Waiting Children Program Update

By Maury Reising

It has been a very busy time with the Waiting Children program these last few months!! We received information on 27 children in the current Waiting Children group, with medical needs varying from CHD, cleft lip/palate, to those with spina bifida or who are blind or deaf. The children range in age from 1 year to 11 years. You can check the current status of these children on our web site on the Waiting Children/Availability Status List. Those pending are now shown in blue and those promised in white.

We are privileged to have also been referred information on 3 children with medical needs from Latin America, as part of the current group of Waiting Children. We hope to have Waiting Children referred to us soon from Eastern Europe.

The Waiting Children web site information has been updated since the last newsletter. In addition to the Availability Status List page, we have added a page called China Waiting Children Approval Updates. This page includes a listing of approval dates for all the families who have received their Final Travel Approval in the last year (excluding names); the most recent is listed at the top. In addition to Final Travel Approvals, it includes Letter of Intent, Pre-approval, and DTC dates. This enables waiting or interested families to view time frames for each step of the process in the Waiting Children program. We have received positive feedback regarding this page and families are referring to it frequently.

Also on the website you can find information about the Waiting Children program for China and Latin America. The China page includes an estimate of time frames for each step in the process and what information is needed to review a child and to commit to that child.

We have had several families who applied with the Waiting Children program receive their children since the last newsletter was printed. One travel group comprised of seven Waiting Children families traveled in December and returned home shortly before Christmas with their new additions!! We congratulate them and the other Waiting Children families who have returned home with their children since the last newsletter was printed! There are 2 Waiting Children families in China currently and 3 more leave 2/12/04. It is wonderful to work with families throughout the Waiting Children process from application stage to post-placement!!

Although many children in the current group of Waiting Children have families who are reviewing their medical information or have committed to them, there are still several who are in need of loving, committed families. Our current booklet of Waiting Children includes brief medical and developmental information plus a photo of each child. If you have not received the current booklet, contact me and I will see that one is mailed to you. If you know of other families who may be interested in the children who are still waiting, feel free to share your booklet with them or have them contact me to receive their own. You can e-mail me at mreising@ftia.org or call at 888-797-9900. If you are interested in more information about the Waiting Children program itself, contact me and I will be happy to assist you in whatever way I can.

When we receive information on the next group of Waiting Children, we will list their names, ages, gender and availability on the website and then, after completing the translations of medical reports, will compile a new booklet. (Again, if you would like to receive a booklet, please contact me). We are anxious to start the process again of locating homes for more precious children while, at the same time, completing the process for those families who are now waiting.

Thanks to all of you for your interest in the Waiting Children and to those of you who have provided these children a loving home, advocate for them, and/or serve as resource families for those who are in the process of adopting, by talking to interested families about your own experiences. It is a pleasure to be part of such a valuable program!!