Harrah's Waiting Child Yahoo Group

Alex's Note: This is from their Blog Post detailing information about this list. Good Stuff.

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Hello and Welcome New Families to Harrah's Waiting Child Yahoo Group!

In this forum, you can communicate with families who have adopted waiting children and find the answers to questions you may have about the different types of special needs, the waiting child adoption process, or issues pertaining to raising a child with a special need.

This is not a forum for the advertisement of products or services. We ask that families not debate religious or political viewpoints on this list. Our goal is for all families interested China's Waiting Child adoption program, to find this group to be a resource for support and information.

For information about Harrah's Waiting Child program or to view our current list of waiting children, please visit our website at www.hfsadopt.org

The username and password you will need in order to access the list, is provided at the end of this message.

If you have joined this group with the intent to view our current list of waiting children and may consider petitioning for a child on this list, please take the time to fully read this message as I attempt to provide you with all the answers to the most common questions I receive regarding the waiting child list, petitioning process, and matching/placement team decisions.

Harrah's adoption process for a waiting child begins with your thorough review of the child's medical and developmental information which is posted as an attachment on each child's page. Children who are already matched with a family are removed from the site. You may submit a petition for any child who is still listed on the site. Please note that children are not removed from the list during the time lapse between the end of a petitioning period and the placement team meeting when a matching determination is made. Children who have received petitions and are awaiting a matching decision from the placement team will be marked as 'pending' until after the placement team meeting; at which point, they will either be removed completely from the list if they are matched with a family or their status will be changed from 'pending' to 'available' if they are not matched.

If you are interested in petitioning for a specific child on the list, you must fill out a preliminary Special Needs/Waiting Child application which is also available for you to download from the waiting child section on our website and submit the application with the petition which is available for downloading on the child's information page. You will then fax both to me at 281-465-9992. For the current petitioning deadline, please read the scrolling 'Newsflash' on the home page of our website.

Before submitting a petition for a child:

1) View ALL of the children.
2) Research the special need. Download, print and review the child's information and photos (linked on each child's page) with an appropriate medical professional.
3) Consider how the child will fit into your family dynamics.
4) Thoroughly read and consider all acknowledgements on the petition before you sign and submit it. A petition, resulting in your match with a child, is a serious commitment to adopt! The waiting child program is not the right program for every family. Please be certain that you can fully agree to each statement before signing and submitting a petition.
5) Visit the Waiting Child section on our website and read the qualifications for adoptive families. Please be certain that your family meets all qualifications before you petition.

The placement team does not match based upon the first family to submit a petition! This is not a first-come first-served type of program. We prefer for families to fully research the child's need and discuss with an appropriate medical professional before submitting a petition to adopt. It is crucial that families also research and consider additional issues that families sometimes face when they are united with the child in China. This includes but is not limited to issues related to attachment and bonding, grief and separation, and developmental delays which are VERY common in institutionalized children.

If you petition and are accepted to adopt a child, it is expected that you will immediately and purposefully pursue the adoption and seek to bring the child home as soon as possible.

If you have a special circumstance that will keep you from being able to immediately and actively pursue the adoption please indicate this on your petition!

China's policy dictates that families with recent adoptions or the birth/addition of a child in the home, cannot submit a Letter of Intent to Adopt until 2 months prior to the one year anniversary of an adoption or birth/addition of a child. Therefore, petitions cannot be considered for any family if it has been less than 10 months since a previous adoption or birth/addition of a child in the home.

Once you have made the decision to submit a petition, please consider whether or not there is any additional information about your family (not covered in the preliminary application) that you would like for the placement team to consider. It is helpful to submit with your petition, information about how you researched the child's need(s) and your plan of treatment for the child if you are matched. You might also add any information that would be good for the placement team to know regarding your qualifications to adopt the child you petition for.

You are also welcome to email a family photo to me at: erinh@hfsadopt.org

If there is a child that you would like to petition for or have petitioned for, please do not announce the name of that child to ANY board until after you have received official notice that you have been matched to that child. It is acceptable to state that you plan to petition for one or more children, so long as you do not identify which children. We do not want to dissuade anyone from petitioning because they think someone else is applying.

Upon receipt of your petition:

You will receive an email confirmation within 24 hours. If you do not receive your confirmation, please feel free to call Janet Coward at the office to confirm receipt.

If I have any questions for you about your petition or information, I will call you prior to the placement team meeting. Sometimes the team will call a family during the meeting to ask a specific question or to clarify information.

Common questions and the answers to these questions about the initial petitioning and matching process:

Is there additional information available for this child?

All original information provided to Harrah's on every child is scanned and attached on the child's page. The medical and developmental information is also translated and attached. Please note that the paperwork provided to us is sometimes a copy of an original and is not very legible to begin with. Thus, some of the scanned original documents may be difficult to read. If any lab work has been included in this child's information from CCAA, it will be included in the .pdf copy of the original Chinese paperwork. Please note that Lab results may not be a good measurement of any child's actual current or previous health status because the labs may not routinely calibrate their machines and often re-use disposable testing materials. It is recommended that families depend upon the Chinese Dr.'s opinion as relayed in his translated report and your consultation with a medical professional above any results from lab tests, which may be inaccurate.

Sometimes there are additional photos for a child that cannot be posted to the website. If there are any additional photos for a child, it will be noted on the child's page and may be emailed to a prospective family upon request.

Can I call you or email you if I have a question about a specific child's diagnosis?

Because I am not a medical professional, I am unable to give any advice or opinion relating to a child's diagnosis or prognosis. I will always advise families to direct such questions to an appropriate medical professional.

Can we petition for more than one child on the list?

Yes. China will allow a family to adopt only one child at a time; however, you may petition for more than one child if there is more than one child you feel would be a good match for your family. This sometimes works to a family's advantage because it increases the chances of a match.

What happens if more than one family petitions for the same child?

Many times, more than one petition is received per child. The placement team makes all matching decisions for a child. This decision is often a very difficult one to make, when there are several qualified families petitioning for the same child. This can heartbreaking for the families who are not matched with the child they hoped to adopt. While it is important for you to thoroughly consider how a specific child will fit into your family dynamics and how you will be able to care for the child's needs, it is also important to realize that because there can only be one family chosen for a child, your family may not be matched. This is very difficult for the qualified families who are not matched. Managing your hopes and expectations may make a 'no' answer a little easier to handle if you are not matched.

I am unable to view the photos or open attachments!

If you are unable view the photos or to open the attachments, it is most likely to be a problem with your browser or browser settings. Please try a different computer to fix the problem. If the problem persists, please email me or call the office. All attachments are .pdf files, which require Adobe Acrobat reader to open. If you do not have Adobe, you can download the most recent version for free from the Internet.

What is a diagnosis of 'Low Developmental Values"?

During previous petitioning periods, I had several families ask me this question. We asked the WC coordinator from CCAA what this diagnosis means. She said that "it is as if you plant two trees at the same time and you expect both to grow and develop at the same rate but one tree grows and develops slower than the other". This is her description of CCAA's interpretation of this diagnosis. However, you will still want to have your own medical professional review the child's file for more information.

Can I share photos of the child we petitioned for with my family and friends?

Photos of the children must be kept out of the public domain. Please do not copy or forward photos of any of the children to anyone other than your physician. You may not forward photos, passwords or links to the within the secure area of the website to anyone. It is acceptable to have a printed copy of the child's photo(s) and to show them to your family members so long as they remain in your direct possession. If you are matched with a child you petitioned for, once you receive Pre-Approval from China, at that time you may share the child's photos with anyone.

Can I share the password with my friends and family?

Yes, now that the closed petitioning periods have ended, you may share the password with anyone you know who may be interested in adopting a Waiting Child.

How will we be notified of the placement team's decision?

After the petitioning deadline ends, you will receive an email with information about the day/time of the placement team meeting. All petitioning families are personally called with the placement team's decision on the same day of the placement team meeting.

If I am not matched with a child does this mean there is something wrong with my family?

NO. Although we do want you to be certain that you are ready to commit to the adoption of the child you petition for, we also want you to prepare yourself emotionally in case you are not matched with a child. Not being chosen/matched does NOT mean that we found something wrong with you or your family.

Those willing to put their heart on the line for a child or for more than one child and then not be chosen should not be discouraged from trying for another child. If you are not matched, please take another look at the list and consider another child.

If I am matched with a child, what happens next?

If you are matched with child, within 24-48 hours, you will receive an email with instructions to draft your Letter of Intent to Adopt (LOI) and detailed information about the stages in the process and most recent time frame averages from submission of your LOI through travel. Please know that a preliminary match through Harrah's is still subject to a preliminary approval by the CCAA and approval by your social worker.

We will work together to get your family started on the initial agency paperwork and provide you with information about your dossier consultant and the home study process specific to the state in which you reside. All families who are adopting a waiting child will be required to take additional training classes during the home study process.

And finally…

As always, all of the children on this list are beautiful! To view the children and their information, please enter the user name: family The new password is: qt8lov

I have attempted to answer any possible questions for you here. If you have questions about the general WC process and average time lines, this is provided in the Waiting Child section on our website. If you have any questions that are not answered here or on our website, please do not hesitate to call or email me!

Again, WELCOME to our yahoo group! I truly look forward to sharing the children with you and taking a part in this very special process of finding families for these precious children.

Many blessings,

Erin Hunlock
Waiting Child Program Coordinator
Harrah's Adoption International Mission






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