The European Council has re-elected Charles Michel as President. His second term of 2.5 years starts on June 1, 2022 and ends on November 30, 2024. Michel was also reappointed President of the Euro Summit for the same period.

He is the third full-time President of the European Council since the post was created by the Lisbon Treaty on 1 December 2009.

Web page of Charles Michel, President of the European Council

Photos and videos by Charles Michel

biography

The challenge

Figures from Statistics Netherlands show that in 2019 more than 443,000 children received some form of youth care. Nearly 43,000 of these children received youth care with residence. More than 21,000 children have been taken in by a foster family (see the bottom of this page for an explanation). It is important to know that children are not simply placed out of the house. Before the out-of-home placement, less drastic help is first given to parents and their child. Only if this does not help enough, out-of-home placement becomes an option. In addition, where possible, efforts are made to return the child to his or her parents. These rights are enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Unfortunately, Defense for Children receives signals through the Children's Rights Helpdesk that out-of-home placement and return do not always go well.

What are we doing?

We investigate what goes well in the out-of-home placement of children and what could be improved. The aim of the project is to gain better insight into the practice of out-of-home placements. On the one hand, we want to get a grip on the good practices and, on the other hand, on the bottlenecks that stand in the way of preventing custodial placement and hinder relocation after custodial placement. Where necessary, we map out points for improvement and possible solutions.

During this project Defense for Children focuses on children aged 0 to 18 years who have been forcibly removed from their homes with the intervention of a juvenile court judge, on parents whose children have been removed from their homes and on professionals such as social workers and foster care workers.

The Council on General Affairs and Policy (#CGAP) has decided to include the @RPerdues Foundation on the list of observers for @HCCH_TheHague #review #Conclusion #amendment #hcch What a new milestone! #Adoption #Guatemala #illegal adoptions

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PLATTSBURGH — Maria D. Holderman received a perfect score shortly after her December birth in 1967 Dragasani, Romania.

This seemingly routine assessment of an infant made all the difference in her life, even in her very living.

In her new Adelaide Books release, “Children of the Decree: A Journalist’s Battle to Save Romanian Orphans and Herself,” the Keeseville resident’s memoir time travels between her selves in her country of origin and the U.S.A. that offered her refuge from dangerous times in Romania.

From 1997 to 2001, Holderman was the “Diane Sawyer of Romania” (pen name Dana Achim.)

Before leaving her native country for the United States on a one-way ticket, she was a bestselling author and an investigative reporter for the National Daily in Bucharest.

A true fiery soul has passed away.

Most of us knew Ole Bergmann as a warm-hearted, humorous and utterly wise man. There was not much Ole did not know about.

He worked in adoption for more than 35 years and was for a number of years director of DanAdopt, and until he passed away, he was secretary of the Nordic umbrella organization Nordic Adoption Council. Ole fought for what he loved until the day he died.

Ole was well-liked by everyone. He was a true Nordic voice. He could talk to everyone, no matter where they came from, yes he could even sing in Finnish.

His sudden death has shocked all colleagues both here at home and in the Nordics, and he leaves a huge void. His commitment to adoption was incomparable.

Boudewijn does not hesitate for a moment when his partner Amanda joins the Sri Lanka DNA team a few months after the birth of their daughter Tess. “DNA offers hope, also for Amanda and me. Maybe one day she will find biological family.”

In the beginning, in addition to his full-time job as director, Boudewijn mainly provided assistance for Sri Lanka DNA. He soon becomes more involved. On the ferry to Ameland – on his way to Wendy – he writes the policy plan for the foundation. He then joins the board.

Boudewijn knows what it is like to long for your child. Due to a divorce, he only sees his eldest son from another relationship for one weekend every fortnight. His second child, a daughter from a subsequent relationship, dies in the womb during pregnancy. “Having to miss a child, I feel that in my whole body every day.”

Before Boudewijn has his eldest son, he is about to adopt a child. In retrospect, he is glad that things turned out differently. He doesn't think adoption is the best solution. “I think you can facilitate families much better on the spot.”

That is why he now wants to do everything in his power to reunite mothers in Sri Lanka who have given up a child with their child through DNA testing. And a little fast, because those mothers are getting older. A biological bond is unique, he thinks. “We see it ourselves with Tess; that smile is mine, that frown is yours. The things you pass on, your qualities, that is a mirror of yourself.”

Fatmeh (24) was born in Bethlehem. When her biological parents find out that she has Epidermolysis Bullosa (also known as butterfly disease) , they give her up for adoption to Dutch foster parents.

“I used to think: why did my parents drop me in a children's hospital. But afterwards I am very grateful to them for that," says Fatmeh in Je Zal Het Maar Hebbben .

BANDAGED FROM HEAD TO TOE

“My biological parents saw that something was wrong and they didn't know what to do with it,” says Fatmeh. “Then they asked another organization if they could take care of me.” When she was almost two years old, a Dutch couple took her into their family.

Due to her illness, Fatmeh is deficient in proteins. This makes her skin extremely vulnerable and open wounds can arise out of nowhere. She has to be bandaged from head to toe every day to prevent infections, with the only exceptions being her neck and head.

SAN FRANCISCO — Angie Aquino-Sales was at work at a medical device company in the East Bay on the morning of March 2, 2020, when she got the news that her 20-year-old son, Jaxon Sales, was dead. She collapsed on the floor and started screaming, then composed herself enough to call her husband, Jim. They raced home. More than 30 relatives gathered over the course of the day, filled with grief and questions.

In the two years since, the Sales family has been searching for answers about what happened to Jaxon. In his official report, Michael Suchovicki, an investigator with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, ruled Jaxon’s death a “probable drug-related overdose.” The toxicology report stated that gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB), a substance commonly known as a date rape drug but sometimes used recreationally, was in Jaxon’s system. In a statement to BuzzFeed News, the San Francisco Police Department said that it “conducted an investigation and did not find evidence of foul play.” Police ruled Jaxon’s death as accidental and closed the case.

So Angie, Jim, and other relatives have dug into the matter on their own, seeking clarity that they say authorities have been unable to provide. Jaxon was found dead in a San Francisco luxury high-rise apartment of a 41-year-old white man who had hosted a gathering the night before. In an officer’s bodycam footage at the scene, the man tells police that Jaxon had spent the night, but when the man began getting ready for work around 7:30 a.m., Jaxon wasn’t breathing, so he called 911. The man, who didn’t respond to an interview request for this story, says he didn’t see Jaxon consume any intoxicants other than a vape pen, according to the footage. Jaxon’s friends told BuzzFeed News that they had never known him to take GHB.

Angie said that when she contacted the San Francisco Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (SF OCME) to ask how Jaxon’s death could be ruled accidental, an assistant medical examiner told her, “The gay community uses GHB.” Jaxon’s uncle Phil Aquino and cousin Izzy Aquino said that when they went to the medical examiner’s office to retrieve his belongings, another member of the medical examiner’s office told them, “The community parties, and it often results in overdoses.”

In a statement to BuzzFeed News, David Serrano Sewell, chief operating officer of the medical examiner's office, described the investigation as "thorough" and "consistent with national standards and industry best practices," and said that the agency "does not tolerate discrimination in our office or our work."

A member of Congress from North Carolina has called on the Biden administration to expedite the adoption process for Ukrainian children. In a letter addressed to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Rep. Deborah Ross urged the federal government to expand and streamline the adoption process. “We must take concrete steps to bring orphans in critical danger to safety in our country,” the Wake County Democrat wrote. “Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine has created a dire humanitarian crisis, leading millions of people to flee their homes,” Ross said. “However, children without families have been left behind with no means to evacuate Ukraine’s war-torn cities, making them particularly vulnerable to the resource constraints and violence rampant throughout Ukraine.” She added Russian advances could block adopted children from coming to the United States, noting that President Vladimir Putin banned American adoptions from Russia nearly a decade ago. The call for an expedited process came as Ukraine fights to halt an invasion by Russian forces. Hundreds of Ukrainian people have been killed by Russian bombs, while millions have hidden in underground shelters or fled the nation, the Associated Press reported.

In the letter, Ross urged the federal government to appeal to the Ukrainian government and gain permission for the U.S. embassy in Warsaw, Poland, to issue expedited visas for Ukrainian children already in the adoption process with U.S. families. Since the war began, more than 2 million people have fled to Poland, which borders parts of western Ukraine, according to the AP. Ross said the federal government should also work with Ukraine to allow families in the adoption process to attend court at the Ukrainian embassy in Washington, D.C., instead of in Ukraine. She added that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services should work with the State Department to “streamline humanitarian parole applications in conjunction with normal visa-issuing procedures.” “To be clear, the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security should by no means compromise vetting standards for organizations that work with orphans or prospective parents in the interest of moving children out of Ukraine quickly,” Ross said. “I ask that the federal government maintain all necessary protocols to ensure unaccompanied children do not face trafficking, exploitation, or abuse.” The Friday letter came nearly a week after Ross shared concerns about the safety of orphans stranded by the war. “With everything going on, we really have to highlight this and show that we can make a difference in these children’s lives,” she told MSNBC’s Ayman Mohyeldin. “There are loving families in the United States who are ready to welcome them.”