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Childhood experiences, both good and bad, shape the developing brain and have a major impact on the physical, mental health and the social emotional functioning of adults. Poor childhood experiences such as childhood neglect, physical and sexual abuse or incarceration of caregivers are called Adverse Childhood Experiences or ACEs. Join Harmony Family Center’s Education and Training Coordinator, Allison Cooke Douglas, for an overview of the science of ACEs, how these experience impact children and what parents and professionals can do to help children grow and heal after adversity. Follow this link to register! Certificates for 1.5 hours of training will be issued for qualified participants. PLEASE NOTE: Couples using the same device to watch the webinar  must   register both participants on the registration form (one person in the first name space and the second in the last name space) to receive separate certificates. 

Read This Letter from Save Adoptions to Carl Risch , Asst. Secretary of State Consular Affairs, Regarding Ban on “Soft Referrals” Call Your Congress Member Now and Tell Them Children Will Die If Waiting Child Programs Are Banned. 

I’d like to thank Associated Press Reporter, David Crary, for his work on this article. Thank you David!!! I would also like to point out that no one is defending the 1 agency that was debarred over the last 9 years, and in the same breath….. in no way does this one debarment justify a jump from the Council on Accreditation’s 4 full time staff and an annual budget of 147K with 20 volunteer evaluators comprised of adoption agency professionals with vast clinical and agency management experience to  IAAME’s budget of over 2.5 million +  (in fees paid in by families ultimately since adoption agencies are fee for service based models) and 23 full time staff,  without the clinical and agency management experience model Council on Accreditation has .  Consider this dollar amount when Hague Accredited agencies have accumulated some 170 substantiated complaints (many are administrative in nature) over a 9 year period: over 87,000 children have come home to American families,...

Senator Wicker has taken a bold step for Vulnerable Children and American Families! We need to make sure we have his back.  Please post the attached letter to your Facebook page and urge your friends to like and share as well.  We need to keep the momentum going!! Click here to read the letter  (PDF) Click here to download an image of the letter to post to Facebook  (JPG)

*The Bulgarian Ministry of Justice has released the 2017 statistics for intercountry adoptions. As in the past, more than 1/3 of all adoptions were for identified waiting children with special needs. The remaining procedures were direct matches made by MOJ between a registered family and a child cleared for international adoption but not yet entered into the Waiting Child Register. Many of these main procedure referrals likely also had identified special needs. The overall number of completed adoptions from Bulgaria decreased in 2017.* USA – 104 total procedures, including 78 for identified waiting children Italy – 36 total procedures, including 1 for identified waiting children Spain – 22 total procedures, including 1 for identified waiting children France – 21 total procedures Netherlands – 13 total procedures Canada – 7 total procedures, including 2 for identified waiting children Ireland – 6 total procedures Germany – 4 total procedures Denmark – 4 total procedures Norway – 4 total...

Department of State’s Notice Regarding New Intercountry Adoption Fees As of February 1, 2018, the U.S. Department of State notified adoption service providers about substantial mandated fee increases associated with obtaining and maintaining accreditation by the federal government, which is required to provide intercountry adoption services. In addition to the increased fee for adoption service providers, adoptive families will also see an extra cost, potentially deterring loving families from welcoming vulnerable children into their homes. Hopscotch’s primary commitment is, and always will be, to the safety and well-being of children here in the United States and around the world. Thus we are committed to complying fully with the Hague Convention and ensuring that adoption practices protect the rights of children and both birth and adoptive families. However,  the non-refundable $500 fee increase (per child) ,  due at the time of submission of service and fee agreement , ampl...

Mitchell and Dustin Shoumaker adopted siblings Gabe, 8, Maisy, 5, Evangeline, 3, and Olivia, 7 from Poland. The Tupelo couple and other advocates are concerned changes in international adoption could make it harder for others to open their hearts and homes. When Mitchell and Dustin Shoumaker adopted siblings Gabe, Olivia and Maisy from Poland in December 2015, they knew they had unfinished business. The Tupelo couple found out their three children had an infant sibling the night before they went to court in Poland, but little Evangeline wasn’t yet available for adoption. It took longer to adopt one child than three, even though Polish law favors keeping sibling groups together. “Our first experience took nine months,” Mitchell Shoumaker said. “The second time, it took a year and a half.” Some of the delay was specific to issues in Poland, but the Tupelo couple was also impacted by changes in the way intercountry adoptions are handled in the United States. “It just took longer in Americ...

Save Adoption and Keep Adoption Affordable! Greetings! It’s time for the adoption community to wake up and take action about the decline of inter-country adoption. If the trend continues, inter-country adoptions will reach Zero in 4 years. The new accrediting entity, IAAME, set their budget based on a decline of 20% from the previous year. Adoptions have declined by at least 1,000 cases every year since 2004. In 2016, there were only 5,200 adoptions. If the 1,000 per-year decline trend continues, inter-country adoptions will reach zero in just 4 years. Take Action to Voice Your Concern The National Council for Adoption is asking you to call your Senators and Congressmen to voice concern about the changes in inter-country adoption.  Click here  for more information about the Feb 7-8 call-in day to congress, the small business administration, and the media. $500 Monitoring Fee Per Adopted Child With new Dept of State regulations, families can expect to pay $500 extra per child t...

Dear international adoption families, are you aware the Dept. of State is now requiring an additional $500 fee for every adopted child at the time of application, starting Feb. 15? (non-refundable). Click here to learn more.

FRUA ANNOUNCES 2018 SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM (Problem corrected – 2018 Applications are now on the web site) THREE SCHOLARSHIPS… FOR A GRADUATING SENIOR, FOR A CONTINUING COLLEGE STUDENT, AND A NEW VOCATIONAL AND ARTS SCHOLARSHIP The National Board of Directors of Families for Russian and Ukrainian Adoption, Including Neighboring Countries (FRUA), is pleased to announce that this year we plan to continue our scholarship program for the 2018-2019 academic year for our members. The scholarship program is funded by tax-deductible donations to FRUA. Three scholarships will be offered: one for a graduating high school senior, one for a continuing post secondary student, and a new vocational and arts scholarship. To Download Scholarship Application,  To obtain the applications you must be an active member of FRUA.   Go into the Member Center at  https://frua.memberclicks.net/login Log in to verify that your family has an active membership Click on the Member Resources tab Click...

…And today nothing has change aside from more and more countries are buying into this tragic and misguided child welfare practice, and our own Department of State stands by without refuting their efforts or championing the rights of orphaned children to permanent families.  In the early 90’s the First Lady of Georgia, Nanuli Shevardnadze, shocked the world with her claim that “It is better for a Georgian child to die in Georgia, than to leave Georgia and grow up in another country through Adoption!”  If you believe children can keep their cultural identity-pride and be raised in a safe and loving family elsewhere, that our Department of State should do everything possible to keep Adoptions affordable and accessible to all American Families, that our Department of State should be promoting intercountry Adoption as a viable option OVER permanent foster care,and want to learn more about what’s happening to end your right to adopt a child though intercountry Adoption, visit: www.s...