China To Change Adoption Policies in January 2015
The China Center for Children’s Welfare & Adoption (CCCWA) announced today that beginning January 1, 2015, they will be establishing new policies for adoptive families participating in the China Program. We are excited to announce that many of these policies will allow more families to be eligible to adopt from China’s Waiting Children Program and more children will have the opportunity to be placed in a loving family!
Health & Financial Eligibility
China will be changing many of their eligibility requirements, particularly relating to a large number of health conditions, mental health medications/diagnosis, financial and net worth eligibility, etc. In many of the health categories, as long as one parent meets the qualifications, the couple will still be eligible to adopt.
Single Adopters
China will also be changing the current policies for single female adopters, allowing single females more opportunities to adopt any child through the Waiting Children Program (in the past singles have had more stringent regulations on the type of child they were eligible to adopt). This will allow single adopters to adopt children with more minor needs.
Post Adoption
A number of changes will also take place in the post-adoption stage of a family’s adoption, and families will find these changes to be positive and helpful to their process, and with lighter regulations. Several new post-adoption changes will affect those families receiving their travel approval letter after January 1, 2015 and beyond. The same number of reports will still be required, however, the manner of reporting will change for families who fall under the new regulations.
Because of the number of policy changes occurring and the many questions that come as a result of policy announcements of this nature, we will be providing more detailed information to families soon, once some of the questions regarding policies have been answered more clearly by the Center in China. It is our desire to always make sure that interpretation of new policies and procedures are provided to our families in an efficient and accurate manner.
New Families Needed!
We are excited about many of the changes being issued and about the opportunities that this will provide to those who are single adopters or those who previously did not meet China’s eligibility requirements. We would encourage families to inquire with us if you are interested in adopting from China’s Waiting Children Program as we presently have shorter wait times in this program for many of the children’s files that we receive each month, particularly as we look towards the upcoming months and the new child files that we know will be arriving soon. We are due to receive a large number of files, so families who are interested in some of the following medical needs should APPLY NOW so that you can have a dossier in China and will be eligible for many of the children that will be arriving from orphanages that we work with.
Many of the minor medical needs children who arrive at agencies are categorized by China as log-in date (LID) only, which means a family’s adoption paperwork (commonly referred to as a dossier) must already be in China in order to be matched with a large percentage of children. We encourage families to apply now to begin building a dossier in order to be eligible for matching when child files arrive. Families who have dossiers in China and who are interested in participating in the Waiting Children Program, should begin updating their home study and immigration form if they have allowed these items to expire, in order to be eligible for matching as well.
We are currently seeking new families who are open to some of the following medical needs: repaired/unrepaired cleft lip and palate (both genders), repaired spina bifida (both genders), epilepsy (both genders), hypospadias, anal atresia/fistula, thalassemia (boys & girls), dwarfism (achondroplasia), hydrocephalus (boys/girls), congenital heart disease (boys), and older children (7 and above- both genders).
Though this list is not comprehensive of all of the types of children we see, these are some known needs that we need families open to adopting. There is little to no wait for those open to boys with needs commonly seen and very short wait times are anticipated in the upcoming months for many families open to girls as well, particularly in some of the categories noted above.
We are thankful for the new doors of opportunity this will open for families. Please do not hesitate to contact us at 800.429.3369 or waitingchildren@awaa.org if you are interested in our China Waiting Children Program or if you have questions.