US International Adoption Statistics FY 2017

The 2017 statistics can be found here. The fiscal year 2017 shows that 4,714 adoptions occurred from abroad, down from 5,372 adoptions in FY 2016.

Disruptions

Ҥ104(b) (3):In FY 2017, adoption service providers (ASPs) reported 13 disrupted placements in Convention

Country of Origin

1. China 1,905

2. Ethiopia 313

3. South Korea 276

4. Haiti 227

5. India 221

6. Ukraine 215

Other countries exceeding 100 cases are as follows:

Colombia 181 UP from 131 in FY2016

Nigeria 176 UP from 121 in FY2016

Bulgaria 147 DOWN from 201 in FY2016

Philippines 111 DOWN from 156 in FY2016

So 1474/4,714 as Non-Convention cases which is 31.2%. So 68.8% actually follows Hague! That is up from 66.09%in FY2016 and 64.47% in FY2015 and 56.2% in FY2014 and 47.52% from FY2013.

Latvia is DOWN to 71 placements (81 placements in FY2016)

Ghana is DOWN to 21 placements (29 placements in FY2016)

Taiwan is DOWN to 44 placements (59 placements in FY2016)

Jamaica is DOWN to 51 placements (56 placements in FY2016)

Guatemala is DOWN to 1 placement. (2 placements in FY2016)

Morocco is UP to 31 placements (21 placements in FY2016)

Sierra Leone is UP to 44 placements (22 placements in FY2016)

Thailand is DOWN to 34 placements (45 placements in FY2016)

Guyana is UP to 22 placements (19 placements in FY2016)

Honduras is DOWN to 14 placements (20 placements in FY2016)

Hong Kong remains the same as FY2016 with 7 placements

Nicaragua is UP to 13 placements (12 placements in FY2016)

Marshall Islands remains the same as FY2016 with 10 placements

Poland is DOWN to 65 placements (98 placements in FY2016)

Kyrgyzstan is DOWN to 16 placements (22 placements in FY2016)

Mexico is DOWN to 12 placements (17 placements in FY2016)

Armenia is DOWN to 10 placements (15 placements in FY2016)

Congo is DOWN to 26 placements (359 placements in FY2016)

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Florida, New York, California, Louisiana, New Jersey, South Carolina,Texas, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada and Illinois all contributed to the OUTGOING placements of 83 US children going to Austria, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, Netherlands, and Switzerland.

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“NCDFA [sic,NCFA] President Chuck Johnson said the continued decline in intercountry adoptions “is heartbreaking” for Americans seeking to adopt, but “the real tragedy is for the many orphaned and abandoned children in need of the love, protection, and care of a family.”

“The unfortunate reality is that, while millions of children in need of parents continue to wait, the options for those children to find families are shrinking,” Johnson said in a written statement.

Southern Baptist ethicist and adoption advocate Russell Moore said the church would continue to serve orphans despite the challenges.

“My hope is that both the slowing of international adoptions and the shutdowns which in many cases led to that slowing will change soon,” said Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC). “In the meantime, Christians are not ignoring our responsibility to care for orphans, no matter what the difficulties in international adoption. Christians minister to orphans overseas with food, shelter, nurture and efforts to keep families together.

“Domestically, Christians are energizing to care for our vulnerable foster care population and other children and families in need,” said Moore, whose five sons include two adopted from a foreign country, in written comments for Baptist Press. “That’s a good sign. Wherever the orphan crisis is, the body of Christ will be there.”

State Department policies that have elicited opposition from adoption service providers (ASPs) and adoption advocates include, according to a WORLD Digital article republished March 5 by BP:

— New rules and fees instituted Feb. 15 that include a $500 monitoring and oversight charge for adoptive families and a hike in the accreditation cost for ASPs;

— A new accrediting organization, the Intercountry Adoption Accreditation and Maintenance Entity (IAAME), that is charged with stricter monitoring and investigations of ASPs out of alleged concern corruption is widespread in intercountry adoption;

— Proposed regulations from the State Department’s Office of Children’s Issues (OCI) that would be more stringent on intercountry adoption.

The OCI proposed the stiffer rules in September 2016, but they were withdrawn last year. Save Adoptions — a coalition of 87 adoption agencies — expects the rules to be submitted again this year and has started a petition to urge President Trump to solve the crisis.

“Relations between the Office of Children’s Issues and the adoption community are at an all-time low,” said Johnson, a father by adoption.

The State Department intercountry adoption report indicates it has “focused on improving communication with stakeholders, despite the purposeful limitation of stakeholder engagement, and the clear deterioration of their relationship with the adoption community,” he said.

The NCFA is urging Congress to pass the Vulnerable Children and Families Act, which it says would enhance efforts on behalf of children “through international diplomacy and U.S. foreign policy” inside the State Department.

Rick Morton, vice president for engagement of Lifeline Children’s Services, encouraged Christians not to respond with hysteria, to speak up for orphans and the vulnerable, and to pray.

Writing for Lifeline in a piece republished March 29 by the ERLC, Morton — a Southern Baptist and father of three children adopted from other countries — said, “We must resist the urge to ply the tools of politics or personal attack in how we respond to the State Department even when we vehemently disagree with their policies. God wants us to turn to Him when we face opposition or attack…. Let’s be persistent in both working to see lonely children placed in families through international adoption and to leverage every opportunity, including this one, to show the world Jesus, in all of His glory.””

REFORM Puzzle Piece