Still Waiting and Waiting....
The National Council for Adoption (NCFA), of which America World Adoption Association (our adoption agency) is a member, issued a statement regarding reaccreditation in Russia:
"On Wednesday, April 25, 2007 the Hague Implementation Staff of U.S. Department of State issued an official notice confirming the news that “no U.S.-based adoption service providers are currently accredited with the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation.”
The following day, NCFA President and CEO, Thomas Atwood, along with NCFA staff Lee Allen and Chuck Johnson met with Alina Levitskaya, Director of the Department of Youth Policy, Upbringing, and Social Protection of Children of the Russian Ministry of Education and Science. Ms. Levitskaya was in Washington, DC to meet with senior staff within the U.S. Department of State to discuss the status of Russian intercountry adoption and the accreditation of U.S. agencies.
Ms. Levitskaya told NCFA that her visit had been scheduled in response to recent publicly-stated concerns that the ongoing delays in re-accreditation process appeared to be aimed primarily at American agencies (see the April 10 article in USA Today, http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-04-10-russia-adoptions_N.htm) and that these delays were hurting children.
During the meeting, Ms. Levitskaya offered explanation of reasons why the Russian government’s efforts to initiate adoption reform measures have taken much longer than anticipated. The NGO registration requirement and the Russian Ministry of Education and Science’s requirement to involve other Russian ministries in clarifying adoption procedures have presented huge challenges that, in Ms. Levitskaya’s opinion, appear to be near resolution. She confirmed receipt of the U.S. Department of State’s recent statement regarding the rights granted to Russian children adopted by American families – and thanked NCFA for acting as a liaison with the U.S. Department of State on this issue.
Ms. Levitskaya expects several agencies to receive renewal of their accreditation in the imminent future, as well as a steady processing of applications from other countries. Further, Ms. Levitskaya informed NCFA that, after clearing the backlog of pending accreditations, the Ministry of Education and Science will then explore the notion of accepting applications for accreditation by additional agencies."
I've mentioned this in a few of the weekly updates but had forgotten to add it in the monthly. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.
Two families with our agency were previously registered in Tula, a province in Russia, prior to reaccreditation expiring. Within the past few months, the officials in Tula agreed to work with families who had already been registered, even before reaccreditation is received. The decision to work with families depends upon the region. Another family with our agency, was registered in Voronezh, and that region agreed to work with them specifically because they had requested older children (teens). So when you hear of people coming home with children from Russia, the situation is likely as these. Some regions are simply ignoring regulations, but that is very rare.
All that being said, we continue to hope that reaccreditation will happen soon so that we can travel to Russia and adopt the child we trust God has for us. However, the wait is proving harder than expected and we have now signed on with a domestic adoption agency (Lutheran Child and Family Services) as well as a local attorney who facilitates private adoptions.
"On Wednesday, April 25, 2007 the Hague Implementation Staff of U.S. Department of State issued an official notice confirming the news that “no U.S.-based adoption service providers are currently accredited with the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation.”
The following day, NCFA President and CEO, Thomas Atwood, along with NCFA staff Lee Allen and Chuck Johnson met with Alina Levitskaya, Director of the Department of Youth Policy, Upbringing, and Social Protection of Children of the Russian Ministry of Education and Science. Ms. Levitskaya was in Washington, DC to meet with senior staff within the U.S. Department of State to discuss the status of Russian intercountry adoption and the accreditation of U.S. agencies.
Ms. Levitskaya told NCFA that her visit had been scheduled in response to recent publicly-stated concerns that the ongoing delays in re-accreditation process appeared to be aimed primarily at American agencies (see the April 10 article in USA Today, http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-04-10-russia-adoptions_N.htm) and that these delays were hurting children.
During the meeting, Ms. Levitskaya offered explanation of reasons why the Russian government’s efforts to initiate adoption reform measures have taken much longer than anticipated. The NGO registration requirement and the Russian Ministry of Education and Science’s requirement to involve other Russian ministries in clarifying adoption procedures have presented huge challenges that, in Ms. Levitskaya’s opinion, appear to be near resolution. She confirmed receipt of the U.S. Department of State’s recent statement regarding the rights granted to Russian children adopted by American families – and thanked NCFA for acting as a liaison with the U.S. Department of State on this issue.
Ms. Levitskaya expects several agencies to receive renewal of their accreditation in the imminent future, as well as a steady processing of applications from other countries. Further, Ms. Levitskaya informed NCFA that, after clearing the backlog of pending accreditations, the Ministry of Education and Science will then explore the notion of accepting applications for accreditation by additional agencies."
I've mentioned this in a few of the weekly updates but had forgotten to add it in the monthly. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.
Two families with our agency were previously registered in Tula, a province in Russia, prior to reaccreditation expiring. Within the past few months, the officials in Tula agreed to work with families who had already been registered, even before reaccreditation is received. The decision to work with families depends upon the region. Another family with our agency, was registered in Voronezh, and that region agreed to work with them specifically because they had requested older children (teens). So when you hear of people coming home with children from Russia, the situation is likely as these. Some regions are simply ignoring regulations, but that is very rare.
All that being said, we continue to hope that reaccreditation will happen soon so that we can travel to Russia and adopt the child we trust God has for us. However, the wait is proving harder than expected and we have now signed on with a domestic adoption agency (Lutheran Child and Family Services) as well as a local attorney who facilitates private adoptions.
posted by Eddie and Vicki Lowry at 2:05 PM
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