Haiti Earthquake adoption status in the aftermath
Haitian Authorities meet to discuss adoption policies
January/Friday/2010 01:26
Hope For Families Update Friday, January 29,2010:
900 Haitian children have already been flown to the United States from Haiti, but these children had been in the adoption process for years, stymied by bureaucracy and inertia. Spurred by the humanitarian crisis of the Haitian earthquake, the United States had eased its visa requirements for Haitian children in the final stages of the adoption process and so they were allowed exit from Haiti.
According to our sources and the Wall Street Journal, the Haitian government has now halted the departure of all orphans from the earthquake-ravaged country until it can guarantee that only legitimate adoptions are being approved, according to U.S. government officials.
The government only will allow the departure of orphaned children whose paperwork it has examined and approved, the officials said.
The decision temporarily suspends the arrival to the U.S. of Haitian orphans under a policy announced last week by Washington. The so-called humanitarian parole was introduced to expedite the adoption of children in orphanages who had been assigned to U.S. families before the Jan. 12 earthquake occurred.
One U.S. government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive had been holding discussions in Montreal during a Haiti reconstruction conference to ensure that U.S. departures resume within days. "We are working on details to get these approvals from Haiti as soon as possible," the official said.
The Haitian government is concerned that some children are being removed from the country without proper oversight and risk winding up in the hands of child traffickers.
This was the case claimed during the catastrophic tsunami in Indonesia. There is some argument as to what degree these claims are true. But what we do feel at Hope For Families, is that stopping the orderly legal process of orphans only makes more needy children available to those that might wish to illegally exploit these children. At Hope For Families, we are calling for an emergency decree from the Haitian government to allow processing centers to be created that would legally process these orphans in an orderly manner.
Until that occurs, hope to adopt a orphan from Haiti is non existent. In the meantime, to be prepared in the event Haiti adoptions open back up, we recommend you consider getting an International Home Study completed by Hope For Families if you live in Florida. If you live outside of Florida, we can get you the name of a licensed agency that can do an International Home Study for you. Getting an International Home Study completed will get you prepared to adopt should Haiti reopen in the next few weeks or months.
Once your home study is complete, Hope For Families can facilitate your Haitian adoption regardless of what state you live in.
Blessings
900 Haitian children have already been flown to the United States from Haiti, but these children had been in the adoption process for years, stymied by bureaucracy and inertia. Spurred by the humanitarian crisis of the Haitian earthquake, the United States had eased its visa requirements for Haitian children in the final stages of the adoption process and so they were allowed exit from Haiti.
According to our sources and the Wall Street Journal, the Haitian government has now halted the departure of all orphans from the earthquake-ravaged country until it can guarantee that only legitimate adoptions are being approved, according to U.S. government officials.
The government only will allow the departure of orphaned children whose paperwork it has examined and approved, the officials said.
The decision temporarily suspends the arrival to the U.S. of Haitian orphans under a policy announced last week by Washington. The so-called humanitarian parole was introduced to expedite the adoption of children in orphanages who had been assigned to U.S. families before the Jan. 12 earthquake occurred.
One U.S. government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive had been holding discussions in Montreal during a Haiti reconstruction conference to ensure that U.S. departures resume within days. "We are working on details to get these approvals from Haiti as soon as possible," the official said.
The Haitian government is concerned that some children are being removed from the country without proper oversight and risk winding up in the hands of child traffickers.
This was the case claimed during the catastrophic tsunami in Indonesia. There is some argument as to what degree these claims are true. But what we do feel at Hope For Families, is that stopping the orderly legal process of orphans only makes more needy children available to those that might wish to illegally exploit these children. At Hope For Families, we are calling for an emergency decree from the Haitian government to allow processing centers to be created that would legally process these orphans in an orderly manner.
Until that occurs, hope to adopt a orphan from Haiti is non existent. In the meantime, to be prepared in the event Haiti adoptions open back up, we recommend you consider getting an International Home Study completed by Hope For Families if you live in Florida. If you live outside of Florida, we can get you the name of a licensed agency that can do an International Home Study for you. Getting an International Home Study completed will get you prepared to adopt should Haiti reopen in the next few weeks or months.
Once your home study is complete, Hope For Families can facilitate your Haitian adoption regardless of what state you live in.
Blessings
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