[Update: 5/14: The date for this webinar has been changed to 5/22. Please register at least 3 days in advance.]
Are you a South Carolina family that has grown through international adoption, but you don’t feel that you can afford a South Carolina readoption at this time? Well, there’s an alternative in our state, something called [...]
Carolina Hope has achieved 1-year temporary Hague accreditation through the Council on Accreditation. This status permits Carolina Hope to conduct adoptions from all Hague countries and to do Hague-approved South Carolina adoption homestudies.
Yes, it’s old news now (six-days old!), but I wanted to pass along this notice from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services about the current status of Guatemala adoptions and adoption law. This press release is available from the USCIS website as a PDF.
USCIS Update
January 25, 2008
USCIS ANNOUNCES NEW GUATEMALAN ADOPTION LEGISLATION
Intercountry Adoptions Under the Hague [...]
I’m passing this request on from another adoption agency. If you have a friend who has faced this problem, please point them here. Personal adoption stories are an extremely effective force for policy change.
Please help me collect stories of families who have had difficulties changing incorrect birthdates on Certificates of Citizenship.
If your child was assigned [...]
The following information is adapted from the post-adoption support files here at Carolina Hope. Note that this information is directly applicable only to SC residents who have adopted from overseas. The information provided here should not be construed as legal advice, for which you should see a qualified attorney.
Once you are home with your child, [...]
On January 11 the U.S. Department of State issued a warning (dated January 9) about the status of Guatemala adoptions. (As mentioned in a previous post, Carolina Hope has put its Guatemala adoption program on hold pending new standardized procedures for adoptions in Guatemala. Of course, cases registered under the old system are still being [...]
Today the Joint Council on International Children’s Services (JCICS) issued an update regarding its Guatemala 5000 initiative:
Joint Council Update
Program: International Relations Initiative
Date: January 14, 2008
Regarding: Guatemala 5000
Dear Colleagues,
As part of our ongoing Guatemala 5000 Initiative, Joint Council has maintained dialogue with USDOS and USCIS and met with them most recently on January 7 and again [...]
This morning the Joint Council on International Children’s Services issued the following announcement about newly proposed adoption legislation in the Guatemalan congress. Although this legislation hasn’t passed, this is a good step in the right direction, and it’s encouraging to adoption agencies and adoptive families. More importantly, it’s good news for Guatemalan children in need [...]
The Joint Council on International Children’s Services has posted copies of the letters sent by the U.S. Congress to Guatemalan President Oscar Berger and to UNICEF. If you participated in lobbying your congressmen to sign the letters, thank you. The announcement (and link) from JCICS are below.
Dear Colleagues,
Joint Council has posted copies online of the [...]
This morning, Thomas DiFilipo, President of JCICS, sent out this update of the Guatemala 5000 initiative. (I’ve previously blogged about this initiative here and here.)
Joint Council Update
Program: International Relations Initiative
Date: October 31, 2007
Regarding: U.S. Congressional Letters – 203 Signatures
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
Through our collective efforts, the Guatemala 5000 Initiative has resulted in 203 Members of [...]
Today Thomas J DiFilipo of JCICS released an update on the Guatemala 5000 initiative, an effort to organize families with a stake or interest in Guatemala adoptions - or in child welfare generally - to advocate for a humane process while Guatemala transitions to a new adoption law. At present, there is no certainty
In a press release yesterday USCIS announced an interim rule that will govern adoptions under the Hague. The announcement, which is reproduced below (and available as a PDF here), essentially states that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has formalized the procedures that will govern international adoptions from countries that are party to the Hague Convention [...]
This article was written by Laura Godwin, Director of Carolina Hope, and originally published by The Greenville News on September 11th, 1997. Since adoption law has not changed too much since then, we thought we would recirculate this thought-provoking article to encourage lawmakers to make state laws more pro-adoption.
Make adoption wonderful choice, not humiliating ordeal
By [...]
This morning, Bjorn Lomborg, author of Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist’s Guide to Global Warming was interviewed on NPR’s Morning Edition. Mr. Lomborg believes that global warming is a reality, and he believes that human activity is contributing to the problem. However, he rejects solutions like the Kyoto Protocol, because he believes these types of [...]
For those who are awaiting I-171H approval from your local USCIS office, here’s some information on what happens with that form once it leaves the desk of the adjudicating officer. Thanks to Tom DiFilipo of JCICS for preparing this information for JCICS member agencies and for allowing us to post it online.
(If you don’t know [...]
Two days ago I posted about an adoption interview/debate on Al Jazeera’s English network. This post is about the second half of that interview with Tom DiFilipo, President and CEO of the Joint Council on International Children’s Services (JCICS), and Louise Melville, a Care and Protection Adviser for Save The Children.
You can watch the [...]
The English wing of the Arab news network Al Jazeera produced a piece last month about international adoption on their “Inside Story” program: “Guatemala Adoption Scandal” aired on 13 August 2007. The program featured two interviewees who went head-to-head on inter-country adoption: Tom DiFilipo, President and CEO of the Joint Council on International Children’s Services [...]
Taken from
The Complete Adoption Book by Laura Beauvais-Godwin (pp. 420-421).
Can an attorney serve as an intermediary?
Many attorneys do, but technically they should not.
Is advertising permitted?
Technically it is not permitted, but it is done extensively.
Who must consent to the adoption?
1. The birth mother.
2. The birth father, if married to the birth mother, or if the child [...]
Taken from The Complete Adoption Book by Laura Beauvais-Godwin, Director of Carolina Hope (pp. 455-456).
Can an attorney serve as an intermediary?
Yes. A person who facilitates an adoption is not required to be licensed.
Is advertising permitted?
Yes.
Who must consent to the adoption?
1. The birth mother.
2. The birth father, if he is married to the birth [...]