Russia Adoption Program Updates

Russian passport offices are currently in the process of changing their procedures and processing times for children’s passports. It is our understanding that each region will come up with their own standard, and once we know how this will impact families traveling to each of these regions we will let you know. Currently, Tver…

Due to Russia’s requirement that all perspective parents are open to adopting a child that is up to 36 months of age, we want all of our families to be prepared as much as possible prior to completing the adoption. …

The American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Adoption and Foster Care recently published an informative brochure on medical screening for internationally adopted children. This document details the steps adoptive parents should take after returning to the United States with their children.

Although families typically receive a 2 week notice prior to having to travel, there are times when you only have 1 week.  Please remember that you need to be flexible and ready to travel on short notice since we have no control over referral and court dates which are set by regional authorities in Russia.  ...

So far, 18 adoptions were completed in the Russia program this year.  We also have 8 more courts scheduled for the month of April, and 7 families are invited for their first trips!

CHI RUSSIA ADOPTION STATISTICS 2009
 
For a more complete breakdown of Children's Hope adoption statistics, please contact your adoption consultant...

1) Families that applied prior to January 1, 2008, have to pay the $1,000 Currency Adjustment Inflation Fee in order to “correct” the differences between Russian and US economies. This adjustment will be calculated in the final fees.

2) As of November 1, 2007, families are responsible...

All families with California documents (even if there is only one document from California, for example – birth certificate) will need to submit an explanation letter with their paperwork. Attached to the program update sent by email is the explanation letter we received from CA Secretary of State. (If you did not receive the program update by email, please contact your adoption consultant for a PDF of the explanation letter.) Families will need...

Eight adoptions were completed in the Russia program year-to-date, and 9 families went on their first trips during the month of February!  So far, we also have 3 more courts scheduled for March.

CHI RUSSIA ADOPTION STATISTICS 2009

For a more complete breakdown of Children's Hope adoption statistics,...

We recently received a list of Home Study providers that the Russian Ministry of Education and Science sent to all regional courts in Russia, advising them not to accept any documents from said agencies.

At this time, it is difficult to say exactly what this means, or what specific ramifications this will have on Russian adoptions. According to the letter issued by the Russian Ministry of Education and Science, the agencies on this list have not complied with their post-adoption commitments, and as a result they will not be able to submit any documents related to new adoptions. Furthermore,...

Recovery Rebate Credit:  Adoptions in 2008 qualify for $300 for each child added in the family under new recovery rebate credit.

The recovery rebate credit is a one-time benefit for people who didn't receive the full economic stimulus payment last year and whose circumstances may have changed, making them eligible now for some or the entire unpaid portion.

In the first three weeks of the year, CHI Russia program has completed 3 adoptions and 9 first trips!  So far, we also have 3 more courts and 6 first trips scheduled for the month of February.

Wait Times 2008 (calculated from the date the documents are submitted to CHI):

-          Average wait for boys under 36 months was 12 months to referral / 15.5 months to completion (range of 6 to 26 months)

-          Average wait for boys over 36 months was 7.2 months to referral / 12 months to completion (range of 7 to 20 months)

Children’s Hope International Received Hague Accreditation!

Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers!

To date, CHI Russia program has completed 108 adoptions.  We also have 1 more court and 1 first trip scheduled for the rest of December.

Most Russia government agencies, as well as private enterprises do not work the week prior and several weeks post-Christmas. What this means for CHI Russia families is that there will be no travel for court after December 15th, and no 1st trips after December 20th. This will extend until everyone returns to work on January 12, 2009. 

In addition to this, Children’s Hope offices in St. Louis will be closed from December 20th, 2008 to January 5th, 2009 to allow our staff to spend time with their families during the holiday season. 

Join us in celebrating 108 adoptions completed for the CHI Russia Adoption Program, year-to-date. Congratulations to all of these families!

We are pleased to announce that CHI Russia program has completed 101 adoptions year-to-date!!!  We also have 3 more courts and 4 first trips scheduled for the rest of November.

November is the National Adoption Month, which acknowledges the compassion of adoptive and foster families, and seeks to raise awareness about adoption and foster care.

CHI RUSSIA ADOPTION STATISTICS 2008

We have 9 courts and 10 first trips scheduled for November.

Year-to-date we have completed 94 adoptions in the Russia program!

In the month of October we had 7 adoptions, and we currently have 8 more court dates and 10 first trips scheduled for November!

YAROSLAVL

The Yaroslavl region and our representative there should officially start responding to communication beginning next week. At that time we should also get the exact requirements and registration forms from the region. If you are assigned to that region, your adoption consultant in St. Louis will get in touch with you as soon as we have this information.

TVER We recently received news that any international adoption agency working in Tver region...

We are pleased to announce that in addition to receiving the program updates from your adoption consultant, you will now be able to view the latest Russia Program Update on the Russia Document Registration Site at http://docs.childrenshope.net. As always, the list of updates will also available on our main site at http://adopt.childrenshope.net/programs/russia/updates.

Yaroslavl region is located approximately 280 km (150 miles) northeast of Moscow. The representative in this region (Olga) has worked with international adoptions for many years. However, the agency that she previously worked for was not re-accredited, so she will be working with Children’s Hope International.  Some of the details are still being worked out, but here’s what we know about the adoption process in Yaroslavl so far:

According to the US Embassy in Moscow, 1,267 Russian children were adopted by US families in the last nine months. Since there are 32 accredited US adoption agencies working in Russia, this translates into an average of 40 adoptions per agency. However, Children’s Hope has finalized 87 adoptions from Russia in this same time period. That is more than twice as many as the average number of adoptions and 6.8% of all adoptions from Russia.

In September we had eight families finalize their adoption in court while 15 families traveled for their referrals during September.