Agency Re-accreditation

Thank you for praying for our agency and the rest of the agencies working in Haiti to find families for adoptable children.

While the re-accrediation list came out late on Friday of agencies granted two year approval to work in Haiti we did not learn until today that our agency did not make the list.

 We just received an e-mail from them explaining a few things.

• No explanation was given why they did not appear on the list.

[From the Facebook group some folks speculating some agencies not approved because they did not submit at least one case a month]

• Agencies not approved "will receive a special authorization from IBESR mentioning the conditions and limits of their operations in Haiti until the finalization of the said dossiers".  To us that means we will be able to finish out any cases we currently have that are already filed with IBESR or the court system. 

• The appeal for our agency to gain approval has already started.
• With the holidays it is unlikely that any additional information will be known before January.
• Our agency never experienced any problems or issues of any kind or been informed of any by IBESR, the creche, any person or entity in Haiti.
• "The bottom line is that we ABSOLUTELY want to continue placing children from Haiti and will do what we can to obtain the governmental approval that is required to do so. "

So we will continue to pray for our dossier, our case, our littles and our agency.

Praying for the children needing families and other families at all stages of the process.

Praying for our referral early in the new year. 

Praying for the 'refreshing' of our fingerprints for the visa paperwork.

Praying for folks to sign needed papers.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. 

Thank you for your interest in our journey.

Special thanks for all those joining us by praying for our family. 

Embassy Visit

Trip: a 4 hour and 20 minute ride to the Ortlip Center the first day, followed by an early 1 1/2 hour ride to the US Embassy the second day put us in line about 15 minutes after 6 a.m.

A nice gentle man directed us to the second place in a short line to the side. Three other longer lines formed on the other side. We watched the sun rise over the mountains and admired the two health moringa trees growing in front of the Embassy.

A couple of times security folks asked us our reason to be at the embassy and we explained noting we did not have an appointment. They just nodded but around 7:30 a.m. when everyone else in our short line had appointments I asked Cory to confirm again we were in the correct line....nope.

So we moved to the end of the longish visa line. Waited less than 5 minutes and the staff person came to apologise noting he'd checked and the first line was correct. So we moved back.

In less than 15 minutes we were cleared through security and in the large, cold waiting room sitting before window 27. Same location we waited on Oct. 1st, 2013 when we did our fingerprints the first time.

We talked to a staff person at one point and then waited some more. Found it interesting she asked how we got our fingerprints done the first time... with paper and ink?!? A bit disconcerting.  Lots of time to pray for our littles, the staff, the process and for our fingerprint renewal.

Called up to the window we were told that the prints could not be done but they would contact the office in the USA to have them 'refreshed'.

Could we have something in writing? No they will E-mail us in 2-3 weeks when it's done.
Could we have proof that we'd visited the Embassy and tried. Nope.
How about a business card or her e-mail. Nope. Against policy.
She noted we already had the e-mail for the office.
       Yes, but that was the same e-mail we'd tried twice to get an appointment for the fingerprints for. Well, they didn't respond because they don't do them.
    She didn't respond when I asked her why they couldn't have e-mailed us that, saving us a 6 hour  
    [one way] trip.
She did end up giving us her name by signing one of our e-mails, assuring us that they would be contacting the USA office within the week.

So we'll wait to hear. With the holidays do not know if we'll hear soon or not. The prints expire on January 23 so would like to know before then!

Still waiting....

Our American agency talked with the Haitian creche last week, and then sent us a nice E-mail.

Deadline for hearing about the agency re-accreditation was yesterday. Since they did not let us know we're assuming that the deadline moved into December. Still praying that the agencies receive their approvals.

Our file remains in IBESR. The in-country representative visits every two weeks to check and keep our name/file active in the staff's minds. They now know the representative and we look at that as a good sign. [Hear stories of files sliding behind desks or file cabinets and being lost for a while!!]

Confirmed that our file/dossier did complete all needed review steps and now waits for the child/children that match our home study approval to be declared legally free for adoption and then we will match.

Reasons for the long wait that were listed: "process has been very long due to the number of children being processed, insufficient man power, massive flooding in CAP, etc" and we know it's a complicated process with many people and signatures involved.

The creche did get their first referral since IBESR started the new process!! Praise the Lord and open the gates!!

Still waiting to hear from the Embassy about renewing our fingerprints. After waiting our 7 business days without word after the first E-mail we resent and now count down the second 7 business days.

Praying for all involved in the process. Rejoicing to hear about parents meeting children and 5 this week going 'home' from a orphanage near Port.

10 months in IBESR. No personal news.

Keeping busy with the book translation and school helps fill up the time between prayers and keeps me from pondering too deeply the process as we continue to wait.

Our file passed the 10 month mark in IBESR without any news.

I knew that we needed to renew our fingerprints sometime in January so early November I pulled the information to review it. The form can be used for different steps and confused me for a while. Thankfully the part that needs the updated home study will not be due until after late February and not in 2 weeks as we initially thought.

The two week deadline was only for contacting USCIS for an appointment to update our prints. They responded by e-mail the same day and directed us to the Haiti branch. That E-mail was not responded to in the ‘7 business days’ so we resent it today.

Not worried about it at this point as we started the ‘paper trail’ that proves we did start more than two months before expiration working to get the renewal done.

Praise! Heard of one mayor going to sign chart of an abandoned child. Pray for the mayor of the area served by God's Littlest Angles to go and sign off on 17 of their children's charts so that they can match with their families and get one step closer to home.

A recent meeting at the US Embassy on International Adoption and the Hague occurred. According to Dixie from God’s Littlest Angles it was very informative and interesting.

Main Points: [Full blog here and the previous blog]

Visa approval may now take 4-8 weeks after the USCIS approval of I-604 [used to be just days] as they look into the validity of the documents.

Looks like the director of the orphanage where the child is may get to sit in on the matching committee and have a voice in the match.

Children’s court: Sounds like Judge Gabard understands the process but Judge Marlene is not.

Family dossiers entered into IBESR after Oct. 1st will be treated as Hague Cases. These will not have the US Immigration Service doing Orphan Investigations as they will be done by the State Department and Adoption Section of the US Consulate.

Folks to pray for:
Adoption Chief [3 years] Ms. Chinwe Obianwu
USCIS field office Director Mr. Richard Polny [starts in Dec.]
Children’s Court Judges Judge Gabard, Judge Marlene
        Local mayors to sign off on abandonment cases.


Staff in Government departments: Justice [courts both Civil and Children’s] Immigration, Social Services [IBESR], Archives, and Mayor’s offices.

Referrals have started!!

Rejoicing with each family who's received a referral in the last couple of months.

In September at least one family a day from the Facebook group fasted and prayed for the process but disappointment hit at the end of the month with news of only 5 referrals.

October passed with only a couple at the end of the month. But already in November there is news of 10!!! Yeah! Praise the Lord.

Apparently the director had been gone for a couple weeks in October but is now back at work. Praying for many families to move up a step in the process before the holiday slow down next month.

Just read of the first Italian family getting a match!

No news from our agency. So we pray and wait.

Folks with other agencies report that they heard that IBESR will not be matching anyone with children until some time next year when they have a committee in place to do so. If this is true then we would be in that group. It could be possible that our agency submitted our chart with a suggestion of children without telling us-then we could match earlier.

Praying that if waiting children have all their paperwork in place they do NOT need to wait until some time next year for a committee to form and do matches. Especially those with medical issues, sibling groups, older children or abandoned children.

Ultimately the Lord controls when we match, with whom we match and with what orphanage. Trusting in Him!

Praying that we can wait well, praising Him, trusting Him. Praying that we're becoming the family our little ones need us to be. Praying we don't miss the lessons we should be learning during the wait.

Waiting.

Andy Stanley " Your greatest contribution to the Kingdom of God may not be something you do but someone you raise."

A year ago today we learned of our dossier's arrival in Haiti.

Bud Irish wrote a letter home during WWII to his sweetheart "It would be so different if a fellow knew he just had a certain length of time to be here in the army. He could say "Well, just X days to go." Instead it's just another day gone by and a lot more coming up. June 27, 1943 page 134 from the book A THOUSAND LETTERS HOME.

I echo Bud's sentiments but substitute the adoption for the army. Some days I really wish I knew how much longer. Even if it turned out to be a long time one could then easier push things to the back of one's mind I think. I'd add countdown lists to our computers, to our calendars and have other ways to show us visibly where we were in the countdown.

But although we cannot see the referral date, the Lord can so we fix our eyes on Him.

But maybe then the intensity of my prayers would fade. Perhaps I would fall victim to procrastination. The willingness to work to improve may weaken. My reliance may shift to man and away from the Lord.

I've changed up my prayers a bit of late. No longer 'Lord open the doors of IBESR to start referrals and getting folks out of IBESR. Now my prayers sound more like "LORD blast the doors off so that they cannot be closed again. Let referrals start and CONTINUE. Fight for your children!

[At least one family in the Facebook group was released from IBESR this week and one family entered and exited MOI [Ministry of Interior] in 17 days!!]

Praying that we learn the lessons we need to learn during the wait. May I wait well! Singing His praises while focusing on His love, power and plan.

Why the long referral wait?

Adoption consists of a complicated process that produces a lot of paperwork. [and just telling of this one step...a long blog]

Times of transition generally mean backlogs of charts and delays with the discussion and implementation of proposed changes. Haiti's transitional delays we pray result in a smoother system with reduced possibilities of abuse.

One of the big changes in Haiti's adoption process involves declaring a child's adaptability status prior to referral. This should prevent referral of children not meeting 'adoptable requirements' of Haitian and American governments.

In theory: A Haitian family meets with the social service team and makes an adoption plan. If after every possible effort to keep the family together, including education, and counseling the family stand firm on the decision to place the child up for adoption and IBESR agrees it is in the child's best interest, a one-month waiting period starts. After a full month, consent can be granted.

Abandoned children remain in an orphanage for at least 6 months while the family is looked for after which time IBESR can decide to make a referral for adoption. The mayor of the area where the child was found will need to appear in Children's court.

Child's Dossier - after IBESR declares the child adoptable these items need to be collected:

1. Passport Pictures
2. Birth Certificate
3. Attestation of signature on Birth Certificate or a copy from the National Archives
4. Legal relinquishment of custody by family/mayor if abandoned in family Court [this step can take 2-3 visits]
5. Death certificates and extracts from archives of biological parents if applies
6. Parent's marriage certificate if applies
7. Psychological evaluation
8. Medical evaluation
9. Laboratory tests
10. Social history

Now a referral can be proposed. The orphanage/creche directors will be asked to review the charts of waiting families. Once IBESR approves a potential match  the adoption agency will be given an official letter, and the family notified. After notification, the family will have 15 days to consider the match and accept or decline the referral. 

At this time, no one knows what will happen should a family not feel able to accept a proposed referral. 

As you can see there are many steps in the process and many potential areas for delays and problems. Praying for protection for everyone, every step, every paper, and every signature.   

Pray for us to be patient, wait well, and for our children while they wait too. Yesterday marked our 9th month in IBESR.  

No families without a 'soft' or 'pre-matched' admission to IBESR along with a proposed child have yet reported a match by IBESR on the Facebook group.  

We know that generally a child's development becomes more delayed for every month they live in an institutionalized setting, but we're praying our children will miraculously thrive.