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Children of Promise
Update
Children of Promise:
Bethany Christian Services refers to “waiting children” or children already
born into this world, as Children of Promise. These children
oftentimes have special placement needs such as medical conditions, diagnoses,
developmental delays or just considered “older.” Bethany is privileged
to have secured access to the CCAA “shared portal” for referrals of children
with special placement needs. We take this task very seriously and
prayerfully. Our goal is to find families for children. For
more information, please contact your local social worker. We continuously
welcome families into this program as the needs continue to grow.
As of this morning, there are 399
referrals on the shared portal. Unfortunately... we do not have any
families that we can match to ANY of these children. The number of
referrals on the portal changes by the minute. A few days ago, there
were only 295 referrals, last night there were 405 referrals and so on.
Accredited and licensed agencies that can place children with special
placement needs around the world have access to the CCAA shared portal
24 hours a day. Bethany’s China Team checks this portal constantly…
praying over the children and hoping for a family that we can match to
any of them.
The current needs are: families
that are open to boys over the age of four (special needs and healthy boys
over the age of seven), girls over the age of eight (special needs and
healthy), and all children with moderate to severe special needs. There
are many children with limb deformities (over the age of three), multiple
special needs (for example, a child with CHD, anemia and Cleft Lip/Palate),
mental delays, deafness, and children with spinal/meningocele/back challenges.
BCS currently has approximately
80 families that have submitted their COP paperwork. About 98% of
the families are limited to only considering female referrals under the
age of four with very minor/correctable special needs.
When a family submits their paperwork,
the number one question we are asked is “when can we expect a referral?”
Although this is a question that we understand families would like
to have a concrete response to… it’s impossible to give that prediction.
Much of it depends on factors that we cannot control. If/when
CCAA places a child’s referral onto the portal that is a match for that
particular family and if there are other families in the program also hoping
for that same match. Generally, families that submit COP Forms for
the needs we request…. are matched within days, if not minutes!
To date, we have matched many waiting
children to their Bethany families. The ages vary from 12 months
to 12 years old. The needs vary from minor/correctible, moderate
and severe. There have also been children with multiple needs matched.
Praise God!!!
In order to be considered for a
match, a family must have a Bethany approved home study. According
to The Hague, in order for an official match to be made, a family must
have a valid USCIS approval. Families that allow their USCIS to lapse,
or that have not received approval yet, are not eligible.
Shared lists: We receive many inquiries
from families who are aware of lists of children’s referrals being passed
around. This is in direct violation of the CCAA regulations for the
shared portal. Agencies are penalized for being in violation of this
practice. Bethany does not participate in any illegal activity that
could jeopardize our families’ adoptions. Oftentimes, the lists
that are passed around contain confidential information of referrals that
have already been matched to families, that are exclusive to certain agencies
or that are simply non-existent. If you have questions about our
China Waiting Child program, please consult your social worker.
As always, we welcome your prayers
for these children that wait…
