Heritage Adoption Services: Special Needs China Program

"WAITING CHILD" and "SHARED AGENCY" PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ADOPTION PROGRAM

The "Waiting Child" or special need, program was started by China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) in April, 2002. Beginning February 2008, a new "Shared Agency" program was introduced. Adoption agencies must be approved to participate in both programs and they operate differently than the regular adoption processing.

WAITING CHILD CHINA PROGRAM: CCAA assigns children to each approved agency. The children (boys and girls) can range in age from 6 months old and older. The "special need" of each child will vary, cleft palate, hepatitis B positive and congenital heart defect are the most common, but there may also be vision impaired children and children born with a deformity. The agency has three months to try to find a loving, adoptive family for each child. At the end of that time we are required to send the unmatched children's referrals back to CCAA, hopefully to be reassigned soon to another agency.
Document processing is a little different than the process for regular adoptions from China. Once a family makes a commitment to a “waiting” child, they complete a "Family Summary Packet" (FSP). This includes a form with information about their family, and a doctor's evaluation of possible treatment, based on the medical information that was provided. A family picture and one passport photo of each parent (not a copy of passport) must be submitted with the Family Summary.

After CCAA receives the Family Summary Packet, a pre-approval "Notice" for the family is issued. Then the dossier is processed and the family receives an official approval letter (LOA) from CCAA which must be signed and returned before travel approval (TA) is given. Parents can then travel to the People’s Republic of China and bring their child home. Heritage arranges for a bilingual experienced adoption guide to escort our families during their adoption journey.

The CCAA process should only take about eight months or less. United States CIS approval and completion of your dossier will add on another few months. Time frames for the entirety of the adoption may vary.


SHARED AGENCY PROGRAM:

The Shared Agency program also helps to match children with medical conditions with families. This program works differently than the Waiting Child program since the same children are released to many agencies at the same time. These children have similar medical conditions as the children in the Waiting Child program and can be living in orphanages or foster homes throughout the People’s Republic of China.

China Center of Adoption Affairs will place children on a special database shared by approved adoption agencies around the world. Once the children’s referral information and pictures appear on the database, an agency can lock a child’s referral if they have a family interested in adopting that child. A locked child’s file can not be accessed by another agency. The lock is good for 48 hours and can be renewed one time for another 48 hours. This gives a short time for families to consult with a doctor and make a life changing decision. For families who have researched carefully the medical conditions of children and who have a dossier finished and ready to submit, this can be a fast moving adoption process.

The same Family Summary packet is submitted to CCAA for both the Waiting Child and Shared Agency programs. Once the Family Summary packet is received by CCAA the same adoption processing occurs with families traveling in about eight months or less.

WHY SHOULD WE APPLY TO HERITAGE?

You may be asking yourself, Why choose Heritage? The answer is simple; we have a short waiting list of families in either of the above adoption programs. For you, this means depending on the child’s special medical need you are comfortable with, you may be matched with your child in a very short time frame! Recently a few of our families were matched within a few weeks of application. You will also find our staff to be among the best at providing excellent customer service and support. Many of us are adopted parents and we understand the emotional journey of adoption. We are always here to answer questions and we respond quickly via email or phone to inquiries from our families.

We feel proud that our employees in Beijing, Kathy and Steve, are the finest Chinese professionals in the adoption field. They have an excellent working relationship with China Center of Adoption Affairs. Kathy and Steve are highly experienced in all aspects of the adoption process. Kathy has worked with Heritage since 1997; she has a wealth of knowledge and always goes above and beyond to give support to our families. Kathy and Steve give Heritage a stable and strong presence in Beijing, both with CCAA and with arranging other travel and adoption services for our families.


Listed below are answers to the most frequently asked questions concerning our Special Needs Adoption Programs in the Peoples Republic of China.

1. How much time does it take? The time will vary, depending on if you have started the USCIS (Citizenship and Immigration Services, formally known as the INS) approval and/or your China dossier. If your Heritage dossier is in China at the time you decide to accept a childs referral, the time frame is approximately 4 – 8 months to travel. If you need to start the paperwork process and to receive your USCIS approval, the time frame will be approximately 6–10 months to travel.

2. What are the ages of the children available for adoption? From six months to about 13 years old. The children are boys and girls and are designated as legal orphans, living in orphanages or foster homes.

3. What is the range of “special needs” of these children? The children have a variety of medical conditions. Some have a deformity, which may not be correctable or correctable only when they have finished growing. Other children have been referred with a cleft lip and palate, congenital heart disease, Hepatitis B, or blindness. Most of the children have correctable medical conditions.

4. Who qualifies to adopt from China? China Center of Adoption Affairs changed the adoptive parent regulations beginning on May 1st, 2007. The new regulations require applicants to have a favorable home study, slightly higher income, be married, and within the ages of 30 - 55 years. Single applicants are no longer eligible to apply. There must be no more than 4 children currently in a family. The annual income needs to be at least $10,000 per member of the family including the new adopted child, and the family needs to have a net worth of $80,000. Both parents must have graduated from high school. Families with more than 4 children currently living at home may ask for a family size waiver. Health and criminal history reports are reviewed carefully, please email Vicki for more information if you have concerns.


5. Do I have to apply with Heritage before I can receive information on the Waiting Children? No, we are happy to talk with you. We ask prospective adoptive parents to please answer some qualifying questions to determine if they meet CCAA regulations. We will give each screened family a username and password to access the children’s information.

6. How do we access the application? Click here for an International an Application. Then open the International Programs Adoption Application form that will work the best on your computer. Print only the first four pages of the application.

7. What information is available about the child? You can view a photo – probably several, and have access to a developmental and health report. You will also know where she/he is located.

8. What is the cost of this program?
Please click here for the 2008 fee schedule and explanation of the fees.

9. Is travel involved? Yes At least one parent must travel to China for approximately 10 - 14 days to claim their child, be processed through the adoption with the provincial government and to obtain a U. S. visa to bring the child into the U. S.

10. Do we go alone to China?
Yes, unless there is another family adopting a special need child from the same orphanage at the same time. Heritage arranges for a bilingual, experienced adoption guide to escort you during your adoption journey. All arrangements for in-country hotels, travel, and sightseeing are done for you.

11. What does Heritage do for us? We perform the following services:

	Help with the Letter of Intent, and the Information about the Adoption Parents forms;
	For Oregon and Washington residents, we prepare the home study. For nonresidents we review and work with your home study agency in the preparation and composition of your home study;
	Prepare & obtain Secretary of State Authentication of your dossier (file);
	Prepare & obtain Chinese government legalization of your dossier (file);
	Help you with the process of getting the visa approval for your child from United States I.N.S.;
	Refer your documents for translation by Kathy Wang;
	Refer your dossier to the Chinese Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA);
	Help you to prepare for a transcultural adoption;
	Coordinate your adoption journey to China;
	Arrange for your bilingual guide and interpreter while in China
	Provide educational materials in preparation for international adoption;
	Provide individual adoption counseling;
	Provide encouragement and support while you are going through this exciting experience;
	Notify you of any changes or new procedures in adoption protocol in either the U. S. government. or the Chinese government as we are notified;
	Encourage continued support after your adoption through Heritage "family" gatherings and activities.
	Provide professional adoption-related counseling by our agency counselor/educator.

12. Is it possible to talk with families who adopted a special needs child from China through Heritage? Yes. We're happy to supply names and phone numbers or email addresses of Heritage families who have volunteered to talk about their experience in adoption from China with seriously interested persons.

13. We want more information. What do we do?
Chat with "Vicki". Email Vicki Paulson at vpaul@heritageadoption.org or Vicki Baker at vbaker@heritageadoption.org or you may call them at (503) 233-1099. If you live in the area, we would enjoy meeting you, please feel free to request a private, no-obligation interview.



HERITAGE ADOPTION SERVICES COLUMBIA EAST BUILDING 10011 SE DIVISION, SUITE 314 PORTLAND, OREGON 97266 503-233-1099 vpaul@heritageadoption.org
vbaker@heritageadoption.org