Info on Haitian Adoption

There will be an informational meeting given by Catholic Charities of TN. See info below....

INFORMATION REGARDING HAITI ADOPTIONS

We are all devastated by the recent earthquake suffered by the Haitian people. Of particular concern are the many orphans already living in Haiti and the children who are now orphaned as a result of this earthquake. We have received many inquiries from families willing to temporarily house children from Haiti as well as families who are interested in adopting a child from Haiti who is orphaned. In reaction to the many inquiries regarding this issue Catholic Charities of Tennessee will be holding an information meeting to discuss the current situation in Haiti and the international adoption process.

This information meeting will take place on: Wednesday, January 27, 2010

at 4:00 p.m.

This information meeting will take place at: Catholic Charities of Tennessee

30 White Bridge Road

Nashville, TN 37205

352-3087

Contact Person: Julie Bolles, MSSW

International Adoption Counselor

552-3087 ext. 266

juliebolles@bellsouth.net

There is no need to RSVP for this meeting. We will look forward to seeing you then and answering any further questions.

Also I wanted to pass on an email I received to give you a look into how some of this is going about.
This is just one person's take on what they have experienced so far.

Kelly,

I followed a couple of contacts regarding haitian kids being transported to Indianapolis. The contact was Safe Families associated with Bethany. I sent an email to the Atl office not expecting to hear anything. The very next morning I got a call from the Atl office of Bethany, the director of the Safe Families program here. She sent me an application & said it was very probable that GA would be "called up" for the next influx of kids & they were expediting the process for families willing to help. We were not on any foster care list, no home study on file etc but told her of of original "plan" to start our adoption within the next year. We immediately filled out the form, have our online class link to take & have an emergency home study scheduled for next week. The same day I also followed something in the local paper & had called the GA dept of human services. Again not thinking they would actually call (the request in the AJC was for creole or french speaking families willing to emergency host). Today I received a call from DFCS. They are forming a list, not doing any training etc just had a brief questionaire & will have the list ready for when GA is "called up."

So just wanted to pass this on. Since Fla is activated the thinking by these agencies is that more movement will be happening & even in the last 72 hours, rules are already being bent in order to facilitate the placement of more children. I knew this was too much for a comment but wanted to let you know of different things happening.

April