Update: China Adoption Program
The referral wait time for a non-special needs child from China remains long – about 16 to 17 months. CWA received 10 referrals on February 1st, for families with log-in dates from September 29 – October 12, 2005. According to the China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) website, they have finished reviewing the dossiers with log-in dates up to March 22, 2006. So China families with log-in dates prior to 3/22/06 can take some comfort in knowing that they passed the review process and are now just waiting for a referral!
Since the CCAA expedites the paperwork for special needs children, the wait time for a special needs child is about 3-4 months from the log-in date. Recently the CCAA has begun giving log-in priority to the dossiers for special needs adoptions. These are logged-in within a couple days of receipt at the CCAA, whereas the dossiers for non-special needs children are logged-in about a month after receipt. (“Logging-in” means that the CCAA staff member enters the family’s information into the CCAA computer system.)
The CCAA has begun requiring that families adopting special needs children sign an acceptance letter. This is a new procedure and we are still learning how the new form may affect the timeline for special needs adoptions. The CCAA mails the acceptance letter to CWA. We mail it to the family, and then return it to the CCAA once the family has signed it. We have been receiving the travel approvals shortly after the acceptance letters are returned to China.
CWA’s China Program Director, Jane Jiao, has returned to China to work from her office in Changsha, Hunan Province. She has been busy traveling with CWA families, requesting updates on special needs children, and organizing donations for the children’s welfare centers. We miss having her here in Charleston, and look forward to her return this spring. She plans to be here for the CWA reunion, so we hope you all will join us! |
