The public comment period ends on November 7. The proposal states that implementation would begin immediately.
Hopscotch Adoptions, Inc. and members of the National Council for
Adoption have carefully reviewed the proposed regulations and conducted
an independent cost analysis to determine the real impact on adoptive
parents. The proposed changes will further negatively impact waiting
children-often medically fragile children-who need to be brought home
sooner, not later.
If you have already adopted a child, would your child have benefited from coming home sooner? Absolutely!
If you have not yet brought your child home, do you feel an
additional extended wait is in the child’s best interest? Absolutely
not!
The authors of the proposed regulations failed to consider the
tremendous financial burden which will be passed on to families like
yours. Adoption is financially beyond the reach of many families
today. Additional costs will tragically result in fewer families being
able to adopt children, leaving more waiting children without hope. The
regulations will require a significant increase in expense for agencies
to remain operational and compliant.
Hopscotch and other concerned agencies are formulating a reply to
these changes during the public comment period, but your voice and
support matter now too.
You can read the proposed rules in their entirety on the
Federal Register.
More importantly, we thank you for taking action by Signing
the Petition or Adding a Comment. Your voice matters. Collectively, we
can stand up for every child’s right to grow up in a loving family. We
can be each waiting child’s voice.
Please
contact us with any questions.
Sign the Petition
(This link directs to www.saveadoptions.org, a
collaborative website supported by adoption advocates which has been
established to share a petition against the proposed rules. The goal is
to obtain 100,000 signatures during the public comment period)
Add a Comment
(This link directs to the proposed rules on www.federalregister.govwhere
there is a large Green button to Submit a Comment. These are the formal
comments which will be reviewed by the Department of State)
Highlights of the Proposed Rules
The Department of State (DOS) proposes…
To require a second level of accreditation, called Country-Specific Authorization (CSA).
The DOS intends to determine which countries would be subjected to CSA and block agencies access to country programs.
To set the compensation for in-country representatives.
The service providers and partners we work with are attorneys,
social workers, and other professionals who have their own businesses,
nonprofits, etc. and have the right to fair compensation for their
country, region, and amount of work contributed to adoption cases.
To require families adopting internationally to go through state foster care training.
While the MAPP system is preferred for foster care training, it
does not address the many specific educational requirements for parents
adopting a child internationally. Feedback from local government
agencies suggests that adding an influx of adoptive parents into the
already limited MAPPs training sessions would create backups and leave
both domestic and international children in care for longer than
necessary.
Costs of the Proposed Rules
Country-Specific Authorization (CSA) application, per country program = $1,500
Hopscotch operates 9 country programs as primary provider. Total cost, if each country were subjected to CSA = $13,500
Materials and training so home study preparers could offer assistance
with MAPPs training for those families not able to take county-offered
sessions = $4199
The adoption community believes these proposed changes will limit adoptions, leaving more children without a forever family.
Thank you for taking action today!