Ethiopia’s Parliament votes to end intercountry adoption: Listen to NCFA’s Ryan Hanlon of BBC

Ethiopia’s parliament has passed legislation banning intercountry adoption.

NCFA’s Ryan Hanlon joined BBC World Service Radio to discuss how this decision places unparented children at risk. NCFA believes that a global child welfare continuum should prioritize reunification, kinship adoption/guardianship, and in-country domestic adoption options, all before intercountry adoption is considered. Unfortunately, Ethiopia’s reunification and kinship placement efforts are limited, and there are not enough Ethiopian adoptive homes available to meet the needs of thousands of unparented children. This ban will leave them to languish in long-term institutional care or life on the streets, and many with special needs face death.

Since 1999, more than 15,000 Ethiopian children have been adopted by American families. Adoption has given them a chance to thrive, despite unfathomable trauma and loss at a young age. In recent years, the global community has taken great strides to improve the safety and transparency of intercountry adoption, and diplomacy and dialogue is leading to stronger safeguards against corruption, exploitation, and abuse. We know this to be true; we’re part of that diplomacy in action. Every year NCFA meets with international child welfare leaders who are vigilantly and passionately committed to the children in their nations who need safe, loving homes. Children deserve families, and Ethiopia’s children deserve better. We will continue to advocate on their behalf. You can join us. Start by listening to our interview with BBC Radio here.

Another Fabulous Blog Post by Katie Jay!

U.S. State Department Covers Up Smear Campaign Against Families Adopting From Ethiopia

Source: http://childrendeservefamilies.com/u-s-state-department-covers-smear-campaign-families-adopting-ethiopia/

 

Look at four thousand of anything and you’re bound to turn up a bad apple. Or egg. Or fraudulent adoption.

Except looking didn’t find one–not one out of 4000, even though the U.S. State Department wanted and needed to find one.

In January of 2011, a joint team from U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the U.S. Department of State reviewed 4,000 consecutive adoptions from Ethiopia, looking for evidence that fraud was prevalent in Ethiopian adoptions. The State Department needed evidence to back up a smear campaign they had begun to wage against Ethiopian adoptions. But after a field investigation and an extensive, careful analysis, the team found that not one single case among those 4,000 was fraudulent.

Read more.

ALERT: [Intercountry Adoption] Adoption Notice: Ethiopia

Notice: Implementation of Pre-Adoption Immigration Review (PAIR) Program in Ethiopia

Effective September 1, 2013, the Government of Ethiopia will require all adoption cases filed on behalf of U.S. prospec­tive adoptive parents with the Ethiopian courts to undergo the U.S. PAIR process. The Ministry of Women, Children and Youth Affairs (MOWCYA) will require a PAIR letter issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) as one of the criterion for its best interest determination. To comply, the adoption dossier submitted by prospective adoptive parents to the Federal First Instance Court (FFIC) to initiate the adoption, will need to include the PAIR letter issued by USCIS. The FFIC will then forward the dossier, including the PAIR letter, to MOWCYA for review. The new criterion will not affect pending adoption cases filed with Ethiopian courts before September 1, 2013.

To enable prospective parents adopting from Ethiopia to comply with Ethiopia's new requirement, USCIS issued a policy memorandum, effective immediately, that allows prospective adoptive parents to begin the PAIR process and file a Form I-600, Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative, before Ethiopian courts finalize an adoption in Ethiopia. These procedures allow USCIS to assess the child's likely eligibility for U.S. immigration benefits and make a prelimi­nary determination before Ethiopian courts finalize the adoption decree. A copy of the policy memorandum is available on USCIS' website.

To begin the PAIR process, petitioners adopting children from Ethiopia should file the Form I-600 petition and support­ing documents through the appropriate lockbox for forwarding to the USCIS National Benefits Center (NBC) before fil­ing an adoption case with the Ethiopian courts. Please refer to USCIS' website for filing instructions for the NBC. USCIS overseas offices and the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia will continue to accept Form I-600 petitions, but such petitions will be forwarded to the NBC for PAIR review. 

Prospective adoptive parents filing their Form I-600 petition should include all available required documentation when filing a Form I-600 petition, except the adoption decree or grant of legal custody. Additionally, the following PAIR-specific documentation must be submitted when the child's country of origin is Ethiopia:

· Evidence of the match between petitioner and child such as:

· Adoption Contract between the Prospective Adoptive Parent (PAP) and the orphanage, together with a power of attorney appointing the Adoption Service Provider (ASP) to represent the PAP, in cases where the contract is signed by the ASP on behalf of the PAP; or

· Adoption Contract between the PAP and relinquishing birth relative.

· Evidence of child's availability for intercountry adoption, such as:

· Court order from Regional, Zonal, or Woreda authorities;

· Police report from local authorities, placing the child in the care of a licensed orphanage; or

· Adoption Contract between PAP and relinquishing birth relative, in cases of intra-family adoption only.

The FFIC will make its own determination regarding the child's adoptability. After completing the adoption and receiv­ing the adoption decree from the FFIC, U.S. adoptive parents will submit their adoption decree and all necessary docu­ments to Embassy Addis Ababa for final Form I-600 petition review and immigrant visa processing. 

You may refer to adoption.state.gov for additional information about adopting from Ethiopia.