Last
month Gongzhan Wu, VP & Managing Director- Asia Programs, spent time in
Asia. While in Taiwan he was able to meet with the three social welfare
organizations through which Gladney places children for international
adoption. All three organizations report that they are continuing their
programs in compliance with the New Child and Youth Welfare Act which became
effective June 1, 2012. One organization that Gladney works with
highlights the main features of the legislation as follows:
1.
Prior
to June 1st, approximately 90% of the adoptions in court were private
adoptions. Since June 1st, except for relative adoptions, all
adoption cases need to be evaluated by adoption agencies prior to application
to the court.
2.
All
adoption agencies are required to follow the law giving priority to domestic
adoptive families. The information of children will be listed on a nationwide
platform for domestic matching for approximately 45-70 days. Hence, the
possibilities of domestic matching for healthy children will increase.
3.
In
regard to the new laws governing administration and management of adoption
programs and services, agencies are now finishing a process of accreditation
and will also seek renewals of their licenses under the new law.
There
are currently eight organizations licensed by the Taiwanese government to
provide adoption placement services. Gladney’s three partner
organizations: New Hope, Chung Yi, and Cathwel Services, are among the
eight. Each licensed organization has been undergoing an accreditation
process, the results of which are expected later in August. The
organizations will also need to become re-licensed under the new child welfare
laws and the results of this process will be made available later in the Fall.
Prior to
the new Child and Youth Welfare Legislation, most domestic adoptions were done
independently and casually. Now, the government is working hard to create more
oversight for domestic adoptions including background checks and assessments
for prospective adoptive parents as well as requiring pre-adoptive training and
post-placement supervision. The prioritization on domestic adoption
opportunities for the children will impact the number of international
adoptions. We expect that wait times for U.S. parents desiring to adopt
very young children with no identified health issues will increase as many of
these children will be adopted domestically.
During
Gongzhan’s meetings while in Taiwan, across the board all organizations
emphasized they are working diligently and being very conscientious about
providing adoption services in compliance with the new guidelines. Noted
below are program updates for each individual organization as of August, 2012:
Chung
Yi Social Welfare Foundation (“Chung Yi”),will continue to proceed with both domestic and
international adoption services for children of all ages, both healthy and with
special medical needs. Our most recent referral from Chung Yi was a
sibling group of twin toddler boys. The children in care of Chung Yi are
from both voluntary parental relinquishment as well as government custody
cases. In addition to providing adoption placement services, Chung Yi is
also licensed to run a group residential care facility which will undergo a
site visit for re-licensing in the upcoming months. Currently Gladney has
several wonderful children we would like to find families for and Chung Yi has
agreed to give a priority to families working with Gladney while we place a
special emphasis on reaching out into the adoption community to find
families. To increase the opportunities for adoption for these children
we will be working with an adoption –informed psychologist to present a webinar
this Fall, to help educate parents on how to interpret some of the cognitive
and social assessment information provided in the profiles. Please visit www.asiawaitingchild.wordpress.com to see summary information of
the children. Information about the upcoming webinar will also be posted
here. Please contact Judy.hayes@gladney.org for more information about
applying to this program.
New
Hope Adoption Center (“New Hope”) now
offers a variety of domestic adoption services including education, parent
training, and home studies for families interested in pursuing domestic
adoption. Their services have received positive responses from domestic
clients. As New Hope becomes more established in domestic adoption, more of
their referrals will be placed with domestic families. New Hope remains
committed to continuing its international adoption program and will continue
working with biological parent/s desiring to make a voluntary adoption
plan. New Hope has also begun assisting in the placement of children for
adoption who have been referred from government agencies. This new source
of referrals will broaden the range of children available for adoption through
the program to include children of all ages, and also sibling groups. New
Hope Adoption center is part of a larger organization: New Hope Social
Welfare Foundation (NHSWF). NHSWF underwent its site visit for
re-licensing recently. New Hope does not maintain a residential care
license, children who are part of their adoption program will either be cared
for by licensed foster care families or remain in county government care and
custody. On occasion, children may remain with their biological parents
until placement with their adoptive parents – for example New Hope is working
to place two babies with down syndrome and the plan is for both babies to
remain in their biological families until placement. Gladney is currently
accepting applications from parents interested in adopting children of all ages
through New Hope. Please contact Judy.hayes@gladney.org for more information about
applying to this program.
Catholic
Welfare Services (“Cathwel”),
is a multi-service social welfare organization. Prior to the new
legislation, their adoption focus was to mainly find international adoptive
families for children with medical needs. Cathwel will now begin
providing domestic adoption services for the first time. Jonah House is
Cathwel’s program that provides group residential care for some of the children
being placed for adoption. Jonah House will be undergoing a site visit in
the near future for re-licensing. Gladney continues to accept
applications from families open to adopting children of all ages with medical
needs. Cathwel staff will be visiting the United States in October,
2012 and are looking forward to visiting with some of the children who have
been adopted through their organization. Please email mary.chapman@gladney.org if you are interested in
learning more about the gatherings being planned in the NY/NJ/CT area as well
as Fort Worth, Texas. Gladney will host Cathwel staff at our main campus
location in Fort Worth Texas during their U.S. visit.
This
year, and for years to come, we look forward to helping many more Taiwanese
children find permanent and loving families. Gladney remains committed to
maintaining its adoption program in Taiwan, and we hope that parents will
continue to consider adopting from Taiwan as an option for building their
families.
On Saturday, August 4th, a New York Gladney family cheered on friends who crewed a dragon boat representing their school district's Special Education PTA (SEPTA).
