| May 6, 2008
On April 16-19, 2008, Joint Council and its
Guatemala Caucus Co-chairs, including Bruce Mossburg of Bethany Christian
Services, Chris Huber of FTIA, and Margaret Orr of Small Miracles, traveled
to Guatemala to assess the current situation regarding permanency services,
establish and strengthen working relationships with key stakeholders, and
offer assistance to the government in developing their child protection
and permanency services. The delegation met with the Executive Director
and Vice-Director of the Guatemala Central Authority, the Director of Bienestar
Sociale, the Director of SOSEP, the U.S. Consul General, John Lowell, and
the U.S. Ambassador to Guatemala, James Derham. Additional meetings
were also held with current service providers.
Immediately after the trip, Joint Council
appointed Roberto Echeverria as Joint Council Guatemala Representative.
Mr. Echeverria will significantly increase the effectiveness of Joint Council’s
advocacy efforts within Guatemala.
Joint Council will soon publish an update
on the status of the 2,900 transition cases currently in crisis and our
collective advocacy efforts. |
