Ni hao Sunny Ridge-China Families,

CCAA’s Website Information

As of today, the website states CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application documents registered before July 31, 2009 and has issued referrals of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered before May 10, 2006.  This means that CCAA issued fourteen days of referrals in July. While Sunny Ridge was thrilled to see two weeks worth of log-in dates referred, we are hesitant to say this is the new norm for referrals. We will continue to monitor referrals on a monthly basis and see what happens in the months to come.  Our next dossier group is logged in on June 5, 2006.

China Waiting Child Program

We have now matched 21 children with families in our waiting child program since our program began in May 2009.  Fifteen of these children are now home with their forever families! Five families are waiting to travel and one family was recently matched.

Opening China Waiting Child Program to New Applicants

Beginning August 1, 2010, we opened the China Waiting Child Program to new applicants. Due to the nature of this program and how families are matched with children via the shared list, Sunny Ridge has made the decision to only allow 20 families into the program at one time. If you are interested in this program and would like to reserve your spot on our waiting family list prior to the program filling up, please speak with your case worker and submit your paperwork soon! If you would like more information on the program, we are holding an orientation meeting on Monday, August 9th at 6:30pm. Please let myself or Peggy Earwood know if you plan on attending or sign up on our website here.

Notice from CCAA

On July 21, 2010, CCAA released an announcement to adoption agencies. It has come to the attention of CCAA that some adoptive families are allowing their immigration file to expire and are not ensuring they have a new immigration file in place prior to receiving a referral. If a family receives a referral without a current immigration file, they cannot travel to China, thus delaying the adoption of their child. CCAA does not want the adoptions to be delayed due to expired paperwork. Therefore, they are asking that families and agencies be mindful of ensuring that immigration files are current.

If your log-in date is within one month of the matching date listed on their website, you need to ensure you have a valid immigration approval form.  For example, the present matching date on the CCAA website is May 10, 2006. This means all of our families with log-in dates of June 6, 2006 will need to ensure their files are current. If you do not renew your file and are within one month of the present matching date, CCAA asks that you put a hold on your dossier until your paperwork is in order. A family can be taken off of hold once they have a current immigration file. They will be processed with their original log-in date.

If you have a current immigration file, Sunny Ridge keeps track of when your file expires. Peggy Earwood sends out a renewal packet four months before your file expires. This is done to ensure your home study and immigration file are updated in a timely manner. However, we must receive the paperwork back from you quickly so we can ensure your file does not expire.

If you do not have a current immigration file, it is your responsibility to ensure you complete the Hague home study and I-800A filing process prior to receiving a referral. Sunny Ridge will inform you once we feel it is time to start the process however we are depending on you to follow through with the necessary paperwork.  Now that CCAA has released this statement, we need to ensure the home study and immigration file are current when we are at least one month away from your log-in date.

Please speak with your caseworker if you have any questions about this process.

Waiting Family Events

 Sunny Ridge has taken a short hiatus from offering any waiting family events. As the fall approaches, we are now planning out our calendars. Sunny Ridge could use your help in determining if we should offer future waiting family events and if so, ideas about topics you would like covered.  Please send an email to your case worker if you are interested or have any ideas. We would love to hear from you.

W.I.S.E. UP Training opportunity

Most adopted children are frequently asked questions about being adopted; yet few are equipped to respond assertively. WISE UP provides a simple but powerful way for adopted children (and families) to handle comments and personal questions about their adoption journey. Sunny Ridge is pleased to offer the WISE UP! Workshop developed by the Center for Adoption and Support Education. If you have an adopted child in grade 4th through 6th grade, consider signing up for our next workshop on September 25, 2010. Checkout our website here for more information.

Sincerely,

Jessica Augsburger, MSW/LCSW
China Waiting Child Program Coordinator

You can see all China adoption group tracking activity here.