A letter from CCAA

Got this from one of the yahoogroups I subscribe to:

A preface to the response to the FCC open letter from the CCAA from the
presidents of the FCC Chapters of Greater New York, New England, Northern
California and Southern California.

Dear FCC Members:
The Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs has responded to the open letter
sent from the FCC Chapters of Greater New York, New England, Northern California
and Southern California and subsequently co-signed by several other FCC
chapters representing over one thousand additional FCC members.

We are extremely pleased to have received any response at all. When we wrote
the letter, we hoped to receive an official response but did not
necessarily expect to receive one. Frequently a Chinese government agency would not
issue such a response except to a similar-level government agency. The fact
that the government felt our letter warranted a response at all appears to be an
indication of the respect and gratitude the CCAA holds for our community.
To the extent that you may disagree with the views of the Chinese government
or their analysis of appropriate placement guidelines, we do ask you to bear
in mind that there appears to be great reciprocal respect for our community
despite the differences of opinion between our community and that of the CCAA.

We have had the letter translated by two different people familiar with the
Chinese adoption program and also had those translation reviewed by others
who have extensive experience in the field. The translation( s) that we have
posted represent our best efforts to render a faithful translation. Any errors,
of course, belong to us.

A translation, however, can only go so far. When you read the letter we ask
you to consider the following points:

-Although the tone may strike many American readers as overly formal and
bureaucratic, this is normal for written communications from Chinese government
agencies.

-Our goal was to provide feedback from the FCC community and to demonstrate
our concern about the children of families now considered ineligible for
adoption in China. From the CCAA a detailed response it is clear that our letter
was carefully read and considered.

-We had no expectation that FCC would affect a change in China's policy. The
letter confirms that the CCAA is comfortable at present with its
prioritization. While this is bad news for those who have lost eligibility, it is good
news for those who feared that any criticism, no matter how diplomatically
couched, would jeopardize adoptions already in process.

-We hoped to receive further detail on the rationale behind the policy
changes, and this letter does provide some greater explanation, especially with
respect to single parent eligibility. The explanation is unlikely to bring
comfort to those families no longer eligible for adoption and those of us who
support them, but it does explicitly put on the record some information that had
thus far been only speculative.

In closing we would like to thank those who have helped us to better
understand the CCAA's response. We are also deeply grateful to the many, many FCC
members who have emailed us. No other topic has engendered such a response
from our members. The constructive feedback provided a new window into the
diverse perspectives of our member families, yet underscored the true sense of
community that we share from coast to coast. Your heartfelt words have touched
and inspired us.

To all who have participated in this process, both in China and America, we
express our heartfelt gratitude. The Chinese adoption program is undergoing
one of its most profound changes since the program began. Over the last 15
years, we have seen many changes take place, and there may be other changes in
the future. Families with Children from China values all its children and all
its families - each and every one of them - and will continue to do so. Even
as these changes may occur, we will keep faith with the diversity of FCC
families all over the world.

Shanti Fry
FCC New England

Margie Berman
FCC Greater New York

Peggy Scott
FCC Northern California

Jeri Okamoto Floyd
FCC Southern California

FIRST TRANSLATION OF LETTER FROM CHINA CENTER OF ADOPTION AFFAIRS

Dear Shanti Fry,
Your letter was+ forwarded to us. First, I would like to thank you for
giving your attention to China's international adoption affairs. We are grateful
for the assistance and support you have given to the adoption families and
adopted children.

It's the universal truth that parents are the fundamental unit of a society.
They play a vital role in a child's growth and character development.
According to “Hague Convention, in order for children to develop their character
to their full potential, they should be raised in a family environment that
nurtures of happiness, love and with an emphasis on mutual respect for one
another. International adoption aims to help those orphans who have lost their
parents or family to establish a family that could ensure they have all the
rights they are entitled to. Therefore, China Center of Adoption Affairs has
been abiding by the principle of “ensuring childrens best benefits in
international adoption since the beginning. The mission of our center is“all for
the children. Through endless efforts and generations and generations of
devotion can we assist ten thousands of orphans to find homes that could provide
them with an environment that is contusive to establishing emotional
stability within the family unit. During the past 10 years, China Center of
Adoption Affairs has received the consent, support and collaboration of
American government, adoption associations, and large number of adoption families.

China Center of Adoption Affairs has gained a reputation of having
comprehensive policies, structured regulations, and transparency in the adoption
process. It has attracted large amount of international adoption applicants, which
resulted the increase of number of applications to China Center of Adoption
Affairs. At the same time, as the Chinese society progressed and people
become more aware of the issue, plus the rising of domestic adoption, the number
of children for international adoption has decreased, which can no longer meet
the demand of international adoption. Under the circumstance, in order to
ensure adopted childrens best interest, we also have to select the most
suitable adoption family for these children in all areas. This was realized by the
Hague Convention principle.

Your letter has mentioned the issue of single parent adopting children in
China. We would like to express our respect and understanding toward their
personal choices. Meanwhile, we believe 1) it is difficult to exclude homosexual
single parent to apply for adoption. The law of Chinese government doesn't
empower the rights of homosexuals. In addition, due to Chinese traditional
culture, it makes most Chinese families harder to accept this social phenomenon.
Because of the culture differences, social welfare organizations who act as
orphans guardians are not willing to send children to homosexual families. 2)
Due to the absence of mother or father in a single parent family, it can not
function completely; it is not beneficial to childrens psychological
development. Countries around the world have recognized this issue as well. 3) If
any accident were to happen to the parent of a single parent family, it is
likely that the adopted children would loose the family again.
Besides, the main purpose of adoption is to find a family for those children
and not to find a child for the family. Thus, under the circumstances that
international adoption can no longer satisfy the demand, we should consider
married couple as priority to ensure our adopted childrens mind and spirit can
be developed in a proper family oriented environment.

Of course, we must consider adopted families devotion and the desire of
having a child as we sincerely provide most sufficient and quality service.
Offering priority adoption process is one of the means to make sure the benefit
of adopting families. As of now, the wait for international adoption
applicants has been postponed to 17-18 months. It's expected that the waiting period
would be longer, which is not what everyone hope to see. Other foreign
adoption organization suggested that we should categorize adoption families
according to their different situations. As responsible as we are to adopted
families and organizations, we have taken the advice. Adoption families that have
as better qualifications will be placed under priority adoption process,
effective May 1, 2007. By doing so, it shortens the waiting period and eases the
anxiety. For adoption organizations, they could make adjustments according to
the actual situation and make further arrangement on the amount of
international adoption applications. Therefore, to select most qualified
adoption families is our job.

We all needs to be more versatile and make adjustments when we perform any
types of work based on its demand and current situation. It's the same for
international adoption process. In order to accommodate the large number of
applicants with limited number of available orphans, applying priority adoption
process is a practical solution China Center of Adoption Affairs had adopted
from international adoption. The policy of China's international adoption does
not change. As the work progresses and the actual situation changes, it is
possible there might be other adjustments on priority adoption process.

Hopefully you have a clear understanding of how China Center of Adoption
Affairs applies the priority adoption process. Other American families who are
preparing for adoption in China can know about this matter through your
organization. Should you have any question for China Center of Adoption Affairs and
international adoption, please contact us. Let's work together to maintain
the order of international adoption and the relationship we have built so
earnestly between China and America. Together we protect the interests of adopted
child and the adopted families.


With best regards.

Lu Ying (sig.)
Director
China Centre of Adoption Affairs
_________________________----

What does priority placment mean? hmmm, in my mind it means those with a "better" dossier would get matched sooner, so then the whole LID would be less of a scheduled or dependable thing. Since the new regulations they brought in last December,which had all the crazy health, finance type restrictions are enforced in May 2007 , I suspect that would give some indicator as to what priority files would look like.

We still fit in those updated ones, with only a couple of issues, so I guess we would be considreed near priority, if they used that gauge...

So maybe this means by May 2007 they expect to process priority wise and quicker at least in the perspective of those who fit priority...but what does that do to the whole LID group thing... like always, it seems like some stuff gets answered, but generates more questions... so again left saying" I really don't know if this helps us, makes it faster, or doesn't really change too much: Gotta love it *eye roll*