Homedocuments  

DCSF meeting with the China Center for Adoption Affairs (CCAA) on 15 October 2009

www.dcsf.gov.uk
12 November 2009

12 November 2009 – DCSF meeting with the China Center for Adoption Affairs (CCAA) on 15 October 2009

Following a positive meeting with the CCAA in April 2009, the Department met the CCAA again on 15 October to continue to discuss a number of areas of work and outstanding issues.

Key issues:

  • The CCAA confirmed that the number of domestic adoptions in China is increasing. This is thanks to the country’s rapid economic growth and Government intervention with plans for the treatment and rehabilitation of children with special needs.

  • The CCAA confirmed that at present there are 30,000 families awaiting a match in China and, because of the decrease in the availability of healthy children, some of these families are transferring to the special needs system waiting list. It is unlikely that the waiting time for the main list will reduce.

  • The change to procedures on the timing of the issue of the 17(c) agreement came into force on 23 October. If your application is affected by this change, the casework team will explain this to you and your agency. It means that the 17(c) agreement can be issued before you travel to China to meet the child, but you should still continue to liaise with your agency when you have met the child, and confirm whether you wish to proceed with the adoption.

  • The CCAA confirmed that they recognise that occasionally a match is not satisfactory. If the prospective adopters decide not to go ahead with the adoption once they have met the child, they should notify their adoption agency immediately to notify the CCAA. The CCAA confirmed that in these circumstances they would usually put forward an alternative suitable match.

  • The CCAA has requested that post-placement reports are written and submitted by the social worker and not by the families, and that the reports have to comply with the standards set by the CCAA. For more details, please visit the CCAA website. DCSF is following up outstanding reports with agencies.

Children with special needs – new online system

In May 2009 we informed you that the CCAA had introduced a new online system for matching children with special needs.

At the meeting, the CCAA confirmed the details of the new system, which requires adoption agencies to be formally registered with the CCAA. Subject to an annual fee, they would have access to information about the special needs children and can consider matches with the prospective adopters.

The Department will contact the adoption agencies to discuss next steps. In the meantime, because no adoption agencies are yet registered with the CCAA, no new applications for special needs children can be processed by the Department. We will post updates following discussions with the agencies.

We have contacted separately the prospective adopters whose special needs applications were registered before the introduction of the new system.

China, United Kingdom