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CHINA AND TAIWAN PROGRAM NEWSLETTER
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Spring is here!
A time for new beginnings, fresh starts,
and renewed hope!
Do I look like the kind of girl with an April's Fools trick up my sleeve?.....you bet!!
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The Synder's completed the adoption of 2 yr old Miles from Taiwan!
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| The Martin family while in China adopting Jade. |
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| The Heirl family welcomes Molly. |
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China
CCCWA's 'Former Shared List Project (FSL)"
UPDATE - Last summer the CCCWA designated Gladney as one of the adoption agencies to help with advocacy for children who have been the hardest to find adoptive families for. Many of the children had outdated files and pictures. In spite of having an official file listed on CCCWA's shared list, and available for matching with a family, without deeper attention and broader advocacy, hundreds of children had little hope to be considered by adoptive families. Click
here for background on this project.
As Gladney became part of this project last summer, we decided the way that we could best advocate for adoption opportunities for the "FSL kids" would be to have as many of the children as we could be seen by our Superkids Teams. It was so thrilling to have many new volunteers step forward to be considered for the teams. We sent four volunteer groups to China and saw over 170 adoptable children. We came back with hundreds of photos, videos, and helpful developmental, social, and medical information. We have been able to update almost 60 of the children's profiles on the
Rainbow Kids site. And, thanks to our volunteers, we will be able to complete all child updates by May. We hope this project changes the lives for many of China's children who have not yet been able to be truly seen by prospective adoptive families.
Gladney would like to make possible a grant program through its Asia Adoption Support Fund for the FSL kids. If you would like to make a contribution, please email
wendy.stanley@gladney.org for more information. More information about this FSL grant will be posted on our Superkids blog and in the next newsletter.
CHINA Program Updates: During January, February, and March we had 2 children each month come home with their parents! The children, one boy and five girls, ranged in ages from 2 years old to 13 years old. We have 5 families travelling in April to adopt their children, two boys and three girls. (4 toddlers and 1 early school aged child). One of our travelling moms is Shannon McIvor, a physical therapist who is completing the adoption of her son, Ari. Shannon is a volunteer for the Superkids FSL project and spent a week in Jiangxi, China this past Fall. We wish all moms and dads (and siblings) travelling in April a wonderful trip!
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Program Update:
 Last month, we had one family complete the adoption of their 2 year old son, Miles! Congratulations and welcome home Miles!
We currently have 8 families who are matched and in various stages of the PAIR/dossier and court processes.
We also have 3 other families being considered for matching!
Two of our matched families received direct referrals from our partner agencies. Direct referrals tend to be younger children (under age 5 years), or children who are healthy or who have very minor medical needs. In order to be considered for a direct referral, families simply need to have a current, approved Taiwan home study! Families can be submitted to both of Gladney's partner agencies for consideration for a direct referral. While families are waiting for a direct referral, they can also consider matching to waiting children.
Did you know that there are sibling groups in Taiwan waiting for their forever families? Two sibling groups are highlighted below. Most sibling groups consist of two or more school-aged children, many of whom are healthy with no medical needs! Sibling groups of younger children (under the age of 5 years) are typically matched to families through direct referrals. Last fall, a Gladney family completed the adoption of a sibling group - a 4 year old boy and 3 year old girl - that was a direct referral.
Remember, we have a private Taiwan advocacy Facebook group where we share about waiting children. If you'd like to join the Facebook group, please send a direct message to
Mary Chapman
on Facebook or email her at
mary.chapman@gladney.org
.
Finally, see the exciting announcement below about our upcoming trip to Taiwan!
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Click on a photo to read more (China)
Click
on a photo
to learn more (Taiwan)
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Superkids team with staff from Chung Yi
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Superkids will be travelling to Taiwan in April!
We look forward to visiting both of our partner agencies - Cathwel Service and Chung Yi Social Welfare Foundation.
We expect to meet and screen approximately 50 waiting children during our short visit. Please be sure to keep an eye on the
Superkids blog for more updates. We need a few items for the trip - if you'd like to help, take a look at our
Wish List!
Superkids Spotlight - Keely O'Dell Farkas
Keely is a physical therapist and has been an important part of our team for 3 years...and counting! Keely's role is changing as she prepares for some family changes of her own. This spotlight is by no means a goodbye - but more of a THANK YOU!! Working with and learning from you has been fun, inspiring, and aspirational! Your friendly and professional bedside manner has been incredibly supportive to many of Gladney's adopting parents. Keely is continuing with some volunteer work with Superkids - and her hours spent helping us update FSL child profiles has been so important.
We asked Keely to write a little bit to share in this newsletter: "During my work with Superkids, I have been continually amazed by the passion and heart that surrounds this program. I have fallen in love with the staff, volunteers, families and especially the amazing Superkids themselves. While I am committed to continue to advocate for these children, I have decided to step back from my official role at Superkids to focus on my growing family. My husband and I are thrilled to announce that we are expecting a baby boy this spring! Please know that I will still support Superkids behind the scenes as a volunteer and would love to continue to hear from you all during this transition. Please don't hesitate to continue to reach out to me at
keely.superkids@gmail.com or Facebook.
Thank you all so much for your contribution to the Superkids mission. These kids are so worth it!"
-
Keely Farkas, PT, DPT
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 Do I have all the documents my adopted children will need as they grow up?
This question surfaces from time to time - leaving parents feeling unsettled. A very good article was recently contributed to Rainbow Kids which has a helpful checklist (with explanation) of documents that parents should have for their internationally adopted child. Some of these documents, e.g., a certificate of US citizenship or a U.S. state issued certificate of foreign birth are processed after the adoption is completed and the family has returned home to the U.S. Many families have everything in their files, but others realize they don't have needed or required documentation when applying for time sensitive items such as the child's U.S. driver's license, U.S. passport or a potential college scholarship. To read this helpful article click here.
As a Gladney family, please never hesitate to contact our post-adoption department, 817-922-6000, if you have questions or need guidance regarding post-adoption support.
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Join us Friday April 28th and Saturday April 29th from 9:00am-5:00pm for the Empowered To Connect Conference Simulcast. This simulcast event features two days of practical teaching in a safe and supportive community as we work to equip families, churches, and professionals to better serve children impacted by adoption and foster care.
Learn more and RSVP
here!
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