Colombia Temporarily Suspends Foreign Family Adoption Applications UPDATED

It is important to first recap the Colombia adoption corruption news from the past 6 years.

History

JCICS went ballistic in 2007 when Colombia was allowing FREE domestic adoptions, which they saw as “difficult” for their business. See our entire summary of PoundPup Legacy’s JCICS Board meeting notes’ stash here .The quote is ““A Columbia [sic] caucus has been formed and will be having a conference call to discuss difficult provisions within the new regulations. (eg. Adoptions for Columbian [sic] nationals are to be free of charge).”” Bethany and Gladney had traveled to Colombia in September 2007.

Adoptions to the US have been high each year. Colombia placed between 216 to 344 children to the US each year since 1999, landing it as a top placing country. It was often billed as a “clean” program. 2006 through 2008 saw above 300 placements per year and then it dropped into the low 200s from then on. Just as China was once billed as “clean”, now the reputation of Colombia has become tarnished.

We discussed the shocking child-trafficking-for-adoption tracking website Bebessecuestrados.com  in May 2011. In that post we detailed the five ways in which the Mafia is involved with Colombia adoptions. Please take some time to peruse the written material on the tracking  site. The photos are stock photos, but the quantity of the kidnappings that are detailed  is hard for any non-emotional person to deny.

Media started reporting issues  from February to April 2012 with rejected adoptions. We detailed that here. Reviews of files and then a delay due to a government employee strike followed in 2012.

In May 2012, Colombia programs were still expanding even though the PAP wait list for healthy children was YEARS-long.

In August 2012, a Colombia congresswoman questioned the quantity of foreign placements here.

We shared a reunion story of a 1970s-era adoptee who was kidnapped for adoption in September 2012.

Hosting

Orphan hosting programs do not fit with best interests of the children. I continue to question why Hague countries allow this practice to continue. The only answer that I can come up with is that a lot of people make money from it.  Sometimes these children are not even available for adoption. Other children are here for medical needs yet they somehow get adopted. Not all programs screen the host families in-depth enough. There are questionable and sometimes illegal  practices with the issuance of travel visas for these children. There is never any prep psychologically for these children before, during or after the hosting “experience.”

Just this week, the media praised a Colombia hosting program. They also advertise for Russia and Sierra Leone hosting programs. If you don’t want to adopt these kids, you are  to “advocate” adoption for them. Of course, KidSave is NOT an adoption agency. If I collected a coin for every time an organization involved in adoption claims it is not an agency as an excuse for why its practices don’t need to be regulated, I would be

International adoption agency seeks Pa. families[Pocono Record 5/27/13 by Wayne Witkowski] says “More than one option

Kidsave also runs a “Family Visit Model” program for Russian orphans who stay with host families within that country. And a new program in Sierra Leone providing needed medical care for orphans there.

Under the “Summer Miracles” program for children from Colombia, American families host children ages 8 to 13 and can either advocate for their adoption or, if they decide, move forward with their own adoption of that child. Those children stay with a host family in the United States in July for a month.

The children are not told that they may be adopted, said Gelman, but are told it’s a fun, summer vacation visit to the U.S. Colombia pays for the transportation for the child, but the host family would house and feed the child and take them to events, similar to an exchange student arrangement.

Host families pay the agency a fee. Background checks are required.

The program brings 80 Colombian children in the “Summer Miracles” program to various Kidsave communities. The summer program, this year, is completed and not accepting any other families.

There is a winter program, said Gelman, that is much smaller and more expensive to host.

She said Pennsylvania families are welcome to get involved. A coordinator would be named, who may or may not live in the state.

 

Spreading the word

“Kidsave is very well known in certain areas, and I would like to see Pennsylvania involved,” Gelman said. “In this area, it is surprising not well known and there are so many different types of families here.”

Check the web site

Kidsave.org where prospective hosts can fill out a family packet and, if approved, will be directed to the community chapter in their area. Families also can send an email to Gelman at catheeg@Kidsave.org.

“That’s what this is about, giving these kids a chance,” said Gelman, who also has an adopted 12-year-old child. “Our goal is to get people to meet kids. It’s harder to adopt when they get older.”

Gelman said there is no obligation for a host family to adopt, but those families are expected to advocate for that child’s placement in a loving home.

 

The childrens’ stories

On the Kidsave web site mission state for Colombian children states, “There are countless children in orphanages in Colombia who have lost parents due to civil conflict and HIV/AIDS, while others are abandoned due to extreme poverty, parental drug abuse or arrest. Still others are left without homes and parental care after serving time as child combatants.

“Most of these children have little hope for adoption, because they are ‘older’ (more than 6 years old). Exacerbating the problem is the stigma that Colombian society assigns to these children and Colombia adoption. Colombia kids in orphanages are emancipated from the child welfare system at age 18. Most leave the orphanages in Colombia without a high school education, unable to support themselves and with no caring adult to guide them.”

In that case, they sadly become a neglected ward of the state, a worse scenario for impoverished countries.

It’s also a sad story for Russian orphans as Kidsave’s web site reports, “In Russia, every year about 130,000 children are registered as orphans due to death or abandonment by their parents, or because they have been removed from their homes for their own protection.

While some are moved to the care of relatives, nearly 200,000 orphans are currently growing up without families in state institutions.

“In 2001, Kidsave launched its first in-country program in the Smolensk region of Russia, giving more than 1,000 Russian orphans visits with Russian families during the summer, holidays and weekends. These visits allowed the children to experience family life, and gave host families the chance to get to know the children in a comfortable environment,” the website states.

Of that group, 477 moved out of orphanages and into families. Another 220 stayed connected with families who continued to mentor them, while the children remained living in the orphanage, the site reports.

In this case, it became a fortuitous move when Russia recently closed international adoptions to the U.S.

Most families who adopt Colombia orphans who come to the U.S. in the Kidsave program are the ones who host them.

 

Deciding to adopt

Once adopting families begin the process, Gelman said many states (including New Jersey) require a certified homestudy by a licensed social worker to go with a federal background check and a series of recommendations from many designated individuals. These people could include friends, a religious leader, an attorney and others. Colombia may come back with additional questions to some adoption applicants.

Families must have the financial resources, Gelman said. “You have to make sure you can support the child. The adoption process is very expensive.”

But she also said it is rewarding for her and for the adopting families who are able to rescue a child from an uncertain and dubious future.”

Suspension

“Colombian government has temporarily suspended the acceptance of requests from foreign families seeking to adopt children up to six years old. Exceptions have been made  for children with a disability and those of an African or indigenous descent.

The sanction seeks to manage 377 applications from Colombian families and 3,506 applications coming from abroad, which are registered on the waiting list to adopt a healthy child under the age of seven and without siblings.

The measure was announced at the first meeting of central authorities in respect of international adoption, which is taking place in the city of Medellín, hosted by the Colombian Family Welfare Institute (ICBF).

Director of the ICBF, Adriana González, stated: “We are guaranteeing and prioritizing adoptions to domestic households, and in the context of subsidiarity, are successfully carrying out the most progressed ongoing processes from foreign families, who want to provide all the love and warmth of their homes to Colombian children in need.”

Representative of the Hague Conference, Laura Martínez Mora, who supported the measure, siad [sic] that “this will allow the ICBF to work better with biological parents and respect the international principle of subsidiarity, taking into account that in Colombia, there is a large number of candidate families willing to adopt children less than seven years old.”

“This decision is a part of our obligation to safeguard the interests of children,” González concluded in a press release.

The meeting in Medellín was attended by governments of Andorra, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Spain, USA, Finland, France, Holand [sic], Italy, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. Chile and Guatemala were present as observer countries.”

Colombia: Foreign Families’ Applications to Adopt Suspended

[Argentina Independent 5/31/13 by Denis Culum]

Suspenden solicitudes extranjeras para adopción de niños colombianos  [El Tiempo 5/30/13] google-translated says “ICBF will prioritize Colombian and foreign families have already moved in the process.

Foreign families wishing to adopt a Colombian child have to wait, until further notice, so that your application is accepted.

In an unprecedented move, the Colombian Family Welfare Institute (ICBF) temporarily suspended the acceptance of new applications for foreign families who want to adopt Colombian children between 0 and 6 years, except those special conditions (with disabilities, people of African descent or indigenous).

This is one of the measures of the First Meeting of Central Authorities in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, which ends this Thursday in Medellin, which responds to the need to manage 377 applications and 3,506 foreign Colombian families who are registered on the waiting list who want to adopt healthy children under seven years without siblings, ie children who do not have characteristics of difficult adoption.

“This decision is part of the obligation to safeguard the interests of children,” said the director in charge of the ICBF, Adriana Gonzalez.

For his part, the representative of the Hague Conference, Laura Martinez-Mora, said that this measure will enable the entity to better work with the birth parents and respect the international principle of subsidiarity, taking into account that in Colombia there a large number of candidate families to adopt children from 0-6 years.

The ICBF also invited 18 delegations of the same number of countries that participated in the event to take the decision to eliminate the mandatory donations charged to adoptive families, especially previous contributions to the process of adoption or as compensation for delivery of a child as a result thereof.

“We have reiterated that in Colombia this kind of donation is strictly prohibited and today we eliminate technical and financial requirement for adoptions humanitarian financial aid is requesting as part of applications,” said Gonzalez.”

REFORM Puzzle Pieces

Update: Congrats, DOS, you issued a timely alert. We taxpayers must have paid overtime for you to work on the weekend. See it here and pasted below:

“Alert: A temporary moratorium on the acceptance of new intercountry adoption applications is expected from Colombia

The Colombian Institute for Family Welfare (ICBF) has recently advised the U.S. Department of State and other international adoption partners of several important changes in Colombia’s management of intercountry adoptions.  Although ICBF is in the process of finalizing the specific details of these changes, the Colombian media has already begun reporting on the matter.  This alert is intended to explain a proposed change.

The Department of State expects that Colombia will officially announce, during the early part of June, a temporary moratorium on the acceptance of new intercountry adoption applications from non-Colombian citizens interested in adopting a child aged 0 – 6 years old, unless that child has been characterized as “difficult to adopt” by ICBF.

At present, ICBF has a waiting list of more than 3,000 foreign families hoping to adopt children from 0 – 6 years old.  Rather than continue to ask families to wait five to seven years on a waiting list, such a moratorium would keep new families from experiencing extensive wait times and encourage prospective adoptive families to consider adopting one or more of the nearly 8,000 Colombian children awaiting adoption who are older than six, part of a group of three or more siblings, or who have chronic health or developmental needs.

While a moratorium would affect families who have not yet filed adoption applications with ICBF, the Department of State expects that adoption processing will continue to operate normally in all other respects.  Families who have already been accepted by ICBF for a healthy child between 0 – 6 years would maintain their place on the existing waiting list and ICBF would continue to match and finalize adoptions for these children as the need arises.  Families interested in adopting older children or any child identified by ICBF as “difficult to adopt” should not experience any changes as a result of this decision.  Furthermore, ICBF has indicated that any family currently on the waiting list for a 0 – 6 year-old, who is open to adopting a different categoryof child, should work with their adoption service provider to let ICBF know.

The Department of State will update this alert once ICBF publishes its final announcement on this proposed change.”

Update 2:  DOS issues a new alert on July 1, 2013 stating that children 0 to 6 years, 11 months will not be internationally adopted by non-Colombian citizens after July 15, 2013. See it here and pasted below:

“Alert:Colombia Moratorium Update

The Colombian Institute for Family Welfare (ICBF) formally announced several important changes in Colombia’s management of intercountry adoptions.

Beginning July 15, 2013, ICBF will no longer accept new intercountry adoption applications from non-Colombian citizens living abroad interested in adopting a child under 6 years and 11 months old, unless ICBF considers the child to have special characteristics or needs.  Families who are considering adopting a healthy child in this age range should ensure that they have filed their initial application with ICBF no later than the July 15, 2013 deadline.  Visit ICBF website to learn what documents ICBF requires as part of the initial application.  ICBF has indicated this moratorium will last at least two years.

The Department of State expects that adoption processing will continue to operate normally in all other respects.  Families who have already been accepted by ICBF as prospective adoptive parents for a healthy child less than 6 years and 11 months old will maintain their place on the existing waiting list and ICBF will continue to match and finalize adoptions for these children.  Families interested in adopting older children or any child identified by ICBF as being more difficult to place because of special characteristics or needs should not experience any changes as a result of this decision.  Furthermore, ICBF has indicated that any family currently on the waiting list which is open to adopting a different category of child should work with their adoption service provider to let ICBF know.  Visit icbf.gov.co to learn more about the 8,000 children with special characteristics or needs who are currently awaiting adoption.

In addition to this moratorium, ICBF has also implemented a number of changes affecting adoption service providers and private adoption houses.  Effective immediately, adoption service providers may no longer charge prospective adoptive families for “humanitarian assistance” programs as part of an adoption contract.  In addition, ICBF has formally reminded prospective adoptive parents, adoption service providers, and private adoption houses of its ban on donations by any family or entity involved in an ongoing adoption prior to the completion of that adoption.  ICBF is concerned that these payments and donations jeopardize the credibility of Colombia’s intercountry adoption process.  The Department of State expects that ICBF may take adverse action against any individuals or entities that do not honor these requirements.

 

For updates you may email the Bogota U.S. Embassy at: IVBogota@state.gov, Attn Adoptions or refer to adoption.state.gov for updates.”