October 10, 2007

Mary Bonn Sentenced

After eight months since her arrest and the various firestorms that have followed it, the Mary Bonn saga comes to an end. In a long sentencing hearing that went on for hours, she was sentenced to 366 days in prison, followed by two years of supervised release, and fines and restitution of $10,000. The court was filled with Mary's supporters, families who had happlily adopted through her. And the adoptive father in the case she was charged for appeared before the judge as well. We'll get more info on what happened, the judges comments, etc. soon.

Click on more for updates Oct 10

While this may be the end of the saga for Mary, she will have a legacy full of disparate thoughts. She helped create hundreds of families successfully. There are many who sing her praises based on their experience working with her. There are also many who have broken hearts from their experience, some still struggling today to get out of the mess of adoptions started throgh Mary. There are those, like the family in this case, whose description to their kids of how they came to join their family is not as simple as the one I'll tell mine.

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE TO DISCUSS CHILD ADOPTION ISSUES ________________________________________ 18:6 IST India is hosting three days International Conference from 8th to 10th October, 2007 to discuss child adoption issues in New Delhi. Briefing the media about the agenda of the conference, Smt. Renuka Chowdhury, Minister for Women and Child Development said that the conference would provide a plateform to get feed back from the receiving countries about the adoption of Indian children. It would also apprise them of our concern regarding inter country adoption. She said that the Government wants to make the adoption procedure more transparent, hassle free with all safeguards. With this objective, it would soon come out with new guidelines on adoption. Speedy Redressal of grievances and centralize monitoring of the adoption procedure will be focus of the new guidelines, she added. Underlining the importance of family based care for the children in need of care and protection, she said that adoption is not one time event but a life long celebration which not only provide a family to a children but also a new meaning in the life of a family. The international conference being organized by Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA), an autonomous body under the Ministry of Women and Child Development will discuss the draft UN guidelines on children without parental care and safeguards for children placed for inter country adoption. The issue of trans-cultural adoption and identity issues for children for international adoptions will also be taken up during the conference. Preparing the special needs children for inter-country adoption and their rehabilitation is one of the important subjects besides review of guidelines for inter-country adoption. The conference will be attended by more than 300 delegates including 150 delegates from across the world including Govt. representatives, national adoption agencies, social scientists and child-care experts. NCJ/DT

T

It is expected that the document, albeit a non-binding document, will prove to be a useful and strong tool in the process, and it is hoped that it will be widely disseminated amongst practitioners involved in all aspects of child protection. As a final conclusion, and opening to further informal discussion, I invite you to read the latest version of the draft UN Guidelines, which are available on the Child Rights Information Network and Better Care Network’s websites (http://www.crin.org/bcn).

I´d offered to make a presentation…..Mr. Pati, Dy Director told me that he thinks I m not “balanced”. There is no speaker from the activist. No real critical person.

The Supreme Court has clarified the rules of international adoption of Kazakh children

05.10.2007

Last week, a judge in Astana the Supervisory Board of the Supreme Court gave Galia AKKUOVA official comments on international adoptions Kazakh orphans.

In RK permit foreign citizens to adopt a child gives the court. According to Ms. Akkuovoy, currently the country's 16,884 children living in orphanages, even in 2084 to three years of living in orphanages. 80% of them - the so-called "social orphans", that is, children with living parents. There are 6 children's villages of family type, 29 family houses, 23 houses and 3 youth non-"children's village". These institutions brought up only 16.6% of children. The judge said that "in such a situation, the optimal shape of the device is the adoption of children": "Since the adoption develop not only close, relationship, but there is their legal recognition."

In 1999, the existing Law "On Marriage and the Family," which allowed for the first time in Kazakhstan, international adoption, and put on the courts the duty to take decisions to permit it. According to the Sun, for 8 years, more than 20,000 children are adopted citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan, about 6000 - foreigners.

Asistenta din Bavaria

AUTOR: LAURA CATUNEANU

DATA PUBLICARII: 04/10/2007

Vicepresedintele Parlamentului bavarez, Barbara Stamm, s-a aflat ieri la Sibiu pentru a vorbi despre succesul programului de asistenta sociala si cel al centrului de ingrijire de pe strada Pedagogilor.

Aproximativ 300 de absolventi ai scolii de asistenta sociala, infiintata de Fundatia Bavaria pentru Romania, au fost pregatiti in profesia de asistent recuperator. Acestea sint datele oferite, ieri, de Barbara Stamm, vicepresedinte al Parlamentului bavarez si delegatul Bavariei pentru relatia cu Romania. „Prin aceasta fundatie dorim sa ridicam nivelul de asistenta sociala. Datorita legaturilor strinse pe care le avem cu Sibiul si cu Forumul German am reusit ca, de la o scoala postliceala, sa ajungem la dezvoltarea unei scoli care este orientata spre formarea de ingrijitori pentru persoanele virstnice", a spus Stramm. Pentru acest proiect a fost nevoie de un milion de euro, bani care au venit din fonduri bugetare, donatii de la cetatenii din Bavaria si colaborarea cu alte fundatii.

http://www.adoption-link.org/kenya-program.aspx
 
 
Kenya Adoption Program Adoption-Link is pleased to announce our new adoption program in Kenya!

Adopting from Kenya:
Adopting from Kenya can be a demanding process, largely because the Kenyan government requires adoptive parents to relocate to Kenya for 6 - 10 months. Though living in Kenya would be an incredible experience for any family that can make it possible. Kenya is a major tourist destination and people from all over the world visit Kenya to go on safari, enjoy the country’s beautiful landscapes and experience their diverse culture.

Eligibility requirements include:
1. Married couples who have been married for at least three years.
2. At least one of the applicants must be between 25 years old and 65 years old, and more than 21 years older than the child. The applicants may be related to the child.

The Kenyan government will not grant adoptions to the following::
1. To a single foreign applicant (exceptions made for special needs children);
2. If one or both applicants is not of sound mind, as defined by the Kenyan Mental Health Act;
3. To applicant(s) who have been charged and convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction for or of any offence against children under Kenyan laws. (Note: USCIS also requires a criminal background check to be done on all petitioners and may find families ineligible as well);
4. To gay and lesbian individuals or couples;
5. To joint applicants not married to each other.

Residency Requirements:
At least one of the adopting parents must reside in Kenya with the child for at least three months before legal procedures begin, though both parents would be required to go initially to meet the child and to attend the court proceedings Adoption-Link has an in country facilitator that will arrange lodging and make sure you are comfortable throughout your stay. Although some legal adoption steps can be initiated before the three months period has been completed, most of the legal work will only begin after the three month “homestay” with the child is finished.

Professor Alemayehu G. Mariam's letter to Senator Inhofe

October 22, 2007

Senator James Inhofe

453 Russell Senate Office Bldg.

Washington, D.C. 20510

Children in child protection institutions

In practice, the results of the Government Strategy for the Protection of Child in Difficulty are

as follows:

? number of institutionalised children dropped from 57,181 in December 2001 to 27,188

in June 2006;