China: Healthy Referrals – October Cut-off Date Announced by CCCWA
The CCCWA has recently completed the matching for families whose dossiers were logged in on December 12-14, 2006. The CCCWA just officially announced their cutoff date for matching on their internal database. This month, we did not receive healthy referrals through the traditional China program as we did not have families ready to accept referrals on the dates the CCCWA matched for all agencies.
We continue to see many families who originally submitted a dossier for the traditional/healthy program switch to the China waiting children program and come home with children as the waiting children program is an expedited program with short wait times. We are currently looking for families who are open to boys of all ages with minor to moderate medical needs and who have a log in date in China. Families open to a boy with minor to moderate medical needs or repaired needs, can be matched almost immediately in most cases as there is little to no wait time. Families interested in learning more about this opportunity should contact our China program staff. A family does need to have a current home study and USCIS form to be eligible to be matched in the waiting children program or be in the process to obtain these items in order to switch to the waiting children program. We can discuss this case by case with families.
Traditional Program Wait Time
The current wait time for a healthy referral from China’s traditional program has increased to almost an 8 year weight from time of Log in Date for those who were matched in late October. (this is not the same program or wait times as the Waiting Child Program/Special Needs program) The timeframe for the traditional healthy program in China, is the same at all agencies and continues to increase monthly based on China’s monthly matching process. This timeframe is based on the time from Log in Date (when the dossier arrives in China and is officially received by the CCCWA) to the date of the child match by the CCCWA. This wait time applies to all families in all stages of the program and is assessed from Log in Date only and not by when a family began working on their paperwork for China.
Chinese Heritage Expedites & Wait Time
Families who are of Chinese heritage and who have dossiers submitted as Chinese expedites, can anticipate a slightly shorter wait time. The CCCWA is currently matching Chinese expedite families who have a dossier logged in December of 2007 as they are currently matching LID’s from December 2006 for the general program. The CCCWA’s desire is to keep one year apart between the regular matching process and the Chinese expedite matching process. This will mean that the Chinese expedite wait time will generally be 12 months shorter than the current estimated wait time you will see listed each month.
China Waiting Children Program Options
There are several options that families who are waiting on a healthy referral have while they wait. Families may switch programs and join the China Waiting Children Program (no new fees or new dossier are required) where they can be matched with a waiting child by our agency staff. (Families will fill out their child requests/preferences and have them approved by their social worker) Most families are matched with children from our orphanage partnerships. This program has a wide spectrum of children available and for many families, there is very little wait time to be matched. The waiting children program has both boys and girls, infant to age 13, older healthy children (generally 10-13 years on average), and children with repaired medical needs, unrepaired medical needs, or delays available.
Concurrent Family Building Program Options
A family may also consider doing a concurrent family building plan, in which they pursue pregnancy or another adoption while waiting on their China adoption match. Families may also switch to a different adoption program; however, this does require that a family build a new dossier for that particular country, as regulations for dossiers vary depending on the country. Families interested in any of these options should contact their Family Coordinator.