to 6 months from the
family signing the letter of confirmation to travel to China. Our first
two Hague cases took/will take around 4 months from the family signing
their letter of confirmation to travel. Hopefully, we will be able to
whittle this down closer to 3 months, as Li and I gain full mastery over
the details of processing a Hague case. However, even when we are fully
proficient, Hague cases still involve more paperwork steps. They just
take a little longer to process. If you are a Hague case, Be patient...
Li and I will keep working until we get you on that plane and get your
child in your arms. I am very stubborn. I keep telling my husband this
is a positive attribute. Both of the brand new families who were just
matched with waiting children are Hague cases, and their letters of
confirmation have not arrived at our offices yet, so the families who
were JUST matched will probably not travel until September or October,
but still that is not too bad.
We received 3 applications for the China Program in the month of May.
The total number of applications FYTD is 16, and the total number of
applications CYTD to 9. I am very pleased to announce that home studies
for five brand new China families were approved in the last month and
they are now working diligently on their dossiers. We will be sending
additional dossiers to China shortly. We sent 0 dossiers to China in
May. We have sent 4 dossiers FYTD and 2 dossiers CYTD.
As of June 4, 2010 CCAA has matched children up through 4/21/2006 and
they have reviewed dossiers submitted through 4/30/2009. Our next
dossier group to be matched with healthy children have a log in date of
5/19/2006, so that will probably take some time, but it should be within
the next year. Lets HOPE that CCAA keeps with the recent trend of
matching 4 to 6 business days at a pop!
Finally, I wanted to remind everyone about the upcoming China picnic on
June 27th, 2010. I have cut and pasted from the most recent flyer below:
Birth Culture Awareness Event
Please join us for the China & Nepal Birth Culture Awareness Event,
Sunday, June 27th, from 12 to 3 p.m., on the grounds of Pearl S. Buck
International. This annual event is a fun time for adoptive and
pre-adoptive families to reunite with old friends, make new
connections, and learn more about the culture of China & Nepal.
Register now online by June 23 at: www.psbi.org/birthcultureevents
Cost: $5 for adults, $3 for children
Please bring: Your own picnic lunch and lawn chairs/blankets. Note: we
will be outside if the weather permits. If not, we
will be inside the Cultural Center. PSBI will provide beverages and
ethnic dessert treats.
Fun activities: Families will enjoy live music, dancing and other
performance art from China. Celebrate the Year of the Tiger by making a
folk craft and have an adventure on a Chinese Dinosaur Dig - both
presented by Chinese for Families. Dr.Tulsi Marharjan of Friends of
Nepal, New Jersey will teach us some Nepali phrases, cultural do's and
don'ts, and display clothing from Nepal. Plus you
can play traditional Chinese games to play like Catch the Dragon and
Hawk Catching the Young Chicks
Thursday, May 13, 2010
CHINA PROGRAM UPDATE - MAY 2010
CHINA PROGRAM UPDATE –
I have wonderful news to report. CCAA just updated their website this morning!! As of May 13th, 2010 dossiers that were registered on or before April 30th, 2009 have been reviewed and families with dossiers registered on or before April 21st, 2006 have been successfully matched with children. CCAA matched 5 days worth of dossiers this month. This is the third month in a row in which CCAA has matched at least 5 days business days worth of dossiers, which is a definite improvement over last year. Both families waited almost 49 months from the registration of their dossier with CCAA to receiving their referral. These are our first healthy child referrals in over a year, other than a Welcome House family of Chinese descent who received an expedited referral in October, 2009.
Heartfelt congratulations to Barbara and to Chuck and Marianne who each just received a referral of a beautiful little girl on May 12th! (Both little girls were just born in November 2009, so were just under 7 months at the time of referral.) Both families waited almost 49 months from the registration of their dossier with CCAA to receiving their referral. Last five months worth of matching is below
Month Match Dates: # business days
April 2010 4/17/06 through 4/21/06 5 days (5 business days)
March 2010 4/11/06 through 4/17/06 6 days (5 business days)
February 2010 4/5/06 through 4/11/06 6 days (4 business days)
January 2010 4/3/06 through 4/5/06 2 days (2 business days)
December 2009 3/31/06 through 4/3/06 3 days (1 business day)
Placements
There was 1 placement of a child from China in April. A big congratulations goes out to Michelle, Jason, and big brother Justin on Gray joining their family. By all reports they had a terrific trip to China and their son has had a very easy initial adjustment. Gray became a US citizen when he touched down at Newark International airport on April 16th, 2010. This was our very first China Hague case, and the family successfully made it through the more complicated process. Both Li and I are making progress in mastering all the procedural steps with a Hague adoption. The total number of placements fiscal year to date for the China program is 14 and the total number of placements calendar year to date is 5.
Pending Travel
We have 5 families who have been matched with waiting children who we anticipate will have placement in the next three months. Three families are non-Hague cases and have already signed and returned their letters of confirmation to CCAA and we anticipate receiving their travel approvals very shortly, by early June at the latest. One of the five families is a Hague case, and we are awaiting their I-800 approval from US CIS and their NVC letter before we can get the US consulate to sign their letter of confirmation and issue the article five letter required in Hague cases. They should also hopefully have travel sometime in June. I am still judging time frames for Hague cases but right now it appears that it is closer to two months from the letter of confirmation arriving at our offices to receiving a travel approval. The fifth family successfully matched with a child just received their pre-approval from the CCAA web site and their letters of confirmation should arrive in May. And with yesterday's great news we now have two more families who have been tentatively matched with children who will be traveling to China within the next 2 months. Altogether we have 7 families in the China program who have been successfully matched with children and are waiting for travel.
Waiting Child Program- More Successful Matches from the Shared list in April
Welcome House is pleased to announce that our waiting child coordinator successfully matched two more Welcome House families with waiting children from the most recent Shared List that was released in April 2010. One of these two families elected not to proceed with their adoption after the 72 hour holding period, but the other family did decide to proceed with their adoption and have already received their pre-approval from the CCAA website.
New Applications and Dossiers submitted
We received 1 application for the China Program in the month of April. The total number of applications FYTD is 13, and the total number of applications CYTD to 6. We sent two dossiers to China in March, bringing the number of dossiers we have submitted to CCAA within the fiscal year to 4 and within the calendar year to 2, but we have five other families who are just in the process of finishing their home studies and we anticipate being able to submit additional dossiers soon. Almost all of the new families for the China program are interested in being matched with a waiting child. (One of the families who just had their dossier logged in with CCAA this month have already been successfully matched with a waiting child!)
Becki has been doing a great job with matching waiting children from the shared list, and I am cautiously optimistic about the trends with the China program over the last several months. Our next group to be matched with healthy children had their dossiers registered on May 19th, 2006... Heres hoping that CCAA keeps up their recent improved pace of matching.
I have wonderful news to report. CCAA just updated their website this morning!! As of May 13th, 2010 dossiers that were registered on or before April 30th, 2009 have been reviewed and families with dossiers registered on or before April 21st, 2006 have been successfully matched with children. CCAA matched 5 days worth of dossiers this month. This is the third month in a row in which CCAA has matched at least 5 days business days worth of dossiers, which is a definite improvement over last year. Both families waited almost 49 months from the registration of their dossier with CCAA to receiving their referral. These are our first healthy child referrals in over a year, other than a Welcome House family of Chinese descent who received an expedited referral in October, 2009.
Heartfelt congratulations to Barbara and to Chuck and Marianne who each just received a referral of a beautiful little girl on May 12th! (Both little girls were just born in November 2009, so were just under 7 months at the time of referral.) Both families waited almost 49 months from the registration of their dossier with CCAA to receiving their referral. Last five months worth of matching is below
Month Match Dates: # business days
April 2010 4/17/06 through 4/21/06 5 days (5 business days)
March 2010 4/11/06 through 4/17/06 6 days (5 business days)
February 2010 4/5/06 through 4/11/06 6 days (4 business days)
January 2010 4/3/06 through 4/5/06 2 days (2 business days)
December 2009 3/31/06 through 4/3/06 3 days (1 business day)
Placements
There was 1 placement of a child from China in April. A big congratulations goes out to Michelle, Jason, and big brother Justin on Gray joining their family. By all reports they had a terrific trip to China and their son has had a very easy initial adjustment. Gray became a US citizen when he touched down at Newark International airport on April 16th, 2010. This was our very first China Hague case, and the family successfully made it through the more complicated process. Both Li and I are making progress in mastering all the procedural steps with a Hague adoption. The total number of placements fiscal year to date for the China program is 14 and the total number of placements calendar year to date is 5.
Pending Travel
We have 5 families who have been matched with waiting children who we anticipate will have placement in the next three months. Three families are non-Hague cases and have already signed and returned their letters of confirmation to CCAA and we anticipate receiving their travel approvals very shortly, by early June at the latest. One of the five families is a Hague case, and we are awaiting their I-800 approval from US CIS and their NVC letter before we can get the US consulate to sign their letter of confirmation and issue the article five letter required in Hague cases. They should also hopefully have travel sometime in June. I am still judging time frames for Hague cases but right now it appears that it is closer to two months from the letter of confirmation arriving at our offices to receiving a travel approval. The fifth family successfully matched with a child just received their pre-approval from the CCAA web site and their letters of confirmation should arrive in May. And with yesterday's great news we now have two more families who have been tentatively matched with children who will be traveling to China within the next 2 months. Altogether we have 7 families in the China program who have been successfully matched with children and are waiting for travel.
Waiting Child Program- More Successful Matches from the Shared list in April
Welcome House is pleased to announce that our waiting child coordinator successfully matched two more Welcome House families with waiting children from the most recent Shared List that was released in April 2010. One of these two families elected not to proceed with their adoption after the 72 hour holding period, but the other family did decide to proceed with their adoption and have already received their pre-approval from the CCAA website.
New Applications and Dossiers submitted
We received 1 application for the China Program in the month of April. The total number of applications FYTD is 13, and the total number of applications CYTD to 6. We sent two dossiers to China in March, bringing the number of dossiers we have submitted to CCAA within the fiscal year to 4 and within the calendar year to 2, but we have five other families who are just in the process of finishing their home studies and we anticipate being able to submit additional dossiers soon. Almost all of the new families for the China program are interested in being matched with a waiting child. (One of the families who just had their dossier logged in with CCAA this month have already been successfully matched with a waiting child!)
Becki has been doing a great job with matching waiting children from the shared list, and I am cautiously optimistic about the trends with the China program over the last several months. Our next group to be matched with healthy children had their dossiers registered on May 19th, 2006... Heres hoping that CCAA keeps up their recent improved pace of matching.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
April 2010 China Program Update
Dear China Families,
Happy Spring to all China families in process. I have lots of good news to report this month.
Placements
There was 1 placement of a child from China in March. Heartfelt congratulations to Tony, Amy, and big sister Elle, and on the placement of their son, Peter. They arrived back in the United States on March 26th, 2010. The total number of placements fiscal year to date from China is 13 and the total number of placements calendar year to date to 4. We have a second Welcome House family who JUST left for Beijing to meet their son on April 3rd, 2010, (Our very first Hague family), and a third family, also a Hague family, who we anticipate will receive their travel approval from CCAA in May.
Waiting Child Program- Lots of Successful Matches from the Shared list this month
Welcome House is pleased to announce that our waiting child coordinator successfully matched four Welcome House families with waiting children from the most recent Shared List that was released in March 2010. One of the four families elected not to proceed with their adoption after the 72 hour holding period, but the other three families did decide to proceed with their adoption, and two families already have their pre-approvals and their letters of confirmation should be sent from CCAA shortly. All three families who were successfully matched were grandfathered I-600 A cases who have waited, a LONG time for a referral. All of the children were young, under two years of age, and all had milder correctable special needs. While one month is too short of a time frame to declare a trend, we are cautiously optimistic that the changes that CCAA has instituted, particularly only allowing families with an LID to lock a file for a waiting child have been beneficial for Welcome House families. Typically, Becki has been able to successfully match one or two families each month from the shared list. Finding 4 appropriate matches this month was wonderful.
Current Status of Referrals and Dossier Reviews
As of April 5th, 2010 dossiers that were registered on or before April 30th, 2009 have been reviewed and families with dossiers registered on or before April 17th, 2006 have been successfully matched with children. CCAA again matched 5 business days worth of referrals this month, which is great. Our next group of dossiers that should be matched were logged in with CCAA on April 19th, 2006. We happily anticipate that our next dossier group will actually be matched this month!!!! Exactly 4 years from the time their dossiers were first registered. Whew!!!
Finally we are pleased to announce that two dossiers were sent to China on March 26th, 2010 and should have an official log in date shortly. Both families are interested in being matched with a waiting child from the shared list. As always do not hesitate to ask me if you have questions or concerns. My phone number is (215) 249-0100 ext. 119 and my e-mail is adurie@pearlsbuck. org.
Happy Spring to all China families in process. I have lots of good news to report this month.
Placements
There was 1 placement of a child from China in March. Heartfelt congratulations to Tony, Amy, and big sister Elle, and on the placement of their son, Peter. They arrived back in the United States on March 26th, 2010. The total number of placements fiscal year to date from China is 13 and the total number of placements calendar year to date to 4. We have a second Welcome House family who JUST left for Beijing to meet their son on April 3rd, 2010, (Our very first Hague family), and a third family, also a Hague family, who we anticipate will receive their travel approval from CCAA in May.
Waiting Child Program- Lots of Successful Matches from the Shared list this month
Welcome House is pleased to announce that our waiting child coordinator successfully matched four Welcome House families with waiting children from the most recent Shared List that was released in March 2010. One of the four families elected not to proceed with their adoption after the 72 hour holding period, but the other three families did decide to proceed with their adoption, and two families already have their pre-approvals and their letters of confirmation should be sent from CCAA shortly. All three families who were successfully matched were grandfathered I-600 A cases who have waited, a LONG time for a referral. All of the children were young, under two years of age, and all had milder correctable special needs. While one month is too short of a time frame to declare a trend, we are cautiously optimistic that the changes that CCAA has instituted, particularly only allowing families with an LID to lock a file for a waiting child have been beneficial for Welcome House families. Typically, Becki has been able to successfully match one or two families each month from the shared list. Finding 4 appropriate matches this month was wonderful.
Current Status of Referrals and Dossier Reviews
As of April 5th, 2010 dossiers that were registered on or before April 30th, 2009 have been reviewed and families with dossiers registered on or before April 17th, 2006 have been successfully matched with children. CCAA again matched 5 business days worth of referrals this month, which is great. Our next group of dossiers that should be matched were logged in with CCAA on April 19th, 2006. We happily anticipate that our next dossier group will actually be matched this month!!!! Exactly 4 years from the time their dossiers were first registered. Whew!!!
Finally we are pleased to announce that two dossiers were sent to China on March 26th, 2010 and should have an official log in date shortly. Both families are interested in being matched with a waiting child from the shared list. As always do not hesitate to ask me if you have questions or concerns. My phone number is (215) 249-0100 ext. 119 and my e-mail is adurie@pearlsbuck. org.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
A BRIEF CHINA PROGRAM UPDATE - YEAH!!!!!
Good morning! I have several positive developments to share with China families in progress. First CCAA has made very good progress in dossier review over the last two weeks. CCAA has now reviewed dossiers submitted up through 4/30/2009, which is terrific. CCAA has also matched dossiers submitted through 4/11/2006. (This was reported in my last post, so no further progress here, but it was a nice jump of six days, which was also heartening.)
Secondly CCAA posted an announcement this week regarding some changes with the shared list which both Becki and I feel may well be positive developments for Welcome House families in process who are considering adopting a waiting child, though we will need to see how the new and improved shared list works in practice.
As you know, CCAA has eliminated all designated referrals for individual adoption agencies. All waiting children must now be matched through the shared list. In practical terms this means that there will be a greater number of young children with mild correctable medical conditions available for consideration by our families when the next shared list is released. CCAA also announced two other modifications for the shared list this week. During the first month that a child's referral information is available on the shared list, adoption agencies will only be able to lock files for consideration for families with a registered log in date. After a month has passed if a child still remains available for adoption, agencies will be able to lock a file for a family without a log in date. This insures a wider applicant pool for harder to place children. Only allowing families with a log in date to lock new referrals will ensure children are placed as quickly as possible, and also gives families who have been waiting the longest an advantage in matching, which is fair.
The second development, which we also see as positive, is that CCAA will now allow agencies to lock a file for 72 hours, instead of 48 hours. This gives families more time to fully consider everything before they make a determination.
Adoption agencies in the US are still working on a letter to submit to CCAA regarding the shared list, but there is not universal agreement between agencies on recommended changes. It appears that CCAA is aware of the complaints and acted unilaterally in advance of adoption agencies petitioning them. There are some remaining good suggestions from US agencies which have yet to be implemented. Many US agencies would like updated referral information at the child's information is posted for example. I will let you know if further modifications are made, but it appears that CCAA is trying to make things fair, and move things a long a bit, which is great news. I will keep you posted.
Amy
Secondly CCAA posted an announcement this week regarding some changes with the shared list which both Becki and I feel may well be positive developments for Welcome House families in process who are considering adopting a waiting child, though we will need to see how the new and improved shared list works in practice.
As you know, CCAA has eliminated all designated referrals for individual adoption agencies. All waiting children must now be matched through the shared list. In practical terms this means that there will be a greater number of young children with mild correctable medical conditions available for consideration by our families when the next shared list is released. CCAA also announced two other modifications for the shared list this week. During the first month that a child's referral information is available on the shared list, adoption agencies will only be able to lock files for consideration for families with a registered log in date. After a month has passed if a child still remains available for adoption, agencies will be able to lock a file for a family without a log in date. This insures a wider applicant pool for harder to place children. Only allowing families with a log in date to lock new referrals will ensure children are placed as quickly as possible, and also gives families who have been waiting the longest an advantage in matching, which is fair.
The second development, which we also see as positive, is that CCAA will now allow agencies to lock a file for 72 hours, instead of 48 hours. This gives families more time to fully consider everything before they make a determination.
Adoption agencies in the US are still working on a letter to submit to CCAA regarding the shared list, but there is not universal agreement between agencies on recommended changes. It appears that CCAA is aware of the complaints and acted unilaterally in advance of adoption agencies petitioning them. There are some remaining good suggestions from US agencies which have yet to be implemented. Many US agencies would like updated referral information at the child's information is posted for example. I will let you know if further modifications are made, but it appears that CCAA is trying to make things fair, and move things a long a bit, which is great news. I will keep you posted.
Amy
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
A FURTHER CLARIFICATION ON THE MARCH UPDATE
Hi Everyone,
I just re-read my last post, and I wanted to just make sure my last post
was completely clear CCAA will continue to match healthy children with
families through the long established, regular process. Those of you who
are waiting for a healthy child match will get a referral of a child
just for you, on the date that dossiers with your log in date are
matched. If you are not interested in adopting a waiting child, the
matching process remains completely unchanged.
CCAA's decision to eliminate designated referrals for specific adoption
agencies pertains ONLY to families who wish to adopt a waiting child.
From now on, waiting special needs children will only be matched through
the shared list. Welcome House will receive no longer receive waiting
children intended just for us.
This may have been absolutely clear to all of you, but a family who has
never explored the waiting child program, and is only interested in
being matched with a healthy child may have been confused by my post.
Of course, as always, please feel free to contact me with any questions
and concerns. My direct line is (215) 249-0100 ext. 119.
Amy
I just re-read my last post, and I wanted to just make sure my last post
was completely clear CCAA will continue to match healthy children with
families through the long established, regular process. Those of you who
are waiting for a healthy child match will get a referral of a child
just for you, on the date that dossiers with your log in date are
matched. If you are not interested in adopting a waiting child, the
matching process remains completely unchanged.
CCAA's decision to eliminate designated referrals for specific adoption
agencies pertains ONLY to families who wish to adopt a waiting child.
From now on, waiting special needs children will only be matched through
the shared list. Welcome House will receive no longer receive waiting
children intended just for us.
This may have been absolutely clear to all of you, but a family who has
never explored the waiting child program, and is only interested in
being matched with a healthy child may have been confused by my post.
Of course, as always, please feel free to contact me with any questions
and concerns. My direct line is (215) 249-0100 ext. 119.
Amy
MARCH CHINA PROGRAM UPDATE
Dear China Families,
There have been a number of important developments with the China
program this month that I want to report to everyone. First I wanted to
let you know the good news, that China actually made substantial
progress in matching healthy children this month. CCAA has now matched
dossiers that were logged through April 11th, 2006. (This is 4 business
days worth of dossiers, which is considerable progress.) April 19th,
2006 dossier group, you are moving ever closer to match. (Hang in
there!) CCAA did not make any further progress with reviewing dossiers
this month. They have still reviewed dossiers submitted through April
30th, 2008.
The second thing I needed to let everyone know about is CCAA has just
implemented a new policy. They are no longer sending designated
referrals to individual adoption agencies effective immediately. They
rescinded all unmatched designated referrals sent to individual adoption
agencies last week. Li checked with CCAA and this unfortunately means
that Welcome House will not receive the next group of designated
referrals that we were supposed to get at the end of March. The reason
CCAA gave for doing away with the designated referrals for individual
agencies, is that hard to place children were not being efficiently
matched that way. They have a better chance of finding loving homes for
waiting children, particularly harder to place ones, if they release
information to all agencies simultaneously.
It remains to be seen how this new policy will impact Welcome House's
ability to successfully match waiting children with families. Children
with mild special needs will now be open to all agencies, so Becki may
well be able to match more families with waiting children, but we will
also face increased competition from other US agencies.
It appears that CCAA is going to make further changes to the on-line
system, so keep watching the yahoo group for updates. I will continue to
update
Our next three families are getting ready to travel to China in March
and early April. All three families were successfully matched with
children from the shared list. So successful matches do occur this way.
Finally, if there are any China families in process with an I-600 A
approval, if you and your spouse are both under 44 years of age.... I
wanted to let you know that I just received a referral for a very sweet
little boy from Korea last week, who is a waiting child. He was born on
8/31/2009, and was diagnosed with transient tachypnea of newborn, but he
is doing extremely well at this point, and is currently developmentally
on target and all follow up testing, MRI and EEG were normal. There is
comprehensive medical information available. I have uploaded his photo
in the Photo section. Please contact me if you are interested. We can
switch an I-600 A approval from Korea to China, as long as you meet
Korea's eligibilty requirements. I am going to post to the Welcome House
waiting child group as well, but I want to give China families who have
been waiting for a long time, every opportunity to get successfully
matched. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about
this sweet little boy.
Amy
There have been a number of important developments with the China
program this month that I want to report to everyone. First I wanted to
let you know the good news, that China actually made substantial
progress in matching healthy children this month. CCAA has now matched
dossiers that were logged through April 11th, 2006. (This is 4 business
days worth of dossiers, which is considerable progress.) April 19th,
2006 dossier group, you are moving ever closer to match. (Hang in
there!) CCAA did not make any further progress with reviewing dossiers
this month. They have still reviewed dossiers submitted through April
30th, 2008.
The second thing I needed to let everyone know about is CCAA has just
implemented a new policy. They are no longer sending designated
referrals to individual adoption agencies effective immediately. They
rescinded all unmatched designated referrals sent to individual adoption
agencies last week. Li checked with CCAA and this unfortunately means
that Welcome House will not receive the next group of designated
referrals that we were supposed to get at the end of March. The reason
CCAA gave for doing away with the designated referrals for individual
agencies, is that hard to place children were not being efficiently
matched that way. They have a better chance of finding loving homes for
waiting children, particularly harder to place ones, if they release
information to all agencies simultaneously.
It remains to be seen how this new policy will impact Welcome House's
ability to successfully match waiting children with families. Children
with mild special needs will now be open to all agencies, so Becki may
well be able to match more families with waiting children, but we will
also face increased competition from other US agencies.
It appears that CCAA is going to make further changes to the on-line
system, so keep watching the yahoo group for updates. I will continue to
update
Our next three families are getting ready to travel to China in March
and early April. All three families were successfully matched with
children from the shared list. So successful matches do occur this way.
Finally, if there are any China families in process with an I-600 A
approval, if you and your spouse are both under 44 years of age.... I
wanted to let you know that I just received a referral for a very sweet
little boy from Korea last week, who is a waiting child. He was born on
8/31/2009, and was diagnosed with transient tachypnea of newborn, but he
is doing extremely well at this point, and is currently developmentally
on target and all follow up testing, MRI and EEG were normal. There is
comprehensive medical information available. I have uploaded his photo
in the Photo section. Please contact me if you are interested. We can
switch an I-600 A approval from Korea to China, as long as you meet
Korea's eligibilty requirements. I am going to post to the Welcome House
waiting child group as well, but I want to give China families who have
been waiting for a long time, every opportunity to get successfully
matched. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about
this sweet little boy.
Amy
Friday, February 5, 2010
WE ARE FINALLY OUT OF THE REVIEW ROOM!
Hi Everyone,
TGIF!! I just wanted to post and let you know that CCAA just announced that they made significant progress with dossier review. They have now reviewed dossiers that were registered on or before April 30th, 2008. I always like to see positive movement. Also, CCAA is going to release a new shared list of waiting children on Monday, February 8th, 2010. This is an unanticipated positive development as well. Those of you who have decided that you are definitely interested in being matched with a waiting child should make sure that Becki Buck has received your Child Conditions form for China. I also strongly urge an indepth conversation with Becki, by phone to discuss the kinds of special needs that your family is prepared to handle, prior to her attempting to match your family. Becki has over 12 years experience working with families who have adopted or are planning to adopt special needs children, so she is well qualified to help you think about whether this is the right move for your family.
Any of you who are getting frustrated with the long wait for a healthy child referral, from CCAA. Please don't hesitate to give me a call to discuss options. (switching to the waiting child program, starting a concurrent adoption, switching your I-600 A approval to another country, hanging in there even if it takes months longer, what I would probably recommend for our April 19, 2006 dossier group, are all good options. My telephone number is (215) 249-0100 ext. 119, and I am typically here between 8:30 and 5:15 each day, and I don't usually take a lunch break. Please feel free to call me any time.
TGIF!! I just wanted to post and let you know that CCAA just announced that they made significant progress with dossier review. They have now reviewed dossiers that were registered on or before April 30th, 2008. I always like to see positive movement. Also, CCAA is going to release a new shared list of waiting children on Monday, February 8th, 2010. This is an unanticipated positive development as well. Those of you who have decided that you are definitely interested in being matched with a waiting child should make sure that Becki Buck has received your Child Conditions form for China. I also strongly urge an indepth conversation with Becki, by phone to discuss the kinds of special needs that your family is prepared to handle, prior to her attempting to match your family. Becki has over 12 years experience working with families who have adopted or are planning to adopt special needs children, so she is well qualified to help you think about whether this is the right move for your family.
Any of you who are getting frustrated with the long wait for a healthy child referral, from CCAA. Please don't hesitate to give me a call to discuss options. (switching to the waiting child program, starting a concurrent adoption, switching your I-600 A approval to another country, hanging in there even if it takes months longer, what I would probably recommend for our April 19, 2006 dossier group, are all good options. My telephone number is (215) 249-0100 ext. 119, and I am typically here between 8:30 and 5:15 each day, and I don't usually take a lunch break. Please feel free to call me any time.
Monday, February 1, 2010
FEBRUARY CHINA PROGRAM UPDATE
And we are still not out of review :(
Dear China Families:
Good news, we just got word that CCAA made just a bit more progress this
month. As of January 31st, 2010, families with dossiers registered on or
before April 5th, 2006 have been matched with children. However, CCAA
has not progressed any farther with review of dossiers. They have read
and reviewed dossiers which were registered up through 2/29/2008.
Placements
We had three placements of children from China in January. Two beautiful
girls and one beautiful boy from Neimenggu Province arrived safely at
Newark International airport on January 14th, 2010 with their families.
Congratulations to Jeff and Christine, and big brother, Noah, to Kelly
and Dan and big brother, Daniel, and to Carol and Ron and big sister
Mia. Everyone was a little on the tired side, but all three children who
have just placed are doing beautifully in their new homes. They are all
healthy and are making a good emotional adjustment. All three children
were waiting children, who were designated referrals just for Welcome
House which were sent to our agency in September. Since all three
children were from the same province, all three families got to travel
together the entire time they were in China.
Referrals
Congratulations to Robin and Eric who were successfully matched with a
waiting child from the shared list in January.
Waiting Child Program
Becki, our waiting child coordinator, continues to match one or two
families a month with children on the shared list. She only works with
families in process with a log-in date registered with CCAA, and the
matching occurs only after she has had a careful discussion with
prospective families about what conditions they feel able to
successfully handle. PSBI will be participating in a conference call in
February with other US adoption agencies with programs in China, to
discuss the shared list. Most agencies are in the same situation we are
in, they have a number of families in process open to adopting a young
waiting child with mild correctable special needs. After the conference
call, the China Caucus of JCICS, of which we are members, will submit a
finite number of politely worded concerns and suggestions to CCAA, on
ways to make sure that access to the shared list remains fair and
transparent. One of the suggestions is that only families with a
registered log in date, be permitted to lock the files of young children
with mild, correctable special needs. Also Li went to CCAA to discuss
our next group of designated referrals with officials there. She
received assurances that Welcome House will get our next group of
designated referrals this spring, probably by early April 2010. So that
is good news too.
If you have any questions or concerns about the China program or any
concerns with the wait, don't hesitate to contact me at
adurie@pearlsbuck.org , (215) 249-0100
ext. 119.
Dear China Families:
Good news, we just got word that CCAA made just a bit more progress this
month. As of January 31st, 2010, families with dossiers registered on or
before April 5th, 2006 have been matched with children. However, CCAA
has not progressed any farther with review of dossiers. They have read
and reviewed dossiers which were registered up through 2/29/2008.
Placements
We had three placements of children from China in January. Two beautiful
girls and one beautiful boy from Neimenggu Province arrived safely at
Newark International airport on January 14th, 2010 with their families.
Congratulations to Jeff and Christine, and big brother, Noah, to Kelly
and Dan and big brother, Daniel, and to Carol and Ron and big sister
Mia. Everyone was a little on the tired side, but all three children who
have just placed are doing beautifully in their new homes. They are all
healthy and are making a good emotional adjustment. All three children
were waiting children, who were designated referrals just for Welcome
House which were sent to our agency in September. Since all three
children were from the same province, all three families got to travel
together the entire time they were in China.
Referrals
Congratulations to Robin and Eric who were successfully matched with a
waiting child from the shared list in January.
Waiting Child Program
Becki, our waiting child coordinator, continues to match one or two
families a month with children on the shared list. She only works with
families in process with a log-in date registered with CCAA, and the
matching occurs only after she has had a careful discussion with
prospective families about what conditions they feel able to
successfully handle. PSBI will be participating in a conference call in
February with other US adoption agencies with programs in China, to
discuss the shared list. Most agencies are in the same situation we are
in, they have a number of families in process open to adopting a young
waiting child with mild correctable special needs. After the conference
call, the China Caucus of JCICS, of which we are members, will submit a
finite number of politely worded concerns and suggestions to CCAA, on
ways to make sure that access to the shared list remains fair and
transparent. One of the suggestions is that only families with a
registered log in date, be permitted to lock the files of young children
with mild, correctable special needs. Also Li went to CCAA to discuss
our next group of designated referrals with officials there. She
received assurances that Welcome House will get our next group of
designated referrals this spring, probably by early April 2010. So that
is good news too.
If you have any questions or concerns about the China program or any
concerns with the wait, don't hesitate to contact me at
adurie@pearlsbuck.org
ext. 119.
Friday, January 8, 2010
JANUARY CHINA PROGRAM UPDATE
I want to wish all of the families in the China program a Happy New Year. I am happy to report that we had four families leave for China in the month of December. Congratulations are in order for Fred and Kim who left for China to meet their daughter on December 17th, 2009, and arrived safely back in the United States on New Year's Eve.
Also on New Year's eve, just as Fred and Kim and their daughter were arriving safely back in the United States, we had the next three families, take off from Newark airport in transit to Beijing to meet their children. All three families were matched with waiting children in Neimengu (Inner Mongolia). They have had an epic trip to China so far, including running into the snow storm of the century in Beijing and minus 35 degree weather in Inner Mongolia, but Li amazingly has kept everything on schedule despite the weather and these families are due back in the United States on January 14th, 2010. Everyone is doing well.
I am also pleased to announce that we have had two additional families successfully matched with waiting children from the shared list. One family was matched at the end of November 2009, and one family was matched at the beginning of December 2009. They will be our next two families to travel to China, hopefully they will be able to travel together in late March or early April. The new shared list is slated to come out any day now, and Becki will be hard at work finding appropriate matches for those of you who have expressed an interest in being matched with a waiting child.
You undoubtedly saw Heather's posting over the holiday that CCAA has now matched dossiers registered before April 3rd, 2006, and has reviewed dossiers up through 2/29/28.
Our next group of dossiers slated to be matched with children were registered with CCAA on April 19th, 2006. Congratulations, CCAA is now actually matching families from your month! Slowly but surely you are making your way to the top of the list.
Unfortunately we were only able to match 2 of the 8 designated referrals specifically sent to Welcome House in August. We will have to send the unmatched referrals back to China on January 15th, 2010. Please get in touch with me or Becki right away if you are interested in any of these children, as their referral information is slated to be returned to China next week. We are also still seeking appropriate adoptive homes for 3 of the 6 designated referrals that were sent to our agency in September. Ideally CCAA likes agencies to match all or nearly all of the designated referrals that they send out, but a number of the children had more complicated medical profiles. We may receive fewer referrals specifically designated for our agency over the next few months as a result. Please let me know if you are interested in any of the waiting children currently available for adoption.
Also on New Year's eve, just as Fred and Kim and their daughter were arriving safely back in the United States, we had the next three families, take off from Newark airport in transit to Beijing to meet their children. All three families were matched with waiting children in Neimengu (Inner Mongolia). They have had an epic trip to China so far, including running into the snow storm of the century in Beijing and minus 35 degree weather in Inner Mongolia, but Li amazingly has kept everything on schedule despite the weather and these families are due back in the United States on January 14th, 2010. Everyone is doing well.
I am also pleased to announce that we have had two additional families successfully matched with waiting children from the shared list. One family was matched at the end of November 2009, and one family was matched at the beginning of December 2009. They will be our next two families to travel to China, hopefully they will be able to travel together in late March or early April. The new shared list is slated to come out any day now, and Becki will be hard at work finding appropriate matches for those of you who have expressed an interest in being matched with a waiting child.
You undoubtedly saw Heather's posting over the holiday that CCAA has now matched dossiers registered before April 3rd, 2006, and has reviewed dossiers up through 2/29/28.
Our next group of dossiers slated to be matched with children were registered with CCAA on April 19th, 2006. Congratulations, CCAA is now actually matching families from your month! Slowly but surely you are making your way to the top of the list.
Unfortunately we were only able to match 2 of the 8 designated referrals specifically sent to Welcome House in August. We will have to send the unmatched referrals back to China on January 15th, 2010. Please get in touch with me or Becki right away if you are interested in any of these children, as their referral information is slated to be returned to China next week. We are also still seeking appropriate adoptive homes for 3 of the 6 designated referrals that were sent to our agency in September. Ideally CCAA likes agencies to match all or nearly all of the designated referrals that they send out, but a number of the children had more complicated medical profiles. We may receive fewer referrals specifically designated for our agency over the next few months as a result. Please let me know if you are interested in any of the waiting children currently available for adoption.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)