On October 10, JCICS released a position statement on Special Needs adoptions in Vietnam that reads, in part:
Vietnamese law does allow for the adoption of a child with Special Needs, despite the expired MOA. However, this Special Needs adoption, if pursued, would have to take place as an independent adoption. An independent adoption is conducted without the involvement of a U.S.-based Adoption Service Provider.
Joint Council strongly discourages the pursuit of an independent Special Needs adoption at this time.
We have been hearing rumors about some agencies giving out Special Needs “matches” and referrals on various email lists and message boards. For families who hope to adopt a child with Special Needs from Vietnam and who have not received a referral by September 1, we can’t emphasize enough that the JCICS statement clarifies that these adoptions would have to be facilitated independently and not through a US Adoption Agency.
JCICS outlines several reasons for taking this stance including the increased likelihood for abuse due to lack of governmental oversight and safeguards, the lack of a fee schedule, the lack of a definition of ‘Special Needs’, the lack of pre- and post-adoptive support traditionally supplied by the ASP and the damaging short and long-term impact all of these issues could have on all members of the adoptive triad.
Cumulatively, these factors suggest that independent, Special Needs adoptions could create an environment that increases the possibility of illegal, unethical adoption practices.
A most serious warning is issued to those who are considering a Special Needs adoption in Vietnam:
However, the pursuit of independent, Special Needs adoptions that fall outside of governmental and legal oversight, could derail negotiations. Because the independent adoption process of Vietnamese children with Special Needs runs completely counter to the intentions of both the governments of Vietnam and the United States, any attempts by Potential Adoptive Parents to circumvent governmental, agency and Hague stipulations might be seen as a breach of trust and fidelity- not to mention the risk it poses to other orphaned children in need of a forever family.
In addition to discouraging Potential Adoptive Parents from the pursuit of an independent, Special Needs adoption, Joint Council also strongly urges them not to accept a referral of any Vietnamese child from any source at this time. Any referral made after September 1, 2008, is not guaranteed compliant with Hague principles, the intents of the Vietnamese and U.S. governments, or the best interests of the child.
These warnings are clear in their content and scope. The best way we all can support the children of Vietnam is by educating ourselves about past abuses, learning what led to both major breakdowns in the adoption process in Vietnam in the last 7 years and learning more about the negotiation process toward creating a new, more protective MOU. Agencies who have not already done so should seek Hague accreditation in preparation for a future MOU. And families should, under all circumstances, resist the temptation to accept referrals or supply payment to agencies at this time.
VVAI commends JCICS for their difficult stance on this sensitive issue. We all want the very best for each and every orphan in Vietnam and we recognize that the best is not always the most obvious solution.
Continue on to the JCICS site to read the full statement on Adoptions in Vietnam.
11 Responses
I find these statements about recommending caution to proceed with adoption of special needs children in Vietnam almost unbelievable. Some children with special needs in Vietnam need to be adopted ASAP because their lives are literally at stake. They need special treatment for their special needs. So what if there is no “official” agency involvement? Maybe it would be better that way. Maybe JCICS and NCFA are advocating for agency involvement in Vietnam and are ignoring the serious needs of special needs children. I think it could be safe to say that if the child does not really have special needs or boarderline special needs, there may be a difficulty adopting the child as special needs under Vietnamese law. Nevertheless, there are children with true special needs who need immediate attention. Advocating for these children not to be adopted right now is so far from the best interests of these children that it makes me wonder about the goals and ethics of JCICS and NCFA.
I’ve been following the thread on this topic on one of the groups- I’m really hoping this is seen by the PAPs who need it most. Are you going to post this info or a link to this post on the boards?
It is unbelievable how far JCICS, the USCIS and DOS will go to prevent adoption from Vietnam. Now they are trying to stop special needs adoptions. The fact is agencies can conduct special needs adoptions on behalf of families. This comes directly from Dr. Long at the DIA. We are proceeding with special needs adoptions. We along with other agencies consulted with both the DIA and the DOS about special needs adoptions and both confirmed that special needs adoptions could continue after September 1.
This is not going to prevent a new agreement. On the contrary it would be a way for the Vietnamese to demonstrate that adoptions can and are being completed in a legal and ethical way. These kids cannot wait while the United States get off its sorry butt and does something constructive. We gave the DOS an out line of a very good program to provide safeguards for special needs adoptions to continue and they did nothing with it so we were left to just go it along. I for one and not going to sit by while special needs children need homes and our help.
Dick Graham
IAAP
Kuddos to you Mr. Graham and IAAP for once again being a voice of reason & boldly speaking the truth!!
This announcement by the JCICS was both erroneous and irresponsible and will only result of scaring off potential parents to children who absolutely need them the most. This is a travesty that needs to be publicly corrected ASAP.
AP to 3XVietnam ~ one who 3 months ago was blind, but NOW she sees…
Hi Dick – I’m curious – Is your agency in the process of becoming Hague Accredited? If so, at what stage?
No Nicki we are not in the Hague Process. We do not have the money nor the staff to do this. Vietnam is our only program and it is unlikely that adoption will resume in Vietnam even if they sign the Hague. They will still have to satify the USCIS and DOS.
Dick Graham
But how would SN children be left behind with so many Italian and French agencies moving into the same orphanages US agencies are now leaving? This includes at least some of the provinces where IAAP currently works. And what about CIS processing times — if they delay and delay because they don’t want US agencies working in Vietnam, as you yourself stated, how would that help SN kids with immediate medical needs?
Other countries are moving in…or have moved in…to adopt the healthy babies that the USA says are “corrupt”. This conversation is about special needs children. If Americans are not allowed to adopt SN’s children…those children will live out their days in the orphanages. Why would someone adopt a Hep positive baby, when a healthy baby is so easy to get for a European now? The orphanages are full to capacity of babies now that the USA cannot adopt those ORPHANS. And I can’t fathom the thought of Regina’s little girl living her whole life BLIND and without a mommy. And that would have happend if she had not adopted her. NO European would have adopted her. Get real. There is NO REASON to shut down SN adoptions in this interum period before a new agreement takes place. Are evil people “buying” and “selling” children with mental handicaps and CP now? I think not!
Jenn V.
I am speaking of special needs kids. I personally know of two children from my son’s orphanage who were sn and never adopted by US families, even though both were available. We’ve been able to confirm that both found homes in Italy very quickly.
And this is for Dick — I share your concerns about CIS. So how can you guarantee they will process immigration applications on behalf of sn kids now? Leaving sn kids in US immigration limbo would seem to me to be the worst possible outcome for these children.
Look we can all agree that other countries do adopt special needs children. We have worked to place special needs children for years and I can tell you it is not easy. There are not a lot of families who were knocking down our door. Some of the children we had placed on our site would be viewed by thousands of families before finding one. We would get many calls about specific children and the families would never follow through. My point is each child deserves to have as much a chance as possible and that means as many opportunities for families to adopt them. If the US does not participate then there will be hundreds of thousands of lost opportunities. I came across a web site a few months ago that showed the numbers of international adoptions to all countries ( I can’t find the site now but will keep looking) and it clearly showed that the US does the lions share of international adoptions. You take the US out of the picture and you at least cut each special needs child’s opportunities in half.
As to the CIS, we should all work to see that they don’t keep any child in limbo. There is no reason to keep them in limbo. They should process these cases as they would any other case.
Dick Graham
There will be some adopted by other countries but there will still be those that do not get homes elsewhere. Just because some of these kids might be adopted in other countries in no way means we should not help as many as we can. Should we just sit by and hope someone else picks up the slack? Families from other countries adopt from all the countries US families adopt from. Does this mean we should not be adopting from any of them?
As I said in my post we offered a solution to the problem of what qualifies as special needs and the DOS did nothing with it. I want to see the DOS and USCIS working on solutions. I want to see them working with agencies to solve the problems. We have tried as have other agencies but to no avail.
Dick Graham
IAAP