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Hungary is final!

Hello Everyone,

So last Friday we decided and made the final choice to choose Hungary as the country of adoption.

This means that we indicated during the intake interview that we would go for Hungary. Our documents are now being translated into Hungarian and then sent to Budapest. (capital Hungary)

This is an important choice within the adoption process, because you can only go for 1 country (at a time). If your entire file has been sent to the chosen country, it is very complicated to switch to another country due to all kinds of issues (bureaucracy and costs).

Our choice for Hungary has partly come about because we prefer to adopt 3 or 4 children at the same time and this is a (slightly) more complicated process (in the Netherlands) than adopting 1 child. If you want to adopt more than 1 child, the number of countries you can choose from becomes more limited. In addition, you must complete a separate procedure with the Child Protection Board. So we did this.

Netherlands, Hungary

Court stays order on two children for adoption

Court stays order on two children for adoption
Special Correspondent
CHENNAI: Justice T. Sudanthiram of the Madras High Court has stayed for four weeks the operation of an order of the Chairperson, Child Welfare Committee (CWC), Kellys, directing the Guild of Service (Central) to immediately transfer to the Balamandir Adoption unit two children who were under the care and custody of two proposed adoptive parents.
In a petition, Gemma Bridget D'Silva of Pozhichalur said she was a spinster. The Guild of Service by a letter of February this year had given a female child Sweety to her in temporary custody prior to legalisation of the adoption.
Undertaking
The service organisation obtained a Pre-Adoptive Foster care undertaking from the petitioner. When she produced the child to the Chairman, CWC, on June 21, the committee gave a letter to the petitioner asking her to produce the documents as to how the child was taken in pre-adoptive foster care.
Simultaneously, it issued an order to the Guild of Service to transfer the child to another adoption agency. No show cause notice was given to the proposed adoptive parent. The child had been adopted in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Supreme Court and the High Court, the petitioner said.
A similar petition had been filed by Thirunavukkarasu of Kalpakkam, a proposed adoptive parent of Thaneer, a male child.
Guild of Service - Central (Sevasamajam)
India

Adoptive

Adoptive mother wins fight for kid
June 26th, 2010
Chennai, June 25: The Madras high court on Friday came to the rescue of woman who wished to be an adoptive parent but was about to have the joy of her life snatched from her.
The court stayed the order of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), directing the Guild of Service (central) Adoption Unit, Chennai, to immediately send to a Bala Mandir adoption centre a five-year-old girl who is in the custody of her pre-adoptive parent.
Justice T. Sudanthiram granted a stay for four weeks on a petition filed by Gemma Bridget D'Silva, a spinster, who had taken the child in pre-adoptive foster care.
Advocate Abudu Kumar submitted that the petitioner had approached the Guild of Service to adopt a child legally as she had been longing for a child.
The guild, after an interview with Ms D’Silva, obtained a pre-adoptive foster care undertaking from her and handed over the child to her.
Ms D’Silva, the advocate said, had been rearing the child with love and care since February 2010. All of a sudden and without any valid reason, the guild demanded that she hand over the child based on a letter issued by the CWC, dated June 21, 2010, directing that the child be sent to the Bala Mandir adoption centre.
“Ms D’Silva is entitled to take a child in adoption from the guild after having fully satisfied it about her social status, financial condition and her earnestness to have a child,” advocate Kumar argued. “An order to separate her from the child without any valid reason and opportunity of hearing is liable to be set aside,” he added.
Justice Sudanthiram also stayed the order of the CWC directing the guild to transfer another child in the custody of an adoptive parent, Thirunavukarasu, to a Bala Mandir centre.
India
Bal Mandir, Nepal, Guild of Service - Central (Sevasamajam)

COM 2010 95 Proposal for a DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on preventing and combating trafficking in hu


The information here reflects the current status of the procedure
Printable PDF version
Identification
Reference COD/2010/0065
Title Preventing and combating trafficking in human beings, and protecting victims (repeal. Framework Decision 2002/629/JHA)
Legal Basis EP 051 ; TFEU 083-p1-a1; TFEU 082-p2
Dossier of the committee LIBE/7/02676
Subject(s) 7.30.30.02 Action to combat violence and trade in human beings
7.40.04 Judicial cooperation in criminal matters
Stage reached Awaiting Parliament 1st reading / single reading / budget 1st stage
Stages
Stages Documents: references Dates
Source reference Equivalent references Votes and amendments Joint resolution of document of publication in Official Journal
Commission/Council: initial legislative document EC COM(2010)0095 C7-0087/2010 29/03/2010
EP: draft report by the committee responsible EP PE442.887 28/06/2010
Forecasts
07/10/2010 Council: debate or examination expected
24/11/2010 EP plenary sitting (indicative date)
02/12/2010 Council: debate or examination expected
Agents
European Parliament
Committee
Rapporteur / Co-rapporteurs
Political group Appointed
Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (responsible)
Bauer Edit
Hedh Anna
PPE
S&D
27/04/2010
27/04/2010
Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (opinion)
Bauer Edit
Hedh Anna
PPE
S&D
28/09/2009
28/09/2009
European Commission and Council of the Union
European Commission DG Justice Transmission date: 29/03/2010
Council of the Union
Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) meeting: 3018 of: 03/06/2010
Links to other sources
National parliaments IPEX
European Commission PreLex

03/06/2010 - Council's activities
The Council agreed on a general approach regarding a directive aimed at strengthening the fight against trafficking in human beings and the protection of victims.

In March 2010, the Commission adopted its proposal on the file. Once adopted, the new rules will replace framework decision 2002/629/JHA. The goal is to further approximate national legislation and to improve international law enforcement and judicial cooperation. The provisions of the future directive include:

a definition of the crime, aggravating circumstances and stiffer penalties;
extraterritorial jurisdiction making it possible to prosecute EU nationals for crimes committed abroad and to use investigative tools such as phone listening and access to financial data;
special treatment of the victims in criminal proceedings including non-punishment of victims who suffer the consequences of the criminal activities;
a higher standard of protection and assistance for victims, and in particular special protective measures for children;
preventive measures aimed at discouraging the demand side of the phenomenon.

List of summaries
03/06/2010 Council's activities
29/03/2010 Commission/Council: initial legislative document
Top 

European Commission, European Parliament

Continuation “DNA case” Indian couple

Continuation “DNA case” Indian couple

Zwolle-Lelystad, 23 June 2010 – Today, the three-judge family section of the District Court of Zwolle-Lelystad proceeded behind closed doors with the hearing of the request filed by the Indian couple in the “DNA case”. For further information about this case please be referred to the press releases issued by the court on 11 June and 15 June last.

Adoptive parents present
Today’s hearing was attended by the adoptive parents and their lawyers, the special curator of the child and the lawyer of the Indian couple.

Since the case is heard behind closed doors no further information can be given about the substance of the case.

Child psychologist as expert
The court wants to seek an expert opinion on the question whether the child is able to fully understand the case and the consequences it may have for him. The court intends to appoint a child psychologist as expert. Through conversations with the child the expert will have to try to provide clarity about the above question. The lawyers of the parties have been invited to submit a joint proposal for the appointment of an expert. Subsequently, the court will make the appointment.



Bron: Rechtbank Zwolle-Lelystad
Datum actualiteit: 24 juni 2010
ACT CASE Nagarani

Juntunen interview CNN

The founder of Chances for Children and father of three children adopted from Haiti talks about the adoptive process.

Video downloaded

Both Ends Burning
Craig Juntunen

Queen-pin of adoption ring

Queen-pin of adoption ring


Gokul Vannan
Express News Service
First Published : 23 Jun 2010 03:38:32 AM IST
Last Updated : 23 Jun 2010 07:37:33 AM IST

CHENNAI: A woman social worker of Chennai, working with a licensed adoption agency, has been found operating a child adoption racket through a reputed child adoption home, without anybody there the wiser, i.e., till now.

 

"Shaila Samuel, social worker, working with Guild of Service (GoS), used the agency's name, stamp and other related documents such as authorization letter signed by K N George, Honorary Secretary of the GoS, and its registration certificate to carry out the unlawful adoptions,'' said Dr P Manorama, chairperson of Child Welfare Committee (CWC), Chennai.

 

When members of CWC went to meet five children from Coimbatore and Salem in the GoS, entrusted with the temporary custody of the children, the members were shocked to find that the children were not at the home and that there was no mention of their names in the admission register or on any other document.

 

The children were earlier housed at Cheshire Home in Tiruvanmiyur and both, the Social Welfare Department and the CWC, had cleared their names for adoption, but with the caveat that the children would be given care and adoption would not be processed without its knowledge.

 

"Records showed that the children were not kept at the home. A child named 'Thaneer' was given away in adoption several months ago without legal clearance," George has given in writing to the Child Welfare Committee.

 

 

 

Topics:
Guild of Service - Central (Sevasamajam), Cheshire Home
Shaila Samuel
India

Blog: US trainees in New Life Home (Kenya)

See: DATABASE ACCESS TO AMANI

Friday, June 18, 2010

in Nairobi_ day 2

Today was great! We went to the Home at 9 and divided into 3 groups, the toddlers, crawlers, and babies. I was with the toddlers again, and knowing each of their names and a little of their personalities it was fun to play. They particularly enjoyed the slide this morning!
We fed them "momo" (snack) today of bananas and mangos. And then washed them and put them down for a nap. Their nap time is our lunch time.

After we came back and had a meeting with Rhoda, who is the New Life Home's Social Worker. She went through the adoption process again and filled in the blanks from orientation weekend. Basically the same info but more practicality now that we know the Home and kids. There are local adoptions and international adoptions. The locals are able to come and volunteer and pick out a kid. The Internationals come knowing which one they will take home. The international parents fill out an application and request a gender and age group. New Life then sends them adoption files of all the kids fitting these ranges. This is a fairly new law, less than a year old, so there are still a lot of thinks still to be worked out. And our work will also help with this process. The work we do will also help the babies get adopted faster.

Each baby has to be brought to court with his or her adoption files and argued that they are ready for adoption. The Kenyan Adoption Board decides yes or no, if no they say what else needs to be done. This process can take a week, a month, or a year. There's a lady who visits her soon to be son every day, but she has been in the process for the past 2 years. Effciency is crucial since New Life is almost always at bed capacity. The faster the turn over the more kids can come. When New Life has to turn away kids, they're sent to other orphanages. But New Life (I hope I don't offend anyone here who has worked with other Kenya Homes) but New Life is seen as the standard in the eyes of the government and very well respected among the people. They do things right, everything from medical care to good schooling and lots of love. But other orphanages have had problems and sketchy situations where they will secretly sell babies for not good reasons. So we want our records straight, clean, clear, and accessible so no bad accusations can be made against New Life.

Tonight and this weekend we will be talking about how to exactly right up these adoption files. Drew Rothenberg will be talking about how we should be filling out the Psyco-Social Reports and I'll be talking about the basic techniques for photographs such as the rule of thirds and when and when not to use a flash.

After the meeting with Rhoda we talked a little about what we'd be doing in the future. Each home will have a scanner and we'll scan the hard copies of police reports and medical reports and so on. On top of these scans, the psycho-social reports, and our photographs, we will be putting each child's report on an online password protected data base that can be accessed from any of the Kenya New Life homes and Amani in the US.

So basically the people here are amazing. I don't know how they get everything done without all the volunteers they have! Cooking, cleaning, laundry, yard-work, bathing, and playing with the kids is a ton of work! But here in Nairobi there are several volunteers from the University who have to meet service hour requirements. We talked to a few regular and local volunteers who have graduated but can't find jobs. They continued to explain, that of course when a Kenyan can't find work they give back to their community. Dang, like just imagine what the world would be like if everyone had that perspective on life.

My team is fantastic. A few of us make dinners together. Last night we made rice, curry spinach with walnuts. And tonight we made rice (for me) and pasta with tomato sauce eggs and broccoli. Since we haven't started the reports yet, we spend our free time playing cards, watching world cup, reading, napping, and talking about everything :) this is the way to live; in community, sharing everything, giving, and learning and growing together <3

I already want to stay for a few more weeks… hehe

Film wise I got interviews set up and basic questions written out. We'll be able to start shooting and photographing on Tuesday!

 

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

in Nairobi_ day 7
Off to New Life Home again! We continued with our psyco-social observations and reports. We have almost finished all the crawlers! So far we about 20 uploaded into our online archives. These case summaries, psyco-social reports, and pictures will be sent to international and local families looking to adopt and they will go towards arguing before the Kenyan Adoption Board who determines whether the baby is free to go with the families.

In the morning, I met with Rhoda and interviewed her in her office. I asked questions like "what is your role here at new life," "what are the biggest challenges you face as a social worker," "briefly explain the adoption process from new life's point of view," "how is new life different from other orphanages in kenya," "what do you hope to gain from us 11 interns working here and at various other homes"
She was very informative and answered the questions really well! The interview will be very helpful when putting together the doc.


I also was recruited to help write case study summaries but I had to decline because we had to hand write them, and my handwriting = chicken scratch and very illegible. But what the others who had pretty had writing did was take a baby's folder full of stuff (police reports, baby foot prints, birthday cards, legal papers, court committals, good Samaritans letters, and anything relevant to the child) and they summarized everything into case summaries… all on notebook paper. So that's partly why we're here. Because we are putting everything into accessible and electronic files. This way upon request, parents can view appropriate files (copy and paste are wonderful) and they can be easily printed out for case/adoption files.

In the afternoon we headed over to Little Angles with Rhoda. This is the adoption agency that is partnered with New Life Homes. They are the ones who receive adoption requests and applications and deal with the legal processes. They screen and interview parents and do the home visits to check up on the kids during the 3 month foster period once the babies are cleared for adoption. I also filmed this, and it was super duper cool to hear the process first hand from the baby lawyers and other social workers.

After walking home, we stopped by Yaya (our grocery store) to pick up last minute groceries before we start traveling on Sunday… because tomorrow we will be going on a Safari!!!!! Hooray!!! We leave tomorrow and come back Saturday night so I won't post again till then. I'm so pumped to see National Geographic and Discovery Channel and Animal Planet in real life! We get to hang out with the Maasai people (google them, their sweet!) and see all the typical animals. More details when I return :)

It's been incredible to get to know the adoption process.. . New Life averages about 1 kid per week being 'identified' which means a family has expressed interest which is sweet. But what will be sweeter is that with our work parents will be able to get their babies sooner.

Before we came here, at orientation , we watched this documentary following several adults trying to find out birth records and any family history they have. It really put into perspective that without these files in order, the New Life babies and babies in homes all over the world don't have a connection to their roots, history, or a feeling of completion with their story. These babies have rights, a right to know their family medical history, where they were born, their original/given name, parents info, a birth certificate, and why they ended up where they did. Every time work gets a little slow or monotonous, its encouraging to know that I'm fighting for someone who can't but who will later find these files priceless.

Well, its off to bed for me! I gotta back up and upload photos and videos. I'm all packed for the safari and camping. I'm going to the Lenovo store tomorrow with another intern who's school computer is broken. Since this is kind of a heavy on the technology job, computers are crucial. --> what was the one thing I forgot on this trip… my computer charger. But thank goodness several other people on the trip have school computers!!!!


Ok so also, all 11 of us were in one apartment living room watching the world cup and went absolutely nutz when USA scored. If the rest of the Kenyan complex was wondering if we were american, they know now!

I have so much great footage, I can't wait to start going through it. I filmed some more babies at New Life today, and interviewed some of the other interns. I love film!!!!! Here are some pictures too :)

New Life Home Trust, Little Angels Network
Kenya

Bulgaria strives to end plight of abandoned children

Bulgaria strives to end plight of abandoned children

By Vessela Sergueva (AFP) – 16 hours ago

SOFIA — Kuna, a pretty eight-year-old girl, lives in an orphanage in Bulgaria, abandoned by her family, but her Roma origins mean her chances of adoption are almost nil.

"Kuna's features do not reveal her origins, but her documents dissuade adoption candidates," said Nadya Dzhunova, director of the Slaveykov children's home in Sofia.

Indeed, Bulgarians are still highly prejudiced against the poor Roma minority, suspecting them of abandoning children at a young age only to claim them back when they are old enough to earn money.

At Slaveykov, Kuna lives alongside 61 abandoned children aged seven to 18, including six who are handicapped.

Her parents only kept two of their seven children but they refused to give up their parental rights over the little girl and four of her siblings, meaning the children could not be put up for adoption and would have been condemned to live in orphanages until adulthood.

But a new law that came into force in October means children who have spent more than six months in institutions and have not been taken back by their parents can now be put up for adoption, without the parents' approval.

This has already allowed Kuna and her four siblings to make their way onto adoption lists.

The practice of leaving children to the state's care due to poverty or a child's disability goes back to communist times and Bulgaria now has one of the highest rates of abandonment in the European Union, with some 6,730 children left to the care of state institutions.

"The problem is difficult to solve after 50 years during which the state readily placed in an institution any child at risk," deputy social minister Valentina Simeonova explained.

This was the case for eight mentally disabled teenagers, who after years in a dilapidated children's home in the remote village of Mogilino in northeastern Bulgaria, recently moved into their own house in the western village of Glozhene.

Confined to a wheelchair, 20-year-old Sergey can neither walk nor talk. Blind since birth, he was often tied to his bed at Mogilino to keep him still, according to the nurses at his new home in Glozhene.

Sergey and several dozen other children and adolescents with disabilities lived at Mogilino behind "a barbed wire fence and barred windows," cared for by unqualified, indifferent staff, according to Branimira Pavlova, head of a daycare centre in Teteven that temporarily hosted the eight youngsters.

The utter misery there sparked a nationwide fund-raising campaign, supported by UNICEF, the UN Children's Fund, and private bTV television, to build new homes for the children and eventually close down the orphanage.

The government now plans to shut by 2013 all 27 remaining institutions for children with serious disabilities. Most of these facilities are situated in poor remote villages.

Meanwhile, it is encouraging the creation of daycare centres like the one in Teteven, where teams of nurses, psychologists and teachers can take care of children with disabilities during the day, allowing the parents to go work.

This would help battle high abandonment rates, Pavlova said.

Almost 98 percent of abandoned children in Bulgaria still have parents somewhere and social workers are seeking to encourage them to take their children back or place them in foster care.

Some 1,200 children aged 12 and above, or with grave disabilities, have been put on a special list for adoption abroad, mainly in the United States, Canada, Sweden and Italy, where families are more open to adopt these children.

Authorities are also seeking to limit the number of abandoned babies, aged three and under, which currently number 2,300 in all of Bulgaria.

In 2009, 536 Bulgarian babies were adopted domestically and 103 abroad, including 23 percent who had some sort of disability.

"If we manage to do away with abandonment at birth, we will manage to reverse the high number of children in institutions," Simeonova said.

Bulgaria

Was duped by NGO staffer: Official

Was duped by NGO staffer: Official
Express News Service
First Published : 23 Jun 2010 03:16:02 AM IST
Last Updated : 23 Jun 2010 07:27:42 AM IST
 
CHENNAI: With the busting of the illegal child adoption racket, the Guild of Service (GoS), an NGO, has found itself in the news for all the wrong reasons, for social worker Shaila Samuel, working with it, used the children's home inmates to give them up for adoption through unlawful means.
She used the agency's name, stamp, other related documents, such as authorisation letters and the NGO's registration certificate to carry out her work.
K N George, honorary secretary of the NGO, has given in writing to the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) that Shaila had carried out all the activities without his knowledge.
The senior officer of the Social Welfare Department, who illegally adopted Sweety, claimed that it was Shaila who had cheated saying that all documents for adoption had been cleared, according to Manorama, chairperson of CWC, Chennai.
Four children who had gone missing from the GoS had been put up at children's homes following referrals by the Sheela Hospital, where Parveen Banu had given birth to her child, Sweety. The NGO's involvement in the racket was unearthed after the CWC found out that Sweety had been illegally put up for adoption after duping her parents. The four were routed through Salem Missionaries of Charities and Cheshire Homes of India at Thiruvanmiyur and later to the GoS.
In Sweety's case, the hospital has given the wrong diagnosis to the parents in 2005 saying their baby suffered from an incurable ailment and would die soon after birth. The hospital had even obtained release forms from them, in which they stated they were willingly giving their child up for adoption.
However, five years later, Sweety is still healthy. In the other two cases, the hospital had failed to provide proper details such as the parents' address to a probation officer of the CWC, Coimbatore, said Manomara.
Shaila had cheated two other women in another case gave their children for adoption without the committee's knowledge, she said, adding, "We suspect Shaila has links with NGOs and the hospital in Coimbatore." Manorama said the committee had referred the case to the city police.
 
 
Salem Missionaries of Charities, Guild of Service - Central (Sevasamajam), Cheshire Home
India
K.N. George, Shaila Samuel
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