PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - Haitian police have arrested 10 U.S. citizens caught trying to take 33 children out of the earthquake-stricken country in a suspected illicit adoption scheme, authorities said on Saturday.
The five men and five women were in custody in the capital, Port-au-Prince after their arrests on Friday night. There are fears that traffickers could try to exploit the chaos and turmoil following Haiti's January 12 earthquake quake to engage in illegal adoptions.
One of the suspects, who says she is leader of an Idaho-based charity called New Life Children's Refuge, denied they had done anything wrong.
The suspects were detained at Malpasse, Haiti's main border crossing with the Dominican Republic, after Haitian police conducted a routine search of their vehicle.
Authorities said the Americans had no documents to prove they had cleared the adoption of the 33 children -- aged 2 months to 12 years -- through any embassy and no papers showing they were made orphans by the quake in the impoverished Caribbean country.
"This is totally illegal," said Yves Cristalin, Haiti's social affairs minister. "No children can leave Haiti without proper authorization and these people did not have that authorization."
U.S. authorities could not be reached for immediate comment on the arrests.
But Laura Sillsby from the Idaho group told Reuters from a jail cell at Haiti's Judicial Police headquarters, "We had permission from the Dominican Republic government to bring the children to an orphanage that we have there."
"We have a Baptist minister here (in Port-au-Prince) whose orphanage totally collapsed and he asked us to take the children to the orphanage in the Dominican Republic," Sillsby added.
"I was going to come back here to do the paperwork," Sillsby said. "They accuse us of children trafficking. This is something I would never do. We were not trying to do something wrong."
In addition to outright trafficking in children, authorities have voiced fears since the quake that legitimate aid groups may have flown earthquake orphans out of the country for adoption before efforts to find their parents had been exhausted.
As a result, the Haitian government halted many types of adoptions earlier this month.
There are no reliable estimates of the number of parentless and lost children at risk in Haiti's quake-shattered capital.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60T23I20100130
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
UNICEF: Haiti Orphans at Risk from Traffickers
PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - Haitian children made orphans by this month's catastrophic earthquake or separated from their parents face a growing threat from child traffickers or illicit adoptions, the government and aid groups say.
They fear unscrupulous traffickers may try to exploit the chaos and social turmoil following the January 12 quake to spirit defenseless infants out of the impoverished country through the airport or across the land border with the Dominican Republic.
A police unit tasked with protecting minors has sent officers to the border but officials said that like every other Haitian institution, the unit was hit hard by the earthquake that killed at least 120,000 people and probably many more.
"We are very concerned that there are increasing reports that children are being picked up and trafficked out of the country," said Kent Page, a spokesman for the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF). But he had no details of specific cases.
Authorities also fear that legitimate aid groups may have flown earthquake orphans out of the country for adoption before efforts to find their parents had been exhausted.
As a result, the Haitian government last week halted these types of adoptions. "There is no question that either NGOs (non-governmental organizations) or institutions of any kind can take children off the streets (for adoption) and say that they are orphans," said Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive, expressing his fears that this might be happening.
There are no reliable estimates of the number of parentless and lost children at risk in Haiti's quake-shattered capital Port-au-Prince. Hungry, homeless minors fending for themselves in the city are a common sight.
Around 700 children who lost touch with their parents during the quake have been registered and placed in camps and efforts at reunification are under way, said UNICEF's Page.
But in an indication of the scale of the problem, a Haitian children's charity working in the Delmar 31 neighborhood of the capital said it had identified 3,000 children that it considered in danger.
Some joined gangs of looters last week, smashing into stores in the city's main commercial district in search of food and goods to sell, said Alveus Prospere, the president of the Organization for a Better Future for Children charity.
Many others have been taken in by relatives or neighbors now living in makeshift camps where food is scarce, he said.
ADMINISTRATIVE OVERSIGHT VS HUMAN NEED
A U.S. Christian charity, For His Glory Outreach, flew 80 Haitian children to the United States on Saturday for adoption and plans to take out 29 more in the coming days, according to Michael Gibson, a member of the charity's board.
The children lived at the House of the Children of God orphanage in the Haitian capital before their departure and all had the necessary paperwork signed by Haitian authorities before the quake, he said.
Even before the quake, economic pressure and grinding hardship in what was already the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere provided a powerful incentive for some Haitian parents to seek adoption for their children.
Child protection experts fear the Haitian government's problems in maintaining control and oversight in the country, now hugely exacerbated by the quake, could also give freer rein to well-meaning potential adopters willing to cut corners.
For His Glory has had no contact with the Haitian government since the quake, said Gibson, whose family adopted Haitian twins in 2007.
"I don't believe there is a (functioning) Haitian government," he told Reuters in an interview.
Most of the children at the orphanage, who have been sleeping on dirty mattresses in the yard since the quake, have parents alive and retain contact with them, so they are not technically orphans at all.
Twelve-year-old Judlanda Toussaint came to the orphanage three years ago because her parents could not afford to look after her, according to workers at the institution.
"I want to go to America so I can help my family back home," said Toussaint.
-By Matthew Bigg for Reuters News Service
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60O2A120100125
They fear unscrupulous traffickers may try to exploit the chaos and social turmoil following the January 12 quake to spirit defenseless infants out of the impoverished country through the airport or across the land border with the Dominican Republic.
A police unit tasked with protecting minors has sent officers to the border but officials said that like every other Haitian institution, the unit was hit hard by the earthquake that killed at least 120,000 people and probably many more.
"We are very concerned that there are increasing reports that children are being picked up and trafficked out of the country," said Kent Page, a spokesman for the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF). But he had no details of specific cases.
Authorities also fear that legitimate aid groups may have flown earthquake orphans out of the country for adoption before efforts to find their parents had been exhausted.
As a result, the Haitian government last week halted these types of adoptions. "There is no question that either NGOs (non-governmental organizations) or institutions of any kind can take children off the streets (for adoption) and say that they are orphans," said Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive, expressing his fears that this might be happening.
There are no reliable estimates of the number of parentless and lost children at risk in Haiti's quake-shattered capital Port-au-Prince. Hungry, homeless minors fending for themselves in the city are a common sight.
Around 700 children who lost touch with their parents during the quake have been registered and placed in camps and efforts at reunification are under way, said UNICEF's Page.
But in an indication of the scale of the problem, a Haitian children's charity working in the Delmar 31 neighborhood of the capital said it had identified 3,000 children that it considered in danger.
Some joined gangs of looters last week, smashing into stores in the city's main commercial district in search of food and goods to sell, said Alveus Prospere, the president of the Organization for a Better Future for Children charity.
Many others have been taken in by relatives or neighbors now living in makeshift camps where food is scarce, he said.
ADMINISTRATIVE OVERSIGHT VS HUMAN NEED
A U.S. Christian charity, For His Glory Outreach, flew 80 Haitian children to the United States on Saturday for adoption and plans to take out 29 more in the coming days, according to Michael Gibson, a member of the charity's board.
The children lived at the House of the Children of God orphanage in the Haitian capital before their departure and all had the necessary paperwork signed by Haitian authorities before the quake, he said.
Even before the quake, economic pressure and grinding hardship in what was already the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere provided a powerful incentive for some Haitian parents to seek adoption for their children.
Child protection experts fear the Haitian government's problems in maintaining control and oversight in the country, now hugely exacerbated by the quake, could also give freer rein to well-meaning potential adopters willing to cut corners.
For His Glory has had no contact with the Haitian government since the quake, said Gibson, whose family adopted Haitian twins in 2007.
"I don't believe there is a (functioning) Haitian government," he told Reuters in an interview.
Most of the children at the orphanage, who have been sleeping on dirty mattresses in the yard since the quake, have parents alive and retain contact with them, so they are not technically orphans at all.
Twelve-year-old Judlanda Toussaint came to the orphanage three years ago because her parents could not afford to look after her, according to workers at the institution.
"I want to go to America so I can help my family back home," said Toussaint.
-By Matthew Bigg for Reuters News Service
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60O2A120100125
Friday, January 22, 2010
Haitian orphans' adoptive parents wait, worry, battle red tape
Since the first earthquake hit Haiti last week, Suzanne Hetherman has careened between despair and elation as she waits for news of the two Haitian girls she has tried to adopt for two years.
On Monday morning, the Winter Garden woman was told they could arrive any minute. By afternoon, the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services were asking for more paperwork.
Continue story
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Study of Adult Adoptees’ Identity Issues
From Adoptive Families Magazine:
The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute released a major study on adoptees’ identity formation. The research included survey responses from 468 adult adoptees, and the study is the most extensive examination of adult adoptive identity to date. (Read the full report at http://www.adoptioninstitute.org/.) Key findings include:
The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute released a major study on adoptees’ identity formation. The research included survey responses from 468 adult adoptees, and the study is the most extensive examination of adult adoptive identity to date. (Read the full report at http://www.adoptioninstitute.org/.) Key findings include:
- Adoption becomes increasingly significant for most adoptees—and race/ethnicity grows in importance for adoptees of color—into adulthood, contrary to the notion that these factors diminish in importance after adolescence.
- Adoption-related teasing is a reality for many adoptees, but more so for whites. Race trumped adoption as a cause for teasing for adoptees of color, and a majority experienced race-based discrimination rather than (or in addition to) adoption-related negativity.
- A majority of transracially adopted adults wanted to be white as children, though most eventually grew to identify themselves as members of their racial/ethnic group.
- The most effective strategies for achieving positive identity formation are travel to birth countries and attending racially diverse schools for transracial adoptees, and contact with birth relatives for white adoptees.
China's Population Controls leads to Stolen Children
1. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-china-adopt20-2009sep20,0,491086.story
2. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-china-twins20-2009sep20,0,996999.story
International Adoptions to Canada Increase
According to statistics released by Citizenship and Immigration Canada in October, international adoptions to Canada increased by 11 percent, from 1,713 in 2007 to 1,909 in 2008. Adoptions from the U.S. to Canada doubled from 94 to 189 during this period, making the U.S. the second-largest source of international adoptions to Canada (the highest is China, sending 429 children in 2008).
(From Adoptive Families magazine.)
(From Adoptive Families magazine.)
Another Drop in International Adoptions
Adoptive Families magazine reports that the number of intercountry adoptions fell again last year—from 17,438 in fiscal year 2008 to 12,700 in fiscal year 2009, a decrease of 27 percent—according to early data from the U.S. Department of State on IR3 and IR4 visas issued.
The decline likely reflects several trends in intercountry adoption: Adoption from China continues to slow; and Vietnam and Guatemala processed only grandfathered international adoption cases during 2009.
Some countries saw an increase in intercountry adoptions last year. Adoptions from Ethiopia continue to rise, and adoptions from Haiti, the Philippines, and Ukraine have all increased.
The decline likely reflects several trends in intercountry adoption: Adoption from China continues to slow; and Vietnam and Guatemala processed only grandfathered international adoption cases during 2009.
Some countries saw an increase in intercountry adoptions last year. Adoptions from Ethiopia continue to rise, and adoptions from Haiti, the Philippines, and Ukraine have all increased.
US Appoints Orphan Task Force for Haiti
Michele Bond, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Overseas Citizen Services, was appointed as head of a new Orphan Task Force. To read the press release:
http://betheanswerforchildren.wordpress.com/2010/01/21/us-appoints-orphan-task-force/
http://betheanswerforchildren.wordpress.com/2010/01/21/us-appoints-orphan-task-force/
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
CCAI Sends Aid to Haitian Orphanage
We landed at Port-au-Prince International Airport at 13:59 pm yesterday and hand delivered your contributions to the orphanage staff and volunteers in the form of water, formula, medicine, food, and $10,000.00 cash.
Maison des Enfants de Dieu, an orphanage that has been caring for about 130 kids, was badly damaged by the powerful earthquake that hit the poor Caribbean nation last on January 12, 2010. Although no children were severely hurt, their dorms were devastated beyond repair. The older children have been living under five tents and the babies are being cared for in the trunk of a big truck. Fox News and CNN managed to reach the orphanage three days after the quake, but their reports of the terrible conditions did not lead to the immediate and adequate aid of food and water that they desperately needed.
On 1/17 at 18:24, Patrick, an American missionary from Denver sent us an urgent message, pleading, “We need water, food, medicine, and charcoal quickly!!!”
We immediately contacted one of our long time supporters who had offered their family private jet for emergency use the day before. They wholeheartedly supported our request to use their plane to send supplies to the orphanage. We spent the next five hours storming several Wal-Marts and Walgreens purchasing formula, medicine, food, water, and charcoal. At 5:30 am, over 2000 pounds of supplies were loaded onto the jet and the plane took off at 6:33 am Denver time.
Five and half hours later, at 13:59 pm, we successfully landed at the war-zone like Port-au-Prince International Airport in the midst of many dozen landing and taking-off aid aircrafts and helicopters from around the world.
We were totally surprised as soon as we opened the gate. Five orphanage staff and volunteers including Patrick and his wife, Kim, were right there, ready and waiting with a SUV and a truck! We had no idea how in the world they were able to drive and park right by our plane.
We have never in my life seen people so excited, so thankful and tearful, nor who hugged so hard!
We unloaded the supplies as quick as we could and covered the truck with tarps. We offered them an advise we received prior to our departure from another pilot who has been transporting aid to Haiti the day before: Cover the supplies with tarps and let a couple of guys lie on top of it pretending dead so supplies will not be high-jacked on the way back to the orphanage.
At 16:00 pm, we left the airport with seven completely exhausted American and Belgium doctors who had been working in Haiti non-stop for over three days! A free ride in a fancy private jet could provide a little physical and emotional comfort to these heroes.
A huge thank-you to all of you unsung heroes who took action to care and to love. Thank you for entrusting us with your loving donations.
Please visit www.haitiadoption.org to view our Haiti trip photos.
Secretary Napolitano Announces Humanitarian Parole Policy for Certain Haitian Orphans
DHS and DOS are working together to issue travel documents (either immigrant visas or humanitarian parole authorizations) for children who fall into the two categories described below. Once these children are cleared to travel, the U.S. Embassy in Port au Prince will facilitate their evacuation to the United States so they may be united with their American adoptive parents.
Under applicable laws, unaccompanied minors entering the country without a parent or legal guardian are subject to special procedures regarding their custody and care. DHS coordinates with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Refugee Resettlement on the cases of these unaccompanied minors.
All cases will be evaluated by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Depending on their circumstances, and information available some children will receive immigrant visas with permanent immigration status and will require no further processing. Those who enter under humanitarian parole status will need to have their immigration status resolved after arrival.
Eligibility for Humanitarian Parole
Category 1
Children who have been legally confirmed as orphans eligible for intercountry adoption by the Government of Haiti, were in the process of being adopted by Americans prior to Jan. 12, 2010 and meet the below criteria.
Required Criteria
Evidence of availability for adoption, which MUST include at least one of the following:
- Full and final Haitian adoption decree
- Government of Haiti Custody grant to prospective adoptive parents for emigration and adoption
- Evidence of suitability for adoption, which MUST include at least one of the following:
- Notice of Approval of Form I-600A, Application for Advance Processing of an Orphan Petition
- Current FBI Fingerprints and background security check clearances
- Physical custody in Haiti plus a security background check
Children who have been identified by an adoption service provider or facilitator as eligible for intercountry adoption, were matched to prospective American adoptive parents prior to Jan. 12, 2010 and meet the below criteria.
Required Criteria
- Significant evidence of a relationship between the prospective adoptive parents and the child AND of the parents’ intention to complete the adoption, which could include the following:
- Proof of travel by the prospective adoptive parents to Haiti to visit the child
- Photos of the child and prospective adoptive parents together
- An Adoption Service Provider “Acceptance of Referral” letter signed by the prospective adoptive parents
- Documentary evidence that the prospective adoptive parents initiated the adoption process prior to Jan. 12, 2010 with intent to adopt the child (filed Form I-600A, Application for Advance Processing of an Orphan Petition, and/or Form I-600, Petition to Classify an Orphan as an Immediate Relative, completed a home study, located an ASP to work with in Haiti, etc.)
- Evidence of the child’s availability for adoption, which could the following:
- IBESR (Haitian Adoption Authority) approval
- Documentation of legal relinquishment or award of custody to the Haitian orphanage
- Evidence of suitability for adoption, which MUST include at least one of the following: Notice of Approval of Form I-600A, Application for Advance Processing of an Orphan Petition; OR
- Current FBI Fingerprints and background security check clearances
Given the severity of the disaster in Haiti, we understand that there are additional children that have been orphaned and/or separated from relatives and may also be in varying stages of the adoption process. DHS and the U.S. Department of State continue to evaluate additional eligibility criteria and will provide additional information as soon as it is available.
USCIS encourages U.S. citizens with pending adoption cases in Haiti to send us detailed information about their cases to HaitianAdoptions@dhs.gov.
Please visit the USCIS website at www.uscis.gov and the U.S. Department of State website at www.adoption.state.gov for more information and updates.
http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=9c22546ade146210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=68439c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD
Haiti Orphanage Update from JCICS
JCICS has given a list of orphanages to the the DOS, it is our understanding that they are in the process of contacting each orphanage with instructions. JC is also providing DOS w/updates as information is given to us from families and adoption service providers.
Adventures in Missions Haiti Response
Please stay connected to http://haiti.adventures.org/ for the latest information about how one of Children's HopeChest partners, Adventures In Missions, is responding to the Haiti earthquake.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Joint Council on International Children's Services: Haiti Call to Action
It has come that time that we request our dear friends and family help us ensure the safety of children in Haiti. Please read the message below and contact your Senators and Representative.
To find your senators go to, http://www.senate.gov/
To find your representative go to, http://www.house.gov/
Suggested Talking Points
Hello, my name is…
I am in the process of adopting a child from Haiti…
OR
My
OR
I am concerned about the orphan children of Hati...
I know that many Members of Congress continue to support efforts on behalf of Haiti’s orphaned children. I extend my thanks to the Congressman/Senator.
I am calling because…
* We need your help to get our adoptive child out of Haiti safely.
* Water, food and medicine are running out.
* Gangs have looted some of the orphanages and even travel is not safe for the children.
* The Department of Homeland security has granted humanitarian parole, but it is only the first step.
* The devastation from the earthquake is vast and our child’s safety - and even life - is at risk.
Joint Council on International Children’s Services, the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute, and a team of congressional offices and relief organizations are working to coordinate a staging and housing center to provide:
* Physical safety
* Medicine
* Food
* Water
* A Staging Center for USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) to process humanitarian parole
The groups working to launch the staging and housing center already have most of what the children need.
But they do not have:
* Water
* Security to protect the children and supplies from gangs
* Transportation to bring the children into this safe haven
We are asking that (name of Member of Congress) personally call:
* Secretary of State Clinton, and
* Dr. Shah, Administrator Designate at USAID
And specifically request that they authorize security forces be sent to the offered staging center and assist in the extraction and transport of these children from their orphanages to the staging center. All other pieces of a successful operation of this staging center are currently in place, but all hinge on this authorization of security and transport.
If this security does not reach the site within 24 hours, children being adopted and many other children will continue to suffer and may in fact not live long enough to be united with my family and the other 300 U.S. families.
http://www.jcics.org/
Plight of Haiti orphans grips U.S
Roman Catholic leaders in Miami on Tuesday applauded the federal government's announcement that it will bring hundreds of Haitian children already orphaned before the deadly earthquake to the United States as soon as possible.
The plan, unveiled by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, was greeted by some as the first step in opening the door to the countless other youngsters in Haiti left without homes or parents since last week's disaster.
"We'll take any child that needs a place to sleep and to live. We will do that. And we know we're not the only organization," said Mary Ross Agosta, spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Miami.
Catholic Charities' offer to temporarily house and clothe Haitian orphans until they can be adopted or reunited with surviving relatives has created a groundswell of support, as well as logistical confusion, and inevitably resulted in comparisons with the church's 1960s "Pedro Pan" airlift of 14,000 children out of Cuba.
"You always have to look out for children," Gov. Charlie Crist said Tuesday, lending his support to talk of evacuating children from the sorrowful conditions in Haiti.
Yet, at the same time, Florida child welfare officials sought to quell speculation about a mass "influx of orphans" into the state.
"That's just not going to happen anytime soon, if at all," said Mark Riordan, Department of Children & Families spokesman in Broward County. "All the proper authorities and agencies have been in contact with one another on the subject. But there is no plan to roll out, at this point, to accept or even begin processing large numbers of orphan Haitian children to bring here for adoption."
But clearly, some children are coming. Local and national media have captured heart-wrenching pictures of Haitian children wrapped in blankets and being carried off planes to new lives in the United States. Among them: the governor of Pennsylvania stepping off an Air Force jet in Pittsburgh with 53 tots gathered from a badly damaged Haitian orphanage.
How many more are en route?
Homeland Security said it estimates fewer than 1,000 young Haitians will qualify under its newly announced plan, which applies only to children legally available for adoption prior to the Jan. 12 quake. Some have already been matched with new parents. The State Department put the number closer to 500.
Catholic officials couldn't say how many Haitians it estimates were orphaned after the quake. "We don't know," Agosta said. "Who can tell us even how many people are dead or missing?"
But church leaders say the need is great and immediate. And so they're talking with federal officials, the Haitian government and other agencies about how best to care for children who now have nothing and no one.
Agosta said the Miami Archdiocese can temporarily house children in church facilities that can be converted into "child-friendly residential situations" with clean beds, clean clothes and people to look after them. The children could stay until they are adopted or reunited with relatives located here or in Haiti.
Families across the United States have already contacted the archdiocese offering to help. "I was on MSNBC this morning and 20 minutes after I was off the air I had over 100 e-mails from people saying we can open up our homes," Agosta said.
But locally, other child welfare providers say they know of no specific plans as of yet.
"We're really unclear, at this point, if the kids are coming here, what would be needed," said Sasheika Eugent, spokeswoman for ChildNet, which provides foster and adoptive care services in Broward County.
"Right now, reunification with families is the ongoing theme of everything we're doing," said Chris Bentley, spokesman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/fl-haiti-orphans-airlift-0119-20100119,0,5392361,full.story
Children's HopeChest Ministry's Plan to help Haitian Children
Haiti's devastating earthquake may triple the number of orphans (http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/16/haiti.earthquake.carrefour.orphanage/index.html)
living on this small impoverished island. Already one of the poorest nations in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti's new orphan crisis will bring incredible strain upon the country's resources to care for children.
Our ministry team has developed a two-stage plan to assist organizations in caring for an expected 300% increase in orphaned children in Haiti.
EMERGENCY FOOD RELIEF
Through our "5 for 50 (http://www.5for50.com/)" program, we have already contributed $3,000 to Kids Against Hunger. In 2009, they shipped over 500,000 meals to our carepoints in Africa. From Jan 1 - Feb 28, HopeChest will donate 100% of all 5 for 50 (http://www.5for50.com/) contributions to Kids Against Hunger to feed Haiti's orphans. To join us, please go to http://www.5for50.org (http://www.5for50.com/) to make a gift. 100% of all contributions made before Feb 28 will support emergency food relief for orphans in Haiti.
LONG-TERM CARE
Organizations are rushing into Haiti--just as we watched them pour into the former Soviet Union in the early 1990s. Today, less than 10 percent are still ministering in Russia. Right now, HopeChest is conducting extensive due diligence on several orphan ministry partners in Haiti. Our COO, Bob Mudd, has been on the phone every day with new potential long-term partners.
We are looking for ministries with a pre-earthquake track record of caring for orphans, and who will experience a substantial increase in the number of children they are serving. Through a ministry partnership with Children's HopeChest, we will explore providing long-term care through our CONNECT COMMUNITIES outreach, as well as our TRANSFORM church sponsorship programs.
Above all, please pray for everyone affected by the earthquake, especially David Hames and his family. David attends Vanguard Church, one of our Swaziland carepoint sponsors. David was in Haiti to film stories of children for Compassion International and was in the Hotel Montana when it collapsed during the earthquake. Search and rescue teams are working to locate David, and we ask you to join us in asking for God's miraculous hand to work in Haiti today.
Thank you for your support and prayers.
Sincerely,
The HopeChest Ministry Team
P.S. If you haven't contributed to disaster relief in Haiti, we would encourage you make a financial contribution to one of the following organizations:
- The Red Cross (http://www.redcross.org/)
- Compassion International (http://www.compassion.com/)
- Samaritan's Purse (http://www.samaritanspurse.org/)
World Vision Provides Update on Haiti's Relief Effort
One Week After Haiti's Earthquake, New Challenges in Helping
World Vision's Laura Blank on what makes this relief effort different—and on being surprised by hymns.
from Christianity Today
With 70,000 bodies officially recovered after last Tuesday's earthquake, World Vision says the total death toll likely will be well over 100,000. Meanwhile, aid and relief organizations have raised more than $220 million to help. World Vision, one of the world's largest Christian ministries, has raised $31 million to provide food, medical aid, and shelter. Christianity Today online editor Sarah Pulliam Bailey spoke by phone with World Vision media relations manager Laura Blank, who is in Port-au-Prince.
Continue story here - http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2010/januaryweb-only/13-21.0.html
World Vision's Laura Blank on what makes this relief effort different—and on being surprised by hymns.
from Christianity Today
With 70,000 bodies officially recovered after last Tuesday's earthquake, World Vision says the total death toll likely will be well over 100,000. Meanwhile, aid and relief organizations have raised more than $220 million to help. World Vision, one of the world's largest Christian ministries, has raised $31 million to provide food, medical aid, and shelter. Christianity Today online editor Sarah Pulliam Bailey spoke by phone with World Vision media relations manager Laura Blank, who is in Port-au-Prince.
Continue story here - http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2010/januaryweb-only/13-21.0.html
Plane filled with Haitian orphans among 19 flights to Sanford, FL
Jan. 19, 2010 story from the Orlando Sentinel:
An Air Force C-17 carrying 53 children rescued from a Haitian orphanage is among 19 flights from Haiti that have arrived at Orlando Sanford International Airport as of this morning.
Officials said the orphans were flown out of Haiti because their adoptions by American families had already been arranged.
On Sunday night, five orphans arrived on a flight carrying 91 other people. Those five are being adopted by one family, officials said.
The Haiti-to-Sanford airline passenger count stands at 1,916. Of those, 1,334 are U.S. citizens and 387 of them are foreign nationals, said Carrie Hoeppner, spokeswoman for Florida's Department of Children and Families.
After clearing Customs, more than 1,300 of the passengers were taken immediately by Lynx bus to Orlando International Airport to catch flights to cities where they have relatives, Hoeppner said.
Others have been temporarily placed in hotels and in some cases relatives are driving to Sanford to pick up the evacuees, officials said.
Almost all of the foreign nationals have family living in the United States, officials said.
Some of the evacuees are either injured or disabled and are arriving in Sanford in wheelchairs or on stretchers. On one flight carrying 191 people Monday night, 21 passengers were in wheelchairs, Hoeppner said.
The Seminole County Fire Department has activated an emergency operations center at the airport and is assisting with patients needing critical care, spokesman Greg Kirby said.
Firefighters have transported 15 evacuees to area hospitals for emergency treatment, he said.
The evacuees who are not injured are, for the most part, exhausted, Hoeppner said. "Most of them are telling us they have not slept for a number of days," she said. Most of them, she said, told of sleeping outdoors because they were afraid of after-shocks.
Officials in Sanford have no idea how long the flights are going to continue, but DCF, which is charged with repatriating Americans once they arrive back on U.S. soil, has made plans to staff both Orlando Sanford International and Orlando International 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for at least two weeks, Hoeppner said.
The state agency is working closely with volunteers from the American Red Cross at both airports.
Most of the government agencies are incurring overtime costs in order to increase staffing to handle the flood of passengers, but they have been promised reimbursement by the federal government, which if coordinating the flights. Evacuees are arriving in either military transport planes or commercial jets chartered by the military.
So far, 30 unescorted minors have arrived, but all of them were flown here because they have family in the United States, Hoeppner said.
Some of the minors were placed temporarily in a foster home arranged through the Seminole County Sheriff's Office, but none of them will be in long-term foster care, she said.
Late Monday, a 17-year-old girl arrived with a 3-month-old sibling. She told authorities her parents left to go to a supermarket before the earthquake hit and never returned. Arrangements were made for them to fly to relatives in New York this morning, Hoeppner said.
DCF is responsible for giving loans to U.S. citizens who need money to get home.
"They are American citizens and they are eligible for immediate assistance," Hoeppner said. "They sign a promissory note on sight." Even when temporary hotel lodging is provided, it is in the form of a loan, she said.
Seminole County Emergency Management arranges similar loans to non-American citizens.
In reality, all of the agencies are working closely together, said Seminole County Emergency Manager Alan Harris. That includes the Transportation Security Administration, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and airport services at Orlando Sanford International, he said.
Red Cross volunteers from across Central Florida have distributed food, water, diapers, blankets, baby formula, stuffed toys and comfort kits containing toiletry items. They also are providing snacks.
Seminole County is also assisting with the needs of evacuees through Harvest Time International. That organization, at 225 Kennel Road, west of Sanford, is accepting money, non-perishable food, baby formula, hygiene products and first-aid supplies, he said.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/os-haiti-sanford-evacuate-20100119,0,1223381.story
An Air Force C-17 carrying 53 children rescued from a Haitian orphanage is among 19 flights from Haiti that have arrived at Orlando Sanford International Airport as of this morning.
Officials said the orphans were flown out of Haiti because their adoptions by American families had already been arranged.
On Sunday night, five orphans arrived on a flight carrying 91 other people. Those five are being adopted by one family, officials said.
The Haiti-to-Sanford airline passenger count stands at 1,916. Of those, 1,334 are U.S. citizens and 387 of them are foreign nationals, said Carrie Hoeppner, spokeswoman for Florida's Department of Children and Families.
After clearing Customs, more than 1,300 of the passengers were taken immediately by Lynx bus to Orlando International Airport to catch flights to cities where they have relatives, Hoeppner said.
Others have been temporarily placed in hotels and in some cases relatives are driving to Sanford to pick up the evacuees, officials said.
Almost all of the foreign nationals have family living in the United States, officials said.
Some of the evacuees are either injured or disabled and are arriving in Sanford in wheelchairs or on stretchers. On one flight carrying 191 people Monday night, 21 passengers were in wheelchairs, Hoeppner said.
The Seminole County Fire Department has activated an emergency operations center at the airport and is assisting with patients needing critical care, spokesman Greg Kirby said.
Firefighters have transported 15 evacuees to area hospitals for emergency treatment, he said.
The evacuees who are not injured are, for the most part, exhausted, Hoeppner said. "Most of them are telling us they have not slept for a number of days," she said. Most of them, she said, told of sleeping outdoors because they were afraid of after-shocks.
Officials in Sanford have no idea how long the flights are going to continue, but DCF, which is charged with repatriating Americans once they arrive back on U.S. soil, has made plans to staff both Orlando Sanford International and Orlando International 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for at least two weeks, Hoeppner said.
The state agency is working closely with volunteers from the American Red Cross at both airports.
Most of the government agencies are incurring overtime costs in order to increase staffing to handle the flood of passengers, but they have been promised reimbursement by the federal government, which if coordinating the flights. Evacuees are arriving in either military transport planes or commercial jets chartered by the military.
So far, 30 unescorted minors have arrived, but all of them were flown here because they have family in the United States, Hoeppner said.
Some of the minors were placed temporarily in a foster home arranged through the Seminole County Sheriff's Office, but none of them will be in long-term foster care, she said.
Late Monday, a 17-year-old girl arrived with a 3-month-old sibling. She told authorities her parents left to go to a supermarket before the earthquake hit and never returned. Arrangements were made for them to fly to relatives in New York this morning, Hoeppner said.
DCF is responsible for giving loans to U.S. citizens who need money to get home.
"They are American citizens and they are eligible for immediate assistance," Hoeppner said. "They sign a promissory note on sight." Even when temporary hotel lodging is provided, it is in the form of a loan, she said.
Seminole County Emergency Management arranges similar loans to non-American citizens.
In reality, all of the agencies are working closely together, said Seminole County Emergency Manager Alan Harris. That includes the Transportation Security Administration, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and airport services at Orlando Sanford International, he said.
Red Cross volunteers from across Central Florida have distributed food, water, diapers, blankets, baby formula, stuffed toys and comfort kits containing toiletry items. They also are providing snacks.
Seminole County is also assisting with the needs of evacuees through Harvest Time International. That organization, at 225 Kennel Road, west of Sanford, is accepting money, non-perishable food, baby formula, hygiene products and first-aid supplies, he said.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/os-haiti-sanford-evacuate-20100119,0,1223381.story
A Church-Centered Initiative to Serve Haiti’s Orphans
As you know, the Haitian church has been devastated by the earthquake.
Pastors are dead.
Church buildings have been demolished.
Our Haitian brothers and sisters are suffering in inconceivable ways.
To use an analogy, if the Western Hemisphere is the setting of The Parable of the Good Samaritan instead of the land of Israel, the church in Haiti is the man half dead and we are the neighbor. Our Haitian brothers and sisters in Christ have immense needs, and God has given us the opportunity and responsibility to care for them as the Good Samaritan cared for the man who fell among thieves.
As you have likely heard, many more children have become orphans as a result of the earthquake. What was already an orphan crisis in Haiti has become an exponentially greater crisis. Since the church in Haiti is itself suffering terribly from the devastating earthquake, they are not in a position to even begin to care for their orphans.
So, we are actively working on an initiative to mobilize the U.S. church to be the hands and feet of the Haitian church to care for its orphans. We want to serve our Haitian brothers and sisters in Christ by coming alongside them and doing for them what they cannot do themselves: care for their orphans in crisis.
As you can imagine, executing an initiative like this is complicated. We are working to put a clear plan of action together. If you are interested in knowing how you and your church can participate, please send an e-mail to dan.cruver@TogetherforAdoption.org and keep checking the T4A website for updates.
More information will be coming. In the meantime, pray that we as the church will rise up to come alongside our Haitian brothers and sisters in Christ for the sake of Haiti’s orphans
http://www.togetherforadoption.org/?p=5175
Friday, January 15, 2010
Upcoming Events from Family Services of Metro Orlando
Annual Give a Child a Childhood Fundraising Breakfast
Give a child a childhood. Join us for just one hour to help create magical possibilities for children in central Florida. Learn how your support improves lives for just fifteen cents a day. A free continental breakfast will be served. Arrive by 8:30 a.m. for best parking.
Thursday, April 29, 2010; 9 - 10 a.m.
First Baptist Church of Orlando
3000 S. John Young Parkway
Orlando, FL 32804
RSVP to Janice Brodie or Anissa Mercado at 407-398-7975 or via e-mail to jbrodie@fsmetroorlando.org.
Table captains are needed! If you or someone you know is interested in serving as a table captain to encourage support of our mission, please contact Janice Brodie at jbrodie@fsmetroorlando.org or 407-398-7975.
Community Connection Tours
Across every community in central Florida, Family Services of Metro Orlando is making hope
happen for vulnerable children and families. Let us share our story with you.
Community Connection Tours are open to all and are held regularly from 8:45 a.m. - 10 a.m. at:
Family Services of Metro Orlando
2600 Technology Drive, Suite 250
Orlando, Florida 32804
Upcoming Community Connection Tours:
Friday, January 22, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
For more information, please contact:
Janice Brodie at 407-398-7335 or jbrodie@fsmetroorlando.org
Anissa Mercado at 407-398-7975 or amercado@fsmetroorlando.org
Help Us Tell Our Story!
Host a Community Connection Tour at your workplace, organization, or house of worship.
Please contact our team for additional information regarding this opportunity!
Connect with Us
Join the dialogue with us on the web! Search for Family Services of Metro Orlando at Facebook, YouTube, and Flickr or connect directly with us at the following addresses:
http://www.fsmetroorlando.org/
www.twitter.com/fsmetroorlando
www.facebook.com/fsmetroorlando
www.youtube.com/fsmetroorlando
http://www.flickr.com/ (Search for Family Services of Metro Orlando)
If you're on Twitter, be sure to tell your followers what you do to help kids! Use trending topic #2helpkids in your update.
Give a child a childhood. Join us for just one hour to help create magical possibilities for children in central Florida. Learn how your support improves lives for just fifteen cents a day. A free continental breakfast will be served. Arrive by 8:30 a.m. for best parking.
Thursday, April 29, 2010; 9 - 10 a.m.
First Baptist Church of Orlando
3000 S. John Young Parkway
Orlando, FL 32804
RSVP to Janice Brodie or Anissa Mercado at 407-398-7975 or via e-mail to jbrodie@fsmetroorlando.org.
Table captains are needed! If you or someone you know is interested in serving as a table captain to encourage support of our mission, please contact Janice Brodie at jbrodie@fsmetroorlando.org or 407-398-7975.
Community Connection Tours
Across every community in central Florida, Family Services of Metro Orlando is making hope
happen for vulnerable children and families. Let us share our story with you.
Community Connection Tours are open to all and are held regularly from 8:45 a.m. - 10 a.m. at:
Family Services of Metro Orlando
2600 Technology Drive, Suite 250
Orlando, Florida 32804
Upcoming Community Connection Tours:
Friday, January 22, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
For more information, please contact:
Janice Brodie at 407-398-7335 or jbrodie@fsmetroorlando.org
Anissa Mercado at 407-398-7975 or amercado@fsmetroorlando.org
Help Us Tell Our Story!
Host a Community Connection Tour at your workplace, organization, or house of worship.
Please contact our team for additional information regarding this opportunity!
Connect with Us
Join the dialogue with us on the web! Search for Family Services of Metro Orlando at Facebook, YouTube, and Flickr or connect directly with us at the following addresses:
http://www.fsmetroorlando.org/
www.twitter.com/fsmetroorlando
www.facebook.com/fsmetroorlando
www.youtube.com/fsmetroorlando
http://www.flickr.com/ (Search for Family Services of Metro Orlando)
If you're on Twitter, be sure to tell your followers what you do to help kids! Use trending topic #2helpkids in your update.
More Haitian Ministries that Need Help
A blogger who has adopted several times from Haiti has identified three reputable ministries that need help:
Heartline Minitries, World Wide Village, and Real Hope for Haiti Rescue Center.
To read her post: http://mcbridefamilyblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/its-time-to-give-big.html
Heartline Minitries, World Wide Village, and Real Hope for Haiti Rescue Center.
To read her post: http://mcbridefamilyblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/its-time-to-give-big.html
Guatemala to Resume International Adoptions
After almost two years of suspension,
according to a Washington Post article. Subsequently a new central adoption authority called the National Adoption Council has been established, as well as legal framework designed to prevent any future problems. To read the full article, go to www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/20/AR2009112002642.html.
(From Adoption Today magazine, http://www.bluetoad.com/print.php?pages=6%2C7&issue%5Fid=29697)
international adoption from Guatemala will reportedly resume through a new pilot
program. The country’s adoption program was closed in 2007 by Guatemalan officials because of widespread evidence of coercion, kidnapping and document falsification, according to a Washington Post article. Subsequently a new central adoption authority called the National Adoption Council has been established, as well as legal framework designed to prevent any future problems. To read the full article, go to www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/20/AR2009112002642.html.
(From Adoption Today magazine, http://www.bluetoad.com/print.php?pages=6%2C7&issue%5Fid=29697)
Shirts for Shoes: Be an Orphan's Valentine
To purchase or for more information:
http://networkedblogs.com/p24378963
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Survey Finds Most Adopted Children Are Healthy and Happy
According to extensive national data collected on adopted children and their families in the United States, the majority of adopted children are in good health and fare well on measures
such as social and emotional well being.
The report, entitled “Adoption USA: A Chartbook Based on the 2007 National Survey of Adoptive Parents,” was commissioned by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and conducted by Child Trends researchers. Researchers found that 85 percent of adopted children are reported by their parents to be in excellent or very good health. Parents also reported to researchers that 88 percent of adopted children age 6 and older show positive social behaviors.
The report was based on questions in the firstever National Survey of Adoptive Parents, a
federal survey of about 2,000 families that had adopted children through foster care, private domestic adoption or international adoption. The report describes adoption experiences, and well-being of these children and their families, making comparisons between
adopted children and the general population of children in the United States and among children adopted through different types of adoption.
Researchers found that more than half of adopted children perform at excellent or very
good levels in reading and math, according to their parents.
The report also found that adopted children are more likely to have been diagnosed
with depression, ADD/ADHD or some sort of behavior disorder. Although researchers
found that adopted children are for the most part in good health and show positive social
behaviors, 54 percent of children adopted from foster care have some sort of special health
care need. Thirty-two percent of children in domestic adoptions and 29 percent of those
in international adoptions also have special health needs.
Also, 87 percent of adoptive parents in the survey said they would “definitely” make the
same decision to adopt their children and 97 percent of all adopted children five and older
knew they were adopted. For private domestic adoptions, 68 percent reported post-adoption
contact with birth family; that is partly because 41 percent of families in this category adopted a relative’s child. For more information, visit
http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/09/NSAP/chartbook.
Reported by Adoption Today magazine (http://www.bluetoad.com/print.php?pages=6%2C7&issue%5Fid=29697)
such as social and emotional well being.
The report, entitled “Adoption USA: A Chartbook Based on the 2007 National Survey of Adoptive Parents,” was commissioned by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and conducted by Child Trends researchers. Researchers found that 85 percent of adopted children are reported by their parents to be in excellent or very good health. Parents also reported to researchers that 88 percent of adopted children age 6 and older show positive social behaviors.
The report was based on questions in the firstever National Survey of Adoptive Parents, a
federal survey of about 2,000 families that had adopted children through foster care, private domestic adoption or international adoption. The report describes adoption experiences, and well-being of these children and their families, making comparisons between
adopted children and the general population of children in the United States and among children adopted through different types of adoption.
Researchers found that more than half of adopted children perform at excellent or very
good levels in reading and math, according to their parents.
The report also found that adopted children are more likely to have been diagnosed
with depression, ADD/ADHD or some sort of behavior disorder. Although researchers
found that adopted children are for the most part in good health and show positive social
behaviors, 54 percent of children adopted from foster care have some sort of special health
care need. Thirty-two percent of children in domestic adoptions and 29 percent of those
in international adoptions also have special health needs.
Also, 87 percent of adoptive parents in the survey said they would “definitely” make the
same decision to adopt their children and 97 percent of all adopted children five and older
knew they were adopted. For private domestic adoptions, 68 percent reported post-adoption
contact with birth family; that is partly because 41 percent of families in this category adopted a relative’s child. For more information, visit
http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/09/NSAP/chartbook.
Reported by Adoption Today magazine (http://www.bluetoad.com/print.php?pages=6%2C7&issue%5Fid=29697)
Earthquake Relief for Haiti
For His Glory Adoption Outreach supports an orphanage in Port-Au-Prince. They are in desperate need of cash donations. They will also need construction and medical volunteers. For more information or to help: http://www.forhisgloryoutreach.org/earthquake_relief
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Liberia Begins Issuing Exit Clearances on Pending Adoptions
From Adoption Today Magazine (http://www.bluetoad.com/publication/?i=29697&p):
Liberia recently informed the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia that it will soon issue exit clearances, on a case-by-case basis, to children whose full and final adoption was completed prior to Jan. 26, 2009 and approved by Liberia’s Ad-hoc Central Adoption Authority. Prospective adoptive parents who believe their case might fall into this category should contact the Consular Section at adoptionsmonrovia@state.gov to discuss next steps in the visa process. Prospective adoptive parents and adoption service providers are reminded that a consular officer is required, by law, to complete a Form I-604 (determination of orphan status) before issuing a visa in all IR-3 and IR-4 adoption cases. In some cases this may require only a conversation with the birth parent, but in others it may require a full field investigation possibly lasting several weeks. Because verifying the parent-child relationships in Liberia is difficult, the State Department also expects that in most cases where the child was relinquished by the birth parent, DNA testing will be recommended in order to establish a blood relationship between the adopted child and claimed birth parents.
Liberia recently informed the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia that it will soon issue exit clearances, on a case-by-case basis, to children whose full and final adoption was completed prior to Jan. 26, 2009 and approved by Liberia’s Ad-hoc Central Adoption Authority. Prospective adoptive parents who believe their case might fall into this category should contact the Consular Section at adoptionsmonrovia@state.gov to discuss next steps in the visa process. Prospective adoptive parents and adoption service providers are reminded that a consular officer is required, by law, to complete a Form I-604 (determination of orphan status) before issuing a visa in all IR-3 and IR-4 adoption cases. In some cases this may require only a conversation with the birth parent, but in others it may require a full field investigation possibly lasting several weeks. Because verifying the parent-child relationships in Liberia is difficult, the State Department also expects that in most cases where the child was relinquished by the birth parent, DNA testing will be recommended in order to establish a blood relationship between the adopted child and claimed birth parents.
Want to Know What It's Like to Be a Foster Child?
New Book for Those Who Have or Are Adopting from China
The Dragon Sisterhood is an education workbook for Chinese adoptive families. It covers the adoptive family wellness topics of historical origin, racial identity, attachment, adoption history, life books, educational scholarships for Asians, books, and documentary film resourcing. Each chapter includes a workbook page for adoptive parents in preparation for their child's adoptive life book.
100% of the sale of this book go towards the non-profit 503(c)(3) The Dragon Sisterhood, dedicated to educational opportunity scholarships for Chinese American adoptees.
Here is a link to The Dragon Sisterhood blog - http://www.dragonsisterhood.blogspot.com/
Monday, January 11, 2010
Today is Human Trafficking Awareness Day
Every 2 minutes, a child is forced into slavery somewhere in the world, robbing them of their childhood forever.
One of the girls we were able to help, Sveta, has grown up to become a veterinarian. But her life started with an unthinkable choice...her parents decided that they had enough girls already and abandoned her to the orphanage.
Read more about Sveta: http://tomdavis.typepad.com/tom_daviss_blog/2010/01/htad2010.html
Please encourage others to take action against trafficking, and let others know that you are doing something to fight for the millions of children who have lost their childhoods to human trafficking.
For the Fatherless,
Tom
CEO, HopeChest
One of the girls we were able to help, Sveta, has grown up to become a veterinarian. But her life started with an unthinkable choice...her parents decided that they had enough girls already and abandoned her to the orphanage.
Read more about Sveta: http://tomdavis.typepad.com/tom_daviss_blog/2010/01/htad2010.html
Please encourage others to take action against trafficking, and let others know that you are doing something to fight for the millions of children who have lost their childhoods to human trafficking.
For the Fatherless,
Tom
CEO, HopeChest
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Update on Guatemala from the Joint Council on International Children's Services
The Guatemalan government's announcement invited other governments to submit a letter of interest in participating in the pilot program. The U.S. Department of State, along with other Western governments, submitted a letter by the deadline in December. Many families, with hopes of providing a permanent home for a Guatemalan orphan, flooded Joint Council and other advocates seeking information and hoping for a positive reply.
For these families and more importantly, for those children living in Guatemalan orphanages, there is little hope.
Guatemala, having implemented the Hague Convention two years ago and having received considerable financial and technical assistance, remains out of compliance with the Hague Convention. As a result, the U.S. government, while hoping to participate in the pilot program, cannot approve any new Guatemalan adoptions nor issue a visa. If the pilot program was to begin tomorrow, no children would be adopted by a U.S. family.
For those children whose intercountry adoption was started over two years ago, before the 2008 Guatemalan Adoption Law took effect, most have found a permanent family. But many have not. They have been referred to a family, they have adoptive parents waiting and committed, but after two years of investigations, reviews and more investigations and reviews, they remain living outside of permanent parental care. They remain in foster care or in an institution. And they remain without a transparent process to finalize their adoption and to live in a family.
It is our understanding that despite universal claims of adoption corruption, the Guatemalan government, with one of the highest impunity rates and highest corruption rankings in the world, has yet to convict a single person of child trafficking. In 2007, UNICEF claimed that up to 80% of intercountry adoptions were corrupt. If true, that computes to over 3,200 claims of abuse, yet in 24 months not one adult is serving time in jail.
The disparities between the hundreds of children waiting over 26 months to finalize their adoption, the lack of child trafficking convictions, the non-compliance with the Hague Convention, the lack of progress in national adoption and family preservation and an announced intercountry adoption pilot program, calls into question how the best interest of children and families is being served.
The Guatemalan government's solution has not been to convict the guilty or to preserve families, but to subject innocent children to the proven detrimental affects of life outside a permanent family. With only seven government run orphanages, the vast majority of children live in private orphanages - many with depleting resources. The termination, rather than true reform, of intercountry adoption may have ended corruption and made for good PR, but it was not a solution in 2007 and it remains a travesty for thousands of children in 2010.
Despite the challenges, the lack of transparency and the suffering of children and families, many individuals, families, churches, organizations and governments remain committed to the children and families of Guatemala. Their efforts, along with Joint Council, continue to serve children and families in an ethical and legal fashion. We hope that the next Guatemala Update includes the fruits of those efforts...children living in families.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Adoption steps to the front lines of the culture wars
An article from Christianity Today - http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2010/january/7.12.html
Orphans on Deck
by Bobby Ross Jr.
Adoption is arguably one of the Christian social ministries most central to evangelical theology. It has—to a greater extent than church positions on issues such as abortion and marriage—avoided becoming entangled in politics. Until now.
A foster dad's court challenge to a Florida law banning adoption by gays and lesbians has made headlines in recent months. So has a proposed same-sex marriage law in the District of Columbia that the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington warned could force it to cancel its social service programs, including adoption.
At the federal level, U.S. Rep. Pete Stark introduced a bill in October dubbed the "Every Child Deserves a Family Act." The California Democrat's proposal immediately drew the ire of the Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance (IRF). IRF claims the proposed law could run "roughshod over the convictions of many faith-based adoption agencies" and "require every state to forbid every agency that it licenses from preferring mother-father families over gay families or single parents."
"Obviously, it's becoming a political issue," Marquette University political scientist John McAdams said of adoption.
"The fundamental problem is that secular elites—who basically don't like religious people at all—aren't willing to make any concessions at all to the consciousnesses of religious people," said McAdams, an evangelical Christian and Republican. In such a climate, children needing homes take a back seat to politics, he said.
McAdams points to Massachusetts as a prime example: In 2006, Catholic Charities of Boston stopped its 103-year-old adoption service rather than comply with a state law that made it illegal to discriminate against gay and lesbian couples when placing children into homes.
Russell D. Moore, a leading Southern Baptist theologian and author of "Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families and Churches," voices concern about "religious liberty concerns rising in the adoption arena."
"When states force Roman Catholic and evangelical Protestant adoption services and children's homes to override their religious concepts of the family in placing children, the mission of the church itself is at stake," Moore said.
On the other hand, voters in Arkansas last year passed a referendum banning unmarried couples from adopting or fostering children—a direct attack on gay parenting. Gov. Mike Beebe, a Democrat and active member of an Episcopal Church, voiced concern in November that the law hinders the state's ability to recruit qualified parents.
"It was just a matter of time before [adoption] was used as a lightning rod," said Ram Cnaan, director of the Program for Religion and Social Policy Research at the University of Pennsylvania.
Stark's proposal would increase the role of for-profit adoption agencies and minimize that of nonprofit and faith-based providers, Cnaan said. As a social worker and researcher, he would prefer a government policy that encourages all agencies to allow lgbt people to adopt but stops short of forcing organizations to do so.
"Marginalizing the uniqueness of faith-based organizations and forcing them to act secularly is the cookie-cutter type mistake," Cnaan said. "Not all adoption agencies should be molded to be alike, as many children and families have different needs that can be best met by allowing many different providers to co-exist."
On a broader scale, adoption is a legal process that always has been subject to politics, said John VanValkenburg, spokesman for Bethany Christian Services, the largest adoption agency in the world with more than 80 locations in 32 states.
Both political parties, for example, have supported a federal tax credit for families who adopt—a benefit that Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Bethany hopes to see renewed or made permanent before it expires at the end of 2010, VanValkenburg said.
"Awareness of the importance of adoption has increased as a result of President Obama, who repeatedly mentions adoption as a part of a positive strategy to reduce abortions," he added.
But Jedd Medefind, president of the Christian Alliance for Orphans in McLean, Virginia, said he fears that children in need of families will lose the most as activists work to redefine marriage—and, in turn, adoption rules.
"If it limits the right of Christian agencies to serve in ways consistent with their convictions, government will ultimately lose many of its greatest allies in finding families for kids in needs," said Medefind, who directed the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives as a special assistant to former President George W. Bush.
Like Medefind, Kay Ekstrom, executive director of the Phoenix-based National Association of Christian Child and Family Agencies, expresses concern about what she sees as the increasing politicization of adoption. Yet, in her view, the bigger headline is this: Tens of thousands of children remain stuck in foster care without permanent homes as Christians fail to step up to the challenge.
"If every Christian church in America produced one adopting family for an older child, we could wipe out the list of 'waiting children,'" said Ekstrom, who spent 25 years as president of the Christian Family Care Agency in Arizona. "And if God's people were responding to this need, the issue of adopting by gay people wouldn't be an issue. All the children would have homes."
Orphans on Deck
by Bobby Ross Jr.
Adoption is arguably one of the Christian social ministries most central to evangelical theology. It has—to a greater extent than church positions on issues such as abortion and marriage—avoided becoming entangled in politics. Until now.
A foster dad's court challenge to a Florida law banning adoption by gays and lesbians has made headlines in recent months. So has a proposed same-sex marriage law in the District of Columbia that the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington warned could force it to cancel its social service programs, including adoption.
At the federal level, U.S. Rep. Pete Stark introduced a bill in October dubbed the "Every Child Deserves a Family Act." The California Democrat's proposal immediately drew the ire of the Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance (IRF). IRF claims the proposed law could run "roughshod over the convictions of many faith-based adoption agencies" and "require every state to forbid every agency that it licenses from preferring mother-father families over gay families or single parents."
"Obviously, it's becoming a political issue," Marquette University political scientist John McAdams said of adoption.
"The fundamental problem is that secular elites—who basically don't like religious people at all—aren't willing to make any concessions at all to the consciousnesses of religious people," said McAdams, an evangelical Christian and Republican. In such a climate, children needing homes take a back seat to politics, he said.
McAdams points to Massachusetts as a prime example: In 2006, Catholic Charities of Boston stopped its 103-year-old adoption service rather than comply with a state law that made it illegal to discriminate against gay and lesbian couples when placing children into homes.
Russell D. Moore, a leading Southern Baptist theologian and author of "Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families and Churches," voices concern about "religious liberty concerns rising in the adoption arena."
"When states force Roman Catholic and evangelical Protestant adoption services and children's homes to override their religious concepts of the family in placing children, the mission of the church itself is at stake," Moore said.
On the other hand, voters in Arkansas last year passed a referendum banning unmarried couples from adopting or fostering children—a direct attack on gay parenting. Gov. Mike Beebe, a Democrat and active member of an Episcopal Church, voiced concern in November that the law hinders the state's ability to recruit qualified parents.
"It was just a matter of time before [adoption] was used as a lightning rod," said Ram Cnaan, director of the Program for Religion and Social Policy Research at the University of Pennsylvania.
Stark's proposal would increase the role of for-profit adoption agencies and minimize that of nonprofit and faith-based providers, Cnaan said. As a social worker and researcher, he would prefer a government policy that encourages all agencies to allow lgbt people to adopt but stops short of forcing organizations to do so.
"Marginalizing the uniqueness of faith-based organizations and forcing them to act secularly is the cookie-cutter type mistake," Cnaan said. "Not all adoption agencies should be molded to be alike, as many children and families have different needs that can be best met by allowing many different providers to co-exist."
On a broader scale, adoption is a legal process that always has been subject to politics, said John VanValkenburg, spokesman for Bethany Christian Services, the largest adoption agency in the world with more than 80 locations in 32 states.
Both political parties, for example, have supported a federal tax credit for families who adopt—a benefit that Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Bethany hopes to see renewed or made permanent before it expires at the end of 2010, VanValkenburg said.
"Awareness of the importance of adoption has increased as a result of President Obama, who repeatedly mentions adoption as a part of a positive strategy to reduce abortions," he added.
But Jedd Medefind, president of the Christian Alliance for Orphans in McLean, Virginia, said he fears that children in need of families will lose the most as activists work to redefine marriage—and, in turn, adoption rules.
"If it limits the right of Christian agencies to serve in ways consistent with their convictions, government will ultimately lose many of its greatest allies in finding families for kids in needs," said Medefind, who directed the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives as a special assistant to former President George W. Bush.
Like Medefind, Kay Ekstrom, executive director of the Phoenix-based National Association of Christian Child and Family Agencies, expresses concern about what she sees as the increasing politicization of adoption. Yet, in her view, the bigger headline is this: Tens of thousands of children remain stuck in foster care without permanent homes as Christians fail to step up to the challenge.
"If every Christian church in America produced one adopting family for an older child, we could wipe out the list of 'waiting children,'" said Ekstrom, who spent 25 years as president of the Christian Family Care Agency in Arizona. "And if God's people were responding to this need, the issue of adopting by gay people wouldn't be an issue. All the children would have homes."
Wait No More Conference sponsored by Focus on the Family for children in Florida's foster care system
As you may know, we recently launched our Adoption & Orphan Care Initiative in an effort to raise awareness throughout the Church regarding the plight of orphans, with particular emphasis on legal orphans right here in the U.S. foster care system.
In Florida alone, 1,000 children and youth are waiting in the foster care system for adoptive families. Thankfully, with over 13,000 churches in Florida, there is every reason to hope that we can make a difference in the lives of these lonely children.
Consider the impact if families throughout the state's congregations welcomed these waiting children in foster care into their hearts and homes: We could see no children in foster care awaiting adoption! Such a goal is certainly not beyond the realm of possibility, and we are committed to doing everything possible to help bring it to fruition.
This gathering will provide detailed information regarding the adoption process via the foster care system. Additionally, those present will be given an opportunity to ask questions and to become acquainted with the faces and stories of some of the children waiting in Florida's foster care system who long for a family to call their own.
This is a free event, but we do ask that you take a few minutes to register. All participants who register in advance will be provided with a selection of complimentary resources as well as lunch. For additional specifics about Wait No More, visit iCareAboutOrphans.org.
In James 1:27 we're told, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans ... "in their distress ..." With that exhortation in mind, we urge you to join this informative and ground-breaking conference.
We look forward to seeing you on Saturday, January 30th. Again, please take a moment to register. Meanwhile, we would covet your prayers for this vital undertaking on behalf of Florida's waiting kids. May God's blessings remain upon you and your loved ones in the days ahead.
Sincerely,
Jim Daly, President and CEO Focus on the Family
Wait No More®:
Finding Families for Florida's Waiting Kids
Saturday, January 30, 2010
10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Calvary Chapel Ft. Lauderdale
Ft. Lauderdale, FL
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