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A list of adoption requirements

Kerry's picture
Fri, 2008-08-08 20:46 - Kerry

I was just reading a piece posted by Baptist Press.  It reflects the restrictions made by China in 2007 for international/foreign adoption.  The changes took effect on May 1, 2007, giving new meaning to "mandatory reporting"

Foreign adoptions from China are limited to heterosexual married couples and must meet the following criteria:

1. "They must have been married at least two years. If either person has previously divorced, the couple must have been married at least five years. No more than two divorces are allowed.

2. "Both partners must be between the ages of 30 and 50. Those couples who apply to adopt a special needs child must be between the ages of 30 and 55.

3. "Both partners must be physically and mentally fit, with none of the following conditions:

a. "AIDS;

b. "Mental disability;

c. "Infectious disease that is actively contagious;

d. "Blind in either eye;

e. "Hearing loss in both ears or loss of language function (those adopting children with hearing or language function loss are exempted from this requirement);

f. "Non-function or dysfunction of limbs or trunk caused by impairment, incomplete limbs, paralysis or deformation;

g. "Severe facial deformation;

h. "Severe diseases that require long-term treatment and that may affect life expectancy, including malignant tumors, lupus, nephrosis, epilepsy, etc;

i. "Major organ transplant within ten years;

j. "Schizophrenia;

k. "Severe mental disorders requiring medication for more than two years, including depression, mania, or anxiety neurosis;

l. "Body Mass Index (BMI) of 40 or more

4. "At least one member of the couple must have stable employment. The total value of family assets must be at least $80,000. The family's annual income equals at least $10,000 for each family member in the household (including the child to be adopted). Annual income excludes welfare, pensions, unemployment insurance, government subsidies and the like.

5. "Both prospective parents must be high school graduates or have vocational training equivalent to a high school education.

6. "The family must have fewer than five children under the age of 18, and the youngest is at least one year old (those adopting special needs children are exempted from this requirement).

7. "Neither partner may have a significant criminal record, and both must have a history of honorable behavior and good moral character with no evidence of:

a. "Domestic violence, sexual abuse, abandonment or abuse of children;

b. "Use of narcotics or any potentially addictive medication prescribed for mental illness;

c. "Alcohol abuse, unless the individual can show she/he has been sober for at least ten years.

"Note: Applications from persons with past criminal records will be considered on a case-by-case basis if the individual has fewer than three minor criminal convictions (none in the last ten years) and fewer than five minor traffic violations.

8. "The prospective parents must demonstrate the ability to provide a warm family environment capable of meeting the needs of an orphaned child and providing for her/his development, and an understanding of the special risks (including potential diseases, developmental delays, and post-placement maladjustment) that could come with inter-country adoption.

9. "The couple must provide an adoption application letter that makes clear the applicants' willingness to allow post-placement follow-ups and provide post-placement reports as required.

"Note: In each instance above where a specific age or time span is cited, it will be computed from the time that the CCAA [China Center for Adoption Affairs] officially logs the adoption application documents."

http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=28645

 

How do these restrictions differ from an American-based adoption agency?  And, how do certain requirements get enforced over-seas?  [I'm especially curious about the "post-placement follow-ups and reports", because I can't EVER remember anyone coming from Canada, visiting my aparent's house and then asking me, "How do you like living with this family?"]

Does mandatory reporting (to adoption agencies or sending countries) go both ways?

Comments

Fri, 2008-08-08 20:54 — Teddy

updates

Each year, until the child reaches the age of 18, it is required for the adoptive parents of children from Vietnam to send an updated report plus pictures, to the country adopted from.  Korea does not require this.

These restrictions are only from China.  All other countries are very lenient with their requirements.
One Step Up From Bottom,
Teddy

Fri, 2008-08-08 21:18 — Kerry

[stupid face]

So, basically anything can happen once the ink has dried on the final papers.

This shouldn't surprise sicken me, and yet it does.

 

Fri, 2008-08-08 21:48 — Niels

Some boring details about requirements

These are the requirements defined by the China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA), the Chinese central authority that oversees all international adoptions from China. With regards to international adoption the CCAA has the same position as the State Department has in the US. All the requirements must be addressed in a home study when wanting to adopt from China.

Each country has its own specific requirements, that is why home studies in international adoption have different requirements. Post placement reports are usually also a requirement mandated by sending countries and an international adoption has to adhere to these requirements.

I don't know if Canada mandated post-placement reports when you were adopted and if they did, it would certainly not have meant someone coming over from Canada to check up on you. At best it would have required a licenced social worker in your state to pay a couple of visits and write a report about that to be sent to the Canadian authorities.

For domestic adoptions both home study and post placement reports should adhere to the mandated regulations of the state in which the adoption took place and in cases of an interstate adoption to the regulations of the state the child was adopted from too.

I don't know when post placement reports became mandatory. I did find that for the State of Washington the first legislation mandating post placement reporting is from 1984. For other states I couldn't immediately find the historical perspective, though I know the practice was mentioned as being common in the early 1950's in a book I read some time ago. I guess during the heydays of adoption from the late 50's until the early 70's the practice became more and more uncommon, until state and country regulations arose in the 1980's.

Sat, 2008-08-09 00:57 — Teddy

More Honesty

You aren't going to like this, but you do want truth:   I have been sent the paperwork from Holt, for the last two Decembers, which are requirements from Vietnam (normal stuff) that I send them the yearly update and some pictures.  Since all hell broke loose two years ago I have not sent Holt anything and there is nothing from Vietnam that states they are missing these reports.  IMO this is just a formality that no one oversees.  I am a big embarrassment that they just shove under the rug.  And yet, I do everything humanly possible to turn this around and help my children... wouldn't you?

One Step Up From Bottom,
Teddy

Sat, 2008-08-09 16:27 — Niels

formalities

I know it is often a formality and once an adoption is finalized there is not much that can be done to enforce post adoption reporting. Every now and then the authorities in sending countries compile the list of missing reports and ban certain agencies or a receiving country for a while, like Ukraine did in 2006 when they discovered that 900 out of 6000 adoptions were not followed up properly. Not much else can be done and on top of that I have not heard of a single case where post adoption reporting lead to a dissolution of the adoption.

No one even checks if the post placement reports made are actually done by a licenced social worker. Matthew Mancuso (Masha Allen's adopter) even forged the post placement reports, in the name of a fake adoption agency. No one even cared to check if that agency actually existed.

Sat, 2008-08-09 16:36 — Teddy

Where I come from

We have three post-placement visits before the adoption can be finalized with the state, after six months time.  The yearly updates are from the AP's and no one checks anything: send in these updates by December 11 and they are all forwarded to the country of origin.  I do not send them and no one asks me why; they know why.  Why would they want to send my updates when they show a destroyed family?

One Step Up From Bottom,
Teddy