NC Home Study

Heart of the Matter Seminars and the Joint Council on International Children’s Services (JCICS) are offering a free learning pathway for professionals and for families adopting from Haiti. The pathway contains the following:

1.  The recorded version of “Layers of Trauma: A Webinar Featuring Dr. Bruce Perry” that was worked in conjunction with JCICS, Adoption Learning Partners and the Evan B. Donaldson Institute to bring to families.

2.  “Understanding Trauma in Children” is Heart of the Matter Seminars’ newest online course that offers user friendly science and practical parenting tools for parents.  It also addresses the impact on parents and other caregivers.

The learning pathway can be accessed here:  https://hotms.confedge.com/ap/registration/home.cfm?i=register&e=1ab47068-bea6-4868-967f-e35ad0c23232&grp=registrant

The following is from the Families for Orphans Coalition.

Families for Orphans Coalition: Call to Action

[Please note that NCFA is a member of the Families for Orphans Coalition]

On January 12 in the course of only 2 minutes thousands of Haitian children became orphans. Without a say in the matter, these children became part of a global crisis – an estimated 30 million children growing up without parents — vulnerable to slavery, prostitution, gangs, exploitation, and trafficking. These children need loving, permanent families, yet our government has no focus on finding families for orphaned children worldwide.  We must act now to help children worldwide grow up with parents!

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee have before them The Families for Orphans Act; a bi-partisan bill that would create a State Department office and more importantly a “Champion for Orphans” specifically to speak up for these children.  This Champion and the Office would build capacity in countries to enable families to raise their children at home instead of putting them in orphanages, or be adopted by loving parents first in their own country or else in another.

Growing up in a family is a basic human right.  The United States has a rich and successful history of protecting such rights all over the world.  When we have stepped forward to provide leadership in an area of great social need, the difference has been measurable.  The orphans of the world need this type of leadership and they need it now.

What Can You Do?

Call, write a letter or e-mail to your Members of Congress asking them to become Co-Sponsors of the Families for Orphans Act. You can find your Representative at www.house.gov and your Senators at www.senate.gov. Feel free to use the following text as a guideline: “As one of your constituents I am requesting that you support the “Families for Orphans Act” and become a Co-Sponsor of the legislation now. We would be better prepared to respond to the needs of orphans in Haiti if the leadership it calls for was already in place.  We hope you will consider standing up for the millions of children around the world growing up in orphanages without the love and support of a permanent family. For information on becoming a Co-Sponsor, please contact Senators Landrieu or Inhofe or Representatives Watson or Boozman.”

Call, write or email the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee and ask them to move quickly to pass the Families for Orphans Act.

Sign the Families for Orphans Act petition at www.kidsave.org.

Please help us move this bill NOW and give children worldwide a greater chance to grow up in a family. On behalf of the Families for Orphans Coalition and most importantly, the children, we thank you for helping.

The following information was sent from the Department of State regarding children in Haiti.

Children Affected by the earthquake in Haiti

January 22, 2010

The Department of State is receiving inquiries from American citizens deeply touched by the plight of children in Haiti in the aftermath of the January 12 earthquake.

As Secretary of State Clinton said on January 20, “Children are especially vulnerable in any disaster, especially those without parents or other guardians to look after them.  This devastating earthquake has left many in need of assistance, and their welfare is of paramount concern as we move forward with our rescue and relief efforts.”

Together with the Department of Homeland Security, the State Department is processing and evacuating as quickly as possible those orphans who were identified for adoption by American citizens before the earthquake.

We understand that other Americans, moved by images of children in need, want to open their homes and adopt other Haitian children who had not been identified for adoption before the earthquake.  The State Department advises against this course of action at this time.  Intercountry adoption involves strict safeguards and legal requirements that must be met to protect children from illegal adoptions, abduction, sale and child-trafficking as well as to ensure that any adoption is in the best interests of the child.

Before a child can be legally taken to the United States for adoption, the Governments of both the United States and the child’s country of origin must first determine that the child is indeed an orphan.  It can be extremely difficult during the aftermath of a natural disaster to ascertain whether children who appear to be orphans truly are eligible for adoption.  Children may be temporarily separated from their parents or other family members, and their parents or family members may be looking for them.  Moreover, it is not uncommon in an emergency or unsettled situation for parents to send their children out of the area, or for families to become separated during an evacuation.  Efforts to reunite such children with relatives or extended family should be given priority.

In addition, some children who had been residing in orphanages before the earthquake were placed there temporarily by parents who could not care for them.  In most of these cases the parents did not intend to permanently give up their parental rights.  Even when it can be demonstrated that children have indeed lost their parents or have been abandoned, reunification with other relatives in the extended family should be the first option.

During times of crisis, it can also be exceptionally difficult to fulfill the legal requirements for adoption of both the United States and the child’s country of origin.  This is especially true when civil authority breaks down or temporarily ceases to function.   It can also be difficult to gather documents necessary to fulfill the legal requirements of U.S. immigration law.

The United States is cooperating directly with UNICEF and other relief organizations in Haiti to deliver needed supplies to Haiti’s orphanages and to provide assistance to other unaccompanied children.  UNICEF is starting the process of registering unaccompanied children and will seek to unite children with relatives.

There are many ways in which U.S. citizens can help the children of Haiti now.   For example, individuals who wish to assist can make a financial contribution to a reputable relief or humanitarian organization working in that country.

More Information

http://www.state.gov/

http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/site/entry/disaster_haiti#C1817

United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)

Interaction

http://www.unicef.org/media/media_52519.html

September 17, 2009

Suspension of Adoptions in Sierra Leone

The Government of Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs suspended adoptions on May 29, 2009 due to concerns on the legality of adoptions and the welfare of adoptees. An interagency committee has been established by the Ministry to work on new adoption laws and procedures. The U.S. Embassy has been informed that the committee hopes to present a new bill to Parliament for a vote this calendar year. The Ministry has indicated that no adoption cases will be processed or approved while the suspension remains in effect. Adoption cases approved before the suspension remain valid.

posted on the US State Dept Website Sept. 09

Please Note: U.S. citizens who are considering adoption in the Republic of Korea (South Korea) should be aware that the Korean government has expressed its intent to eliminate the need for intercountry adoption of Korean orphans by 2012 by encouraging domestic adoption of all Korean orphans. According to some estimates, wait times for American citizens to complete a newly initiated adoption in Korea could be as much as three years. Prospective adoptive parents should consult carefully with their adoption service provider in light of current Korean adoption processing times and the Republic of Korea’s intention to end inter-country adoption by 2012.