Friday, May 15, 2009: SN Update and WebForum Concerns Addressed
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SN Program Update
The China Team was recently contacted by our WebForum moderator and administrator regarding a few posts that discussed our “Special Needs” program requesting our attention. These posts have been removed due to TOS violations. The content of the posts have caused some unnecessary concern for all families, not just those involved in the postings. For the protection and benefit of all our families, we feel responsible to set the record straight, thus the purpose of this China Blog Post.
We were concerned to see the inaccurate information that was rampantly being passed along as rumors from one family to the next. We are thankful that many families contacted their local social workers for the appropriate information rather than believing everything online. The internet can be a wonderful source of information with appropriate filters. Our WebForum hosts a great community of families for support and online friendships and camaraderie. We would like to remind families, however, that information sharing and program updates will always come directly from Bethany’s China Blog or from your local social workers. We are not responsible for rumors that families post onto our WebForum, nor is the WebForum monitored to separate rumors from facts.
In respect to the special needs children that Bethany is privileged to find families for, we continue to maintain that process as a priority and passionate commitment. The China Team has worked very hard since the early 1990’s to establish and maintain a reputable relationship with the China Center of Adoption Affairs. We have no intent of diminishing or jeopardizing that relationship in any form of mistrust, manipulation or even by allowing destructive comments on any property (i.e. WebForum) of Bethany’s. Please remember that CCAA has access to any public website, WebForum or discussion board. What you say about Bethany and the CCAA is very public.
Helpful Facts:
-Bethany Christian Services is fully committed to finding families for orphaned children in China, and furthermore, children with special needs.
-Bethany Christian Services was one of the test agencies for the online entrustment system (aka CCAA Portal) and was able to contribute to the communication and process enhancement. The faults that are being discussed on the internet (on our website and others) are due to particular agencies not following the guidelines and families perpetrating rumors, not necessarily due to the system itself. The system was developed for special needs children to have exposure to multiple agencies in an effort to find families for them quickly, which in turn, has been very successful.
-Bethany Christian Services has access to the CCAA Portal 24/7. The special needs portion of the portal is monitored around the clock. The majority of the shared referrals that we lock-in are between 9:00pm EST and 3:00am EST; the peak of China’s work day.
-Bethany Christian Services has great success in both of our SN programs (shared portal and exclusive referrals).
-Bethany Christian Services has been invited twice to attend camps in China to help assess and paper-ready children with special needs for adoptive placement.
-Bethany Christian Services plays by the rules set forth by the China Center of Adoption Affairs. We will not compromise our China waiting families’ adoptions to get involved in the politics of inappropriately marketing, inappropriately locking-in or listing these children publically, regardless of what other agencies do or what families desire. The violations are clearly stated for agencies to acknowledge and some agencies have been suspended from using the system.
-Bethany Christian Services finds families for children while working on behalf of the prospective adoptive family. This is not a “business” or “game” for us to competitively lock-in referrals just for placement numbers or to recruit new families. We lock-in referrals of children that we have families ready to adopt. We can assure you, we are responsible and efficient when completing this task, all with great prayer. This is a process that requires effort, time, assessment, skill and prayer. The China Team takes this responsibility as a great burden. It can be very disheartening to hear how our families do not trust our system and post derogatory commentary about our agency and our China Team as if we do nothing to help these children get into permanent families. We receive the most complaints from families that remain unmatched, but the moment the family is matched, the complaints turn into praise for following “God’s Plan” and how in hindsight, the system is fair. Most families understand that they are waiting “long” because of their limitations on what they are open to accepting. This is your choice, your comfort level and family decision, not ours. We support your decisions but cannot guarantee “quick matches” or even provide a promised timeline.
-CCAA sometimes adds referrals in batches and other times as individual referrals. There’s no scheduled or predictable date or pattern.
Please keep in mind that our families have privacy rights as well. It is not our position to announce families’ referrals, details or time frames. Also know that not every Bethany family posts to our WebForum. What this means is that just because you are not informed about a referral match, doesn’t mean it’s not happening. According to the Hague Convention, families have up to two weeks to make an official determination of accepting a referral. When there is a rumor circulating that “new referrals are on the portal” this does not necessarily mean that you will see referral announcements that next day. What we can do is post onto our China Blog approximate numbers of referrals made and some general details (gender, age, SN, etc) when it’s appropriate to do so. We recognize your desires to see statistics and will do when we can.
If families have specific suggestions as to how we can better communicate with waiting families (both special needs and non-identified/healthy families), we welcome your suggestions. Please feel free to email your local social worker and they will pass the messages to us.
Please know that we deeply care for each Bethany family in our adoption program. We pray for each of you daily. We realize the wait times have grown exponentially since you began in the adoption program and we could not have predicted that, just as we cannot predict the future wait times for the current status of the program. We are, however, grateful that the wait times have made it possible for thousands of children with special needs to be considered and we have witnessed them joining their forever families. Before when the wait times were under a year from LID to referral, we did not have families “fighting” over the special needs kiddos like we do today! We also empathize with you as you become anxious, yearning to hold your child, separating rumors that you hear about, and even celebrate with other families that grow. We have learned that in order to be “China Adoptive Family” right now… a few things are required: patience, trust and Faith. Without these, it’s easy to get wrapped into the rumors, the negatives and the darkness. We wish for you to stay hopeful and prayerful and if you remain committed to adopting a child in China, it is only a matter of time… God’s Time.
Bookmark :
SN Program Update
The China Team was recently contacted by our WebForum moderator and administrator regarding a few posts that discussed our “Special Needs” program requesting our attention. These posts have been removed due to TOS violations. The content of the posts have caused some unnecessary concern for all families, not just those involved in the postings. For the protection and benefit of all our families, we feel responsible to set the record straight, thus the purpose of this China Blog Post.
We were concerned to see the inaccurate information that was rampantly being passed along as rumors from one family to the next. We are thankful that many families contacted their local social workers for the appropriate information rather than believing everything online. The internet can be a wonderful source of information with appropriate filters. Our WebForum hosts a great community of families for support and online friendships and camaraderie. We would like to remind families, however, that information sharing and program updates will always come directly from Bethany’s China Blog or from your local social workers. We are not responsible for rumors that families post onto our WebForum, nor is the WebForum monitored to separate rumors from facts.
In respect to the special needs children that Bethany is privileged to find families for, we continue to maintain that process as a priority and passionate commitment. The China Team has worked very hard since the early 1990’s to establish and maintain a reputable relationship with the China Center of Adoption Affairs. We have no intent of diminishing or jeopardizing that relationship in any form of mistrust, manipulation or even by allowing destructive comments on any property (i.e. WebForum) of Bethany’s. Please remember that CCAA has access to any public website, WebForum or discussion board. What you say about Bethany and the CCAA is very public.
Helpful Facts:
-Bethany Christian Services is fully committed to finding families for orphaned children in China, and furthermore, children with special needs.
-Bethany Christian Services was one of the test agencies for the online entrustment system (aka CCAA Portal) and was able to contribute to the communication and process enhancement. The faults that are being discussed on the internet (on our website and others) are due to particular agencies not following the guidelines and families perpetrating rumors, not necessarily due to the system itself. The system was developed for special needs children to have exposure to multiple agencies in an effort to find families for them quickly, which in turn, has been very successful.
-Bethany Christian Services has access to the CCAA Portal 24/7. The special needs portion of the portal is monitored around the clock. The majority of the shared referrals that we lock-in are between 9:00pm EST and 3:00am EST; the peak of China’s work day.
-Bethany Christian Services has great success in both of our SN programs (shared portal and exclusive referrals).
-Bethany Christian Services has been invited twice to attend camps in China to help assess and paper-ready children with special needs for adoptive placement.
-Bethany Christian Services plays by the rules set forth by the China Center of Adoption Affairs. We will not compromise our China waiting families’ adoptions to get involved in the politics of inappropriately marketing, inappropriately locking-in or listing these children publically, regardless of what other agencies do or what families desire. The violations are clearly stated for agencies to acknowledge and some agencies have been suspended from using the system.
-Bethany Christian Services finds families for children while working on behalf of the prospective adoptive family. This is not a “business” or “game” for us to competitively lock-in referrals just for placement numbers or to recruit new families. We lock-in referrals of children that we have families ready to adopt. We can assure you, we are responsible and efficient when completing this task, all with great prayer. This is a process that requires effort, time, assessment, skill and prayer. The China Team takes this responsibility as a great burden. It can be very disheartening to hear how our families do not trust our system and post derogatory commentary about our agency and our China Team as if we do nothing to help these children get into permanent families. We receive the most complaints from families that remain unmatched, but the moment the family is matched, the complaints turn into praise for following “God’s Plan” and how in hindsight, the system is fair. Most families understand that they are waiting “long” because of their limitations on what they are open to accepting. This is your choice, your comfort level and family decision, not ours. We support your decisions but cannot guarantee “quick matches” or even provide a promised timeline.
-CCAA sometimes adds referrals in batches and other times as individual referrals. There’s no scheduled or predictable date or pattern.
Please keep in mind that our families have privacy rights as well. It is not our position to announce families’ referrals, details or time frames. Also know that not every Bethany family posts to our WebForum. What this means is that just because you are not informed about a referral match, doesn’t mean it’s not happening. According to the Hague Convention, families have up to two weeks to make an official determination of accepting a referral. When there is a rumor circulating that “new referrals are on the portal” this does not necessarily mean that you will see referral announcements that next day. What we can do is post onto our China Blog approximate numbers of referrals made and some general details (gender, age, SN, etc) when it’s appropriate to do so. We recognize your desires to see statistics and will do when we can.
If families have specific suggestions as to how we can better communicate with waiting families (both special needs and non-identified/healthy families), we welcome your suggestions. Please feel free to email your local social worker and they will pass the messages to us.
Please know that we deeply care for each Bethany family in our adoption program. We pray for each of you daily. We realize the wait times have grown exponentially since you began in the adoption program and we could not have predicted that, just as we cannot predict the future wait times for the current status of the program. We are, however, grateful that the wait times have made it possible for thousands of children with special needs to be considered and we have witnessed them joining their forever families. Before when the wait times were under a year from LID to referral, we did not have families “fighting” over the special needs kiddos like we do today! We also empathize with you as you become anxious, yearning to hold your child, separating rumors that you hear about, and even celebrate with other families that grow. We have learned that in order to be “China Adoptive Family” right now… a few things are required: patience, trust and Faith. Without these, it’s easy to get wrapped into the rumors, the negatives and the darkness. We wish for you to stay hopeful and prayerful and if you remain committed to adopting a child in China, it is only a matter of time… God’s Time.
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