U.S. CONSULATE ADOPTION CONFERENCE

Last week, the U.S. Consulate held its second adoption related conference to which the Canadian, French respective Consulates, Haitian authorities and Creche directors were invited.

I was asked to be on the "panel of experts" alongside with the main Port-au-Prince judge (for adoptions), the IBESR director, adoption advocate and one other adoption processor/worker. The presentation that we were asked to give was:

(1) To describe the work we do now in adoptions

(2) How our work would change if the Hague Convention was implemented in Haiti

(3) What, in our opinion, would have to be in place or challenges we see in trying to get Haiti ready for Hague

Everybody recognized that Haiti is not ready to sign on to the Hague Convention and that a ton of work has to be done in order for that to happen. Everybody also agreed that if Haiti would sign on to Hague prematurely, adoptions would completely grind to a stop and it would spell disaster for the orphaned and abandoned children of Haiti.

One of the other things that was discussed was the currently proposed adoption law that is in front of the Haitian parliament currently. The main issue/problem that I have with the law is that orphanages would no longer be matching adoptable children with prospective adoptive parents.

Under the new law, IBESR would receive all prospective adoptive parents' dossier and would "review the file" for suitability for a match with an adoptable child. Then, IBESR would match that family with a child from their list of children.

Sounds good in theory, but in all practicality --- Haitian adoptions would be just like adoptions in the Dominican Republic or El Salvador where similar systems are in place. Referrals would trickle through, kids would linger in orphanages because they would not be referred and the referring workers would only refer to their "favorite" orphanages (or at least that is my concern). 

In my opinion, for what it is worth, because there is no efficient bureaucracy in place, this kind of system would spell disaster to adoption referrals in Haiti.  As a result, smaller orphanages would end up shutting down because of lack of referrals and it would overwhelm others to where these orphanages could not accept new children who need a home because others are waiting, waiting, waiting to be referred.

As a result, only the large, well funded orphanages would survive. Smaller orphanages, like the ones that only have 15-30 children would end up having to shut down because one of the ways the smaller orphanages can survive financially is through the support fees that come from adoptions. With the current decline in the worldwide economy, general donations have seriously declined and it is already difficult for existing orphanages to financially function. 

This kind of proposed system of referral would only work if, and only if, orphanages received state funding to cover their operating costs. It seems that nobody, the writers of the proposed legislations (strongly sponsored by UNICEF) and the supporters of this legislation have NOT thought about the need for state funding of the orphanages if the legislation was to pass.

Adopting an HIV+ Child News:

The process of adopting a child who is HIV+ just got easier because the additional step for adopting a child who is HIV+ is being eliminated. This has been posted by Joint Council on International Children's Services. 
  
"President Obama announced on Friday, October 30 2009, that the travel ban into the United States by individuals with HIV would be lifted.  Kathleen G. Sebelius, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, stated earlier today “we will publish a rule in the Federal Register announcing that the United States will drop HIV from the list of diseases barring visitors from entering this country, effective Jan. 1, 2010.” 
  
"The lifting of this ban will eliminate the filing of a 601-waiver application for children who are HIV positive and adopted by U.S. citizens." 

News...

Ministry of Interior- Any document that has a half-page archive certification (i.e. birth certificates, death certificates or adoption decree) that are less than one year old must be accompanied by a certification letter from the Ministry of Justice. (That has been the case for about nine months now...) That letter has three different officials' signatures on it...BUT NOW, that letter also has to be legalized (certified) on the back of it. 

It is like nobody trusts nobody in Haiti... It means that the certification (which is the half-page archive) has to be certified by the letter from the Ministry of Justice (with the three separate signatures) which has to be certified by the further legalization...it is like a never ending chain!

U.S. Embassy - No news on the way DNA will be done now. Also, we have not received any DNA tests back that had been done prior to the change. I will post as soon as I learn something new.

Also, the embassy is holding another adoption workshop/meeting in November. Invited are Haitian government officials, French and Canadian embassy personnel, orphanage directors, etc. I was asked to be on the "panel of experts" to present along side with Madam Pierre (IBESR director), Judge Cadet (Port au Prince Parquet/Court), Dixie Bickel (GLA) and two others whom I do not know.

DNA Testing Changes - U.S. Adoptions in Haiti

Just an update... In the past, there were a few U.S. government approved labs in Port-au-Prince, Haiti that could do DNA testing in adoption related cases. 

At first, the U.S. made the change that a U.S. Consular Officer had to be present during the DNA testing inside the respective labs. However now, the U.S. has changed the procedure completely and all DNA testing will only be done inside the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince.

When we asked about how this new procedure will work, we were told that there is no procedure in place yet, but that all DNA testing will be conducted at the U.S. Embassy only. 

This means that if a USCIS Official or a U.S. Consular Official conducts a birth parent interview and requests DNA testing to prove parentage, it can only be done at the U.S. Embassy....but as mentioned above, the U.S. Embassy has no procedure in place yet as to how to conduct the DNA testing.

No real updates...

I really do not have much to update...

The U.S. Consulate in Port-au-Prince is going to hold another adoption workshop to which they will invite orphanage directors and Haitian government officials. The workshop will be scheduled some time in November since that is the "adoption month".

Additionally, USCIS and the U.S. Consular Section have become much more "user friendly" and have returned to being customer oriented, meaning that interactions are polite and professional. This is a nice change from the way it had been for the time period of November 2007 through about May 2009. It is nice to be treated in a professional manner.  :)

Judge Cadet in the PAP Parquet (court) is continuing to require adoptive parents to attend the court hearing regarding their adoptions. I really wonder how many families are not going to adopt from Haiti because they cannot afford taking trips to Haiti and/or rather choose to adopt from a country that makes the adoption process easier than Haiti. Ultimately, it will be the kids who loose out on families...

Presidential Waivers - are being issued. I have had some emails from families whose attorneys claim that they do not have access to the office that deals with the waivers. That is really not true. It is a time consuming process to hunt down the files that are waiting for waivers, but it can be done.

Selecting an orphanage to adopt from - I get many emails from families stuck in the adoption process with incredible waits, wanting assistance. I can assist some families, especially if the orphanage is cooperative, but most orphanages are not cooperative for a variety of reasons. It is extremely important to do thorough research before deciding who to adopt through. 

Also, just because an orphanage is contracted with an adoption agency does not mean that the process will be smooth and timely. Most adoption agencies have no control over the adoption process with the orphanage. 

Do not let pretty websites or religious/pretty names fool you. Talk with parents who have their children at home! Ask them questions. Most families who have experienced some nice hand-holding through the dossier process, etc. will sing praises to their respective orphanage or adoption agency, BUT they are still in process and cannot really give a reference.  

Some orphanages that do a great job processing adoptions are not best at hand holding because they are busy working, pushing adoptions through the process. 

Some orphanages are lying regarding the status of the adoption files. For example, some orphanages claim that a file is in Ministry of Interior (MOI) awaiting final signature when in fact the file is not even submitted in MOI! So, MOI gets the blame when in fact the orphanage is telling stories to the adoptive families.

Researching is so important! Once you have a child referred to you and your orphanage does not like "outside assistance", you are stuck with them and the process... For example, I met a family recently whose adoption, from the time that the dossier was submitted to Haiti, took almost five (5) years. That is an insane timeline! Sometime there is a problem with locating an Archive Log Book where a death or birth certificate is recorded, but that does not drag out an adoption to five years!

Finally...

I have had so many internet connection issues that I finally "broke down" and purchased an internet connection system. It was quite costly, way too much money, but at least I can connect to the internet without having to wait 10 minutes for one email to pop up...

Port-au-Prince Parquet - Judge Cadet is requiring families whose adoptions are processed through the Port-au-Prince court to attend in person. 

U.S. Embassy Meeting - Last week Wednesday, I attended a meeting at the U.S. Embassy to which Judge Cadet, Madam Pierre (IBESR), M. Guignard (MOI) were invited also. M. Guignard is out of town, so his second in charge attended.  Representatives from the French and Canadian Embassies were also in attendance as were other orphanage directors/ representatives. I really think that this meeting's real purpose was to get the Haitian officials to see that the parents are thoroughly screened and thus maybe the Haitian officials would stop making the adoption process more difficult. 

For example, UNICEF keeps talking about disruptions, parents not knowing the children they are adopting and child trafficking. This presentation at the U.S. Embassy really "drove home" the point that parents are well qualified to adopt and that "child buying" is illegal under U.S. law. Also, the consular official made it very clear that if there is so much as an inkling of fraud, misrepresentation or suspicion of child buying, the child's visa will not be approved. 

When I spoke to some of the officials later this week, they seemed to understand the process a bit better, but at the same time, they were annoyed because the invitation stated the start time as 9:00 a.m. but the meeting did not start until 10:20 a.m. Some of the Haitian officials felt slighted by that and one said that this was "disrespecting my time". 

I think that the dialog needs to continue and that Haitian officials understand that parents who are adopting are not "rogue adopters" but thoroughly screened for fitness to adopt. Also, there needs to be a continued education that on the U.S. side of things, the adoptions are thoroughly examined and that contrary to UNICEF's concerns illegal and fraudulent "stuff" cannot make it through the system. 

In Haitian adoptions, there are way to many cooks in the kitchen (as the saying goes). That is why things are so slow and frustrating. It is almost like every step is its own adoption process. It would be nice to get the departments/ministries/court to communicate with each other and to trust each other's process. 

During the meeting USCIS and the U.S. Consulate representatives explained the approval process that American families have to go through in order to be approved to adopt. 

Updates....

Sorry for not having updated my blog much lately...but there has not been much to report on that has not already been written about.

IBESR - continues to require all adoptive families with children to obtain a "Presidential Waiver". Now, not only families with bio kids but families with adopted kids have to get the waiver. Since the "presidential office" (actually Ministry of Justice) only accepts 10 files at a time, this can be a really slow process for some families. It is frustrating because in the meantime the children continue to live in orphanages instead of with their families.

UNICEF keeps meddling in the adoptions, so they are not making things easier for the process. The interesting thing is that UNICEF talks a lot --- but you know the saying: "Put your money where your mouth is."? --- well they talk a lot but I do not really see them doing much for the kids in Haiti. When I speak with people who work with the kids, including Haitian government workers, they all agree with that. UNICEF is becoming a "bad word" because they meddle in things BUT cannot provide workable solutions and cannot assist in ensuring that all Haitian children have loving homes, food, education and medical treatment. In my opinion, UNICEF is just good at putting roadblocks in the way of children having loving homes, food, education and medical treatment.

Parquet - The newest "thing" is that thanks to our friends at UNICEF who are concerned that parents adopt children before they have met them in person, have put a bug in the ear of the judge in Parquet (court) in Port-au-Prince that all adoptive parents should come to court in Haiti. This way, supposedly, the judge can assure himself that the adoptive parents really want the child.

Maybe we ought to invite our friends from UNICEF and the judge to one of the many Haiti Adoption Reunions that are held on a regular basis.
* May - there was one in Washington D.C. at the invitation of the Haitian Ambassador to the U.S.
* August - there was a BIG one with over 200 families in Indiana.
* August - there is another one in Washington state.

There are adoption reunions on a bi-monthly basis in the U.S. and Canada. I would love to learn about adoption reunions in Europe.

Here is the "kicker" --- the prospective adoptive parents are supposed to attend a hearing with the judge in Parquet. But, they won't have an appointment (or court date), so they are expected to come and sit, and wait, and wait some more? In the meantime, protests continue in downtown Port-au-Prince on a regular basis, most recently last week over the minimum wage issue.

Also, as posted on this blog before...these protests have involved Parquet before especially when protesters have been arrested. Hmmm... So I would like to know how UNICEF and the judge are going to ensure the adoptive parents safety when the parents sit in Parquet for a week?

Ministry of Interior - I know that there are a lot of adoptive parents frustrated with the Ministry of Interior (MOI) process. Files have been stuck in MOI for many months, I know of some files that have been inside of MOI for a year!

Here is the issue... Thanks to our friends at UNICEF who are so worried about child trafficking, the workers in MOI have been instructed to go through every document with a fine tooth comb. This means that if there is as much as a misspelled word on any document, that document has to be done over again. That can take a long time for an orphanage to correct because it means that, for example, an adoption decree has to be redone.

In the meantime, that file is stuck inside of MOI...because an "a" instead of an "e" in a word could really mean that the child was trafficked (just kidding!) --- but that is what it comes down to.

Also, MOI does not trust Archives (where documents are certified), especially for documents that are less than one year old and have "half-page Archives" attached. For any such documents, the orphanage has to obtain a letter from the Ministry of Justice that certifies that the Archive is proper and legal. However, here comes the kicker...often that letter from the Ministry of Justice has a typo. What does that mean? It means that MOI cannot accept a letter with a typo and then the orphanage has to go back to the Ministry of Justice to get a new letter without a typo.

In the meantime, the document that was less than one year old, now is one year old...and that means that it needs to be a "full-page Archive" and no longer a "half-page Archive". Thus, then the orphanage is sent back to get a full-page Archive and this can take several months to obtain, especially if the log book is not in Archives yet.

I hope that you get the picture of the "spinning wheels"? The thing is that the people who work in the adoption related MOI office are one of the hardest working people that I have ever observed in Haiti. They want to get the files signed out and they often work right through their lunch break. However, they are bound by the "rules"...