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JCICS sent out the following Call to Action to member agencies yesterday. We encourage all our readers to participate! For more information, go to the JCICS 5 Ways to Help page.

Beginning in May 2008, Joint Council has been actively engaged with U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS), the U.S. Department of State (DOS), the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI) and Members of Congress in seeking a positive resolution to the I-600A renewal issue. Our continued advocacy seeks a resolution that addresses a serious shortfall in the law affecting families adopting children from Hague Countries.

Despite numerous and continued meetings with all stakeholders and the release of Joint Council’s Position Paper on I-600A Renewals, USCIS has not yet provided a feasible solution to this problem. However, we now see evidence that positive steps are being taken and that a solution may be found soon.

To support these positive steps and to advance efforts toward a positive resolution, Joint Council calls on all Member Organizations and Potential Adoptive Parents to take the actions detailed below.

If our recommended actions do not result in a timely resolution of the I-600A renewal problem, Joint Council stands ready to significantly expand, intensify and target our efforts by launching The P.A.P. 10,000 Initiative. This Initiative, if launched, will ensure that the U.S. government acts in a way that is consistent with the goals and purposes of the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000, The Hague Convention and, most importantly, the best interests of children.

At this time, Joint Council requests that each Member Organization execute the following:

No later than Friday, October 10, 2008, distribute the attached two documents, Letter to Families & Friends (Word Doc) and I-600A Position Paper, to:

• All members of your organization, including staff and board of directors
• All adoptive families, including support groups
• All donors/supporters/partners
• Child advocacy groups in your area

[That's what Carolina Hope is doing with this post. We encourage you to link here from your blog, send emails to friends with an interest in international adoption, etc.!]

Included in the materials are instructions for all concerned parties to:

• Send an email to Joint Council (advocate@jcics.org) supporting our I-600A Position Paper.
• Sign the Fairness for Families petition.
• Contact your Members of Congress on October 14th, 15th, and 16th, 2008. (www.senate.gov; www.house.gov)

In advance, we thank you for your active participation in this effort and your continued service to our world’s orphaned and vulnerable children.

Best Wishes,

Tom

The Joint Council on International Children’s Services has worked tirelessly to ensure that the spirit of the Intercountry Adoption Act (IAA) of 2000 is honored by the government bodies responsible for implementing it. A particular problem recently has been USCIS’s decision to allow only one renewal of the I-600A pre-approval for families waiting to adopt from China and Haiti. Soon, families who have already renewed once may be required to start their homestudy and other adoption paperwork over again. This requirement will be disruptive and expensive, and as JCICS articulates below, the requirement would be a violation of the intent of the IAA.

Caroline Hope is a member of JCICS, and we, too, urge the USCIS to solve this problem without putting an onerous burden on adoptive families.

Joint Council Position on I-600A Renewals

As previously noted, Joint Council and others in our field have great concern regarding the one-time renewal of I-600A approvals and the impact on Potential Adoptive Parents (PAPs). Following is Joint Council’s assessment and statement on this very important issue facing over 10,000 U.S. families.

Overview

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has again confirmed that PAPs with an approved I-600A in a Hague country may only file for a renewal one-time. Thereafter, families must ‘start from the beginning’ and file an I-800A petition.

It is very clear that the authors of the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 intended to ‘grandfather’ all I-600A petitions filed prior to the date on which the Hague Convention went into force in the United States (April 1, 2007). At the time the legislation was drafted, the authors did not foresee the lengthy processing time now associated with adoptions from countries such as China and Haiti. Yet the intent was clearly to Continue reading »