America World Adoption News

China Waiting Children Program- April Referral Overview

The China program staff is excited to announce that throughout the month of April, 9 children were matched with their forever families through the Waiting Children Program. These referrals were for girls and boys ages 16 months to 38 months with various medical needs. The referral wait time will always vary for each family depending on what gender, age, and special needs a family is requesting as well as the number of children released each month by the CCCWA and types of special needs represented. We know many families are waiting for their referrals and we continue to pray for all families throughout the adoption process.  

If you would like to learn more about the program and referral opportunities, please contact China Program staff.

Advocating for Waiting Children with Hearing Impairments

America World is committed to advocating for waiting children. Our Ethiopia, India and China programs currently have referrals of waiting children with hearing impairments or children who are deaf.

One adoptive parent wanted to share this encouragement to families considering adopting a child who is hearing impaired- “If God's calling you to adopt a child with a hearing impairment, go for it. With today's technology (cochlear implants), deafness is a much less difficult special need than it may seem. If your church has a deaf ministry (or start one!), and you live near enough to a school for the deaf (or perhaps even if not), and you have even the slightest inclination, go for it. What fun it's been to learn sign language, and oh the worlds of new people and experiences you'll be opened up to. If God's calling you, you know He'll give you the resources to accomplish what He's asked. And besides, you know He wants every child to hear His good news... what better place for that to happen than in your home?”

If you are interested in learning more about how to care for a child with a hearing impairment, visit Signs for Hope. Please contact us at 800-429-3369 if you'd like to learn more about our adoption programs for waiting children. Thank you for joining us in prayer for these special children.

Honor Your Mother by Blessing A Child: Baby Formula Drive

This Mother’s Day, honor your mother with a gift that will help meet a Chinese orphan’s daily nutritional needs. While we reflect on Mother’s Day, our thoughts may often center on our own mothers who cared for us; however, as an agency we never want to forget the many children around the world who, due to poverty, sickness, or other situations within their country, are unable to grow up with a mother.

America World is fortunate to partner with orphanages in China and help meet many of these children’s basic needs. Nutritional baby formula is always in high demand in orphanages throughout China and being able to provide high quality formula can have long-term benefits for these children. Since these are items that are needed regularly, you may also want to consider partnering with us, not just this Mother’s Day, but throughout the year to help us raise funds and awareness by sharing this simple project with your friends, your church, your small group, your church’s missions department, or your child’s school. This is also a great project for churches to participate in for Orphan Sunday.

To donate towards providing nutritional formula to our partner orphanages in China, please click here and select "Isaiah 1:17 Fund" from the dropdown menu and include a note marked  “China: Formula” (read more about the Isaiah 1:17 Fund). All online transactions are safe and secure. If preferring to pay by check, please have them payable to America World Adoption and on the memo line include “Isaiah 1:17 Fund- China: Formula”. Print a Mother's Day certificate to give to your mother to show the donation given in her honor!

This Mother’s Day, please consider giving a gift to honor both your mother and a motherless child; a gift that will significantly impact the daily life of an orphaned child. 

China Waiting Children Program- March Referrals

The China program staff is excited to announce that throughout the month of March, seven children were matched with their forever families. These referrals were for girls and boys ages 11 months to 6.5 years with various medical needs. The referral wait time will always vary for each family depending on what gender, age, and special needs a family is requesting as well as the number of children released each month by the CCCWA and types of special needs represented. We know many families are waiting for their referrals and we continue to pray for all families throughout the adoption process. Families who would like to learn more about the program and referral opportunities can contact China Program staff.

Older Children In Need of Families: Aging out of Adoption

From time to time we have the privilege of advocating for children who are still in need of a family and a place to call home. As you may be aware, children must be adopted before they turn 14 in China in order to be adopted. We recently received several new children’s files and these children are eager to have a family, but each of them have very limited time before they will no longer be able to be adopted due to China’s adoption law. Please take a moment to read through their profiles and consider if God is calling your family to bring one of these children home.

“Matthew” is a 13.5 year old boy who is still waiting for his forever family. However, he is about to age out of the adoption system as he turns 14 at the beginning of July. Due to his age, his family would already need to have a Log in Date to proceed with the adoption. This adoption would be expedited due to his age.

Matthew is a smart boy. He is currently attending school where he enjoys learning English and hanging out with his classmates. He is friendly and outgoing with adults and children alike. He is a smart boy and often helps his classmates with the homework assignments that they find too difficult. Matthew is very good about doing his own homework. He is a self motivated teenager. In his free time, Matthew enjoys reading comic books and playing sports. His favorite game to play is ping pong, but he also likes to play Chinese chess. Matthew has no special needs and is a healthy 13.5 year old boy.

Matthew is also an agency specific referral, so America World is able to obtain updates and recent photos. Matthew’s referral is designated by the CCCWA as Special Focus. This allows a family who has returned home less than 12 months ago to use a copy of their previous dossier. The Special focus program also allows families currently in process to adopt two children at once. Families interested in these options should contact the information given below for more details.

“Isaac” is a thirteen year old boy, but will be turning 14 and aging out of the adoption system in the fall of this year. Our staff in China recently visited his orphanage and spoke with Isaac. He is very eager to have an American family and asked our staff to help him find his forever family. Isaac is at one of America World’s partner orphanages, so we are able to obtain updates and recent photos. His referral is also Special Focus and is open to all families in various stages of their adoption. 

Isaac is a happy teenager who enjoys playing with his peers and the younger children. His favorite games are hide and seek and playing outside. Isaac also enjoys listening to music and watching cartoons. Isaac is currently studying and can speak some English. Isaac has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy and he tests positive for Hepatitis B. He has received surgery and physical therapy for cerebral palsy as well as treatment for Hep B. He recovered well from all of the treatments and can stand alone as well as walk and climb stairs.    

Finally, “Elias” is a healthy boy who just celebrated his twelfth birthday. He is a handsome young man with a great smile. Elias’s referral has not been designated by the CCCWA as special focus and his file is open to families who are paper-chasing as well as LID families. Families who would like to learn more about Elias can contact us about reviewing his referral.

Any family who wants to learn more about these adoption opportunities will need to contact us about the referral review and approval process. America World families can view some photos on the password protected website. If your family is not an AW family, but would like access to our password protected site, please contact the China Waiting Children program staff via email or call 800-429-3369 and our staff will be able to assist you.        

We are honored to be able to advocate for Matthew, Isaac and Elias and ask that you please join us in praying for these children to find their forever family!

China- Update on the CCCWA’s Review of Dossiers

The China Center for Children’s Welfare and Adoption (CCCWA) has confirmed that they have completed the review of dossiers that were registered with their office through October 2012. This means that all families who were logged in at the CCCWA through October 2012 have had their dossier paperwork reviewed. The CCCWA completed 6 months of dossier review since their last update on dossier review. The timeframe for the dossier review process will vary as it is based upon the number of dossiers that are logged in during the particular month(s) that is(are) currently under review.

Families should note that the CCCWA will generally contact an agency when there is an issue with a family’s dossier, while it is being reviewed during the dossier review stage and will request any corrections or clarification of information contained in the dossier.  Although a family may not be questioned during the review stage, a family may still be questioned at the referral matching stage, though this is less common.

We will continue to post any future updates to dossier review as soon as they are confirmed by the CCCWA.

China Waiting Children Program- February Referrals

The China program staff is excited to announce that throughout the month of February, 3 children from the waiting children program were matched with their forever families. These referrals were for girls ages 14 months to 4.5 years with various medical needs. The referral wait time will always vary for each family depending on what gender, age, and special needs a family is requesting as well as the number of children released each month by the CCCWA and types of special needs represented. We know many families are waiting for their referrals and we continue to pray for all families throughout the adoption process. Families who would like to learn more about the program and referral opportunities can contact China Program staff.

Transferring to America World - China Program

America World Adoption has recently received requests from families applying to transfer to our China Program who already have dossiers submitted with another agency.  In these situations, the following policy/fee schedules will apply.  Our agency would want to see in writing (via email, fax or letter) that the family's current agency is aware and supportive of the family's desire to switch agencies (if this is a family whose previous agency is bankrupt or no longer exists, this isn't required).  Following this, we would ask that families fill our our online application and send an email to intake@awaa.org informing our staff that you've applied and that you're seeking to transfer from another agency.  We will give families who are transferring agencies a $200 discount on the application fee so families applying will submit $100 at the time of applications submission.

Families who are accepted into our program will be sent an Agreement (contract) to sign and return with the initial program fee.  For those with dossiers already in China, the following fee structures apply:  The first program fee and the translation fee will be waived.  A second program fee discount of $500 will be given and the refundable post adoption deposit of $3000 will be required for all families.

For families who transfer and are further along in building their paperwork for their dossier, a deiscount on the inital program fee may be assessed ona case-by-case basis.  For families who are still building their dossier, changes to the dossier will likely be needed for it to meet America World's standards.  The expense of updating may be between $200 - $1000.  Additional charges will be assessed if there is a need to courier and/or authenticate dossier documentation.  Families submitting a new dossier will also be expected to pay the mid-program fee, dossier translation fee, and a refundable post adoption deposit, at the time of dossier submission with our agency.

All other fees, including the international program fee, will remain the same for families who have transferred into working with our agency.  A full breakdown/estimate of expenses can be found HERE on our website.

All families who transfer to our agency should be aware that we will have the same requirements/qualifications as we would for new applicants, including signing our Statement of Faith.  The current wait times for the China Waiting Children Program are dependent upon a family's child request.  Please call our office for more detailed information on our policies or current wait times for the China program.

We recognize that families who are switching agencies have likely already dealt with a lot of frustration and headache due to their circumstances.  We hope, pray and trust that God will use these difficulties to work His plan for your family and for the child who will be entering your family.

"At present you may be temporarily harassed by all kinds of trials.  This is no accident.  It happens to prove your faith which is infinitely more valuable than gold."  1 Peter 1:6-7

"This is the reason we never lose heart.  These troubles which are temporary are winning for us a permanent, a glorious and solid reward out of proportion to our pain.  So we don't look at the temporary situation.  We look beyond to see the eternal benefits."  2 Corinthians 4:16-17

China Waiting Children: Files Returning- Families Needed

As we approach the end of February, we wanted to make all families aware that some of our waiting children referrals will soon need to be returned to the CCCWA, several before the end of February. These children have been unable to be matched with families currently in our program, as their needs, gender, or ages are outside of those being requested by our current families. Most of these children reside in one of AWAA’s partnership orphanages, which also has a program sponsored by Love Without Boundaries. Several of these children are eligible to be matched with families who are at any stage in the adoption process.  **Please note that a social worker’s approval is needed to review a child’s file that is outside of a family’s current home study approval or child requests.

Families can view each child’s photo(s) and information by clicking HERE and entering the waiting children password. We appreciate your fervent prayers for God to provide a forever family for each of these precious children. If you have questions about the password or if you are interested in learning more about a specific child, please contact our China Program staff at waitingchildren@awaa.org and staff will be able to assist you.

China Waiting Children Program- January Referrals

The China program staff is excited to announce that throughout the month of January, 8 children were matched with their forever families. These referrals were for girls and boys ages 11 months to 5 ½ years with various medical needs. The referral wait time will always vary for each family depending on what gender, age, and special needs a family is requesting as well as the number of children released each month by the CCCWA and types of special needs represented. We know many families are waiting for their referrals and we continue to pray for all families throughout the adoption process. Families who would like to learn more about the program and referral opportunities should contact China Program staff.