Our Haiti Adoption Program

Thank you for your interest in our adoption program in Haiti. On January 12, 2010, the world watched in horror as a 7.0 earthquake claimed the lives of more than 220,000 Haitians. Another 300,000 were injured and 1.3 million were displaced in an already extremely poor country smaller that the state of Maryland and with a population of over 9 million people. Many months later, the government is still trying to restore order as many government workers perished and office buildings were destroyed. The numbers of children who have either lost parents or now have parents who cannot feed them are still being tallied. Orphanages that were licensed for processing children being adopted internationally overnight were converted to shelters for children and families who managed to survive this disaster, with nothing more than the clothing on their backs.

We are very pleased to announce that new adoptions from Haiti are now slowing beginning!

Haiti does not require an agency to be licensed by their government at the moment in order to work there. We work in conjunction with Chances for Children, a foundation that provides aid for a number of projects to help the children and families in Haiti. Children’s House prides itself on providing a personalized service – like friends helping friends. We will be available to help you, whether it is for gathering documents, filling out forms or giving advice and support. Thanks again for your interest!!

Adoption Forms and Fees

For more information including our application, agency retainer agreement and financial agreements and statistical information on: the number of adoption placements per year for the prior 3 calendar years, the number of placements that remain intact, the number of families who apply to adopt each year, and the number of waiting children eligible for adoption, click here.

For more information email: inquiry@chiadopt.com

Adoption Process – Haiti

Once you have decided to adopt you will be anxious to get started with the paperwork part of the process.

The first step will be for you to complete the Family Profile Application. There is no application fee at this point, but we ask you to complete this form as the first step to verify that you meet the requirements for adoption in Haiti.

Once that we have verified that you meet the requirements in order to adopt from Haiti, you will be able to formally apply to enter CHI’s Haiti program.

The next step will be to begin your home study. The social worker completing your home study will visit you and your family, conduct thorough interviews, education your family on adoption issues, review the required paperwork (birth certificates, marriage license, divorce decrees, etc) and then prepare a detailed report. These reports are typically between 7-10 pages in length.

Once your home study is complete, you will file it and other supporting documents with U.S. Citizenship and Immigrations Services (USCIS or CIS, formerly INS). During this process, which typically takes 2 months from start to finish, you and your spouse will be fingerprinted through the FBI and the home study and other documents will be reviewed. Your CIS approval (an I171H) will be mailed to you.

The next phase is the completion of your adoption dossier. There are many steps to reach a completed Dossier (the collection of all the documents needed to complete your Adoption paperwork) which will eventually be sent to Haiti. CHI will assist you with all the components of this process.

Once your dossier is complete it will then be sent to our representatives in Haiti for their review. From this information they will make suggestions about the appropriate child who is available for your family. CHI’s supervising social worker will then provide you with photos, medical information, social history and narratives about the child.

Once you have accepted a referral, your dossier and the child’s legal documentation will be received by our experienced team of lawyers, social workers, government relations consultants who will take over. They oversee every step of the process as it weaves through civil courts, higher courts, IBESR and Haitian government, as well as the U.S. Embassy.

Once your adoption has been in the process for a few months, you will be asked to travel to Haiti to file your paperwork at the U.S. Embassy in order for your child to have U.S. citizenship when the adoption is final. This will also be an excellent time to begin to get to know your child. This trip is usually for a week or less.

And the final, most rewarding step will be the day when you get the phone call that your child’s visa is ready and you are ready to travel to Haiti to bring them home! The last trip is about a week in duration.

Please note that the time frame to complete an adoption varies greatly. Before the earthquake adoptions took from 1 to 2 years after referral. We will not have an accurate estimate of the timing post-earthquake until the first adoptions complete the process. Monthly reports and photos of the children are received and forwarded to the families during this time. Families should plan on the adoption process to not be completed any sooner than it was before.

For more information email: inquiry@chiadopt.com

Children Waiting For Families in Haiti

• 9 months to 12 years old (mainly children over 3 years old)

• Sibling Groups

Due to the earthquake many children were displaced from their families. Great care is taken to make sure that the children who are available for adoption truly are orphans or their parents relinquished their rights before the earthquake.

Waiting… waiting… waiting… why are these children without families? They are available for international adoption for many reasons. This is most often due to their birth families inability to parent based on poverty. Poverty worldwide creates the need for international adoption, but it is not the only reason.

Education is another common factor. In many countries, birth control is not widely offered nor is it taught in the family, community or in school. Birth mothers also can lack education on how to parent a child or have the capability to earn a living wage to support the child. So education can play a large part in children becoming available for international adoption.

In some situations, when a birth mother does become pregnant she may be shunned by both her family and her community. Many times this leads to desperate situations that force a birth parent to either abandon or relinquish their child.

Sadly, there are other factors that create orphans, war, worldwide famine, drought and in some countries the AIDS epidemic have also created a need for adoptive parents.

For more information email: inquiry@chiadopt.com

Adoptive Parent Requirements

While your adoption journey may begin today, adoptive parents should understand that adoption is a lifelong commitment. A successful home study plays a vital role in helping on your preparation to become adoptive parents. Our trained and caring professionals’ respect your confidentiality was we work together to educate and create an accurate portrait of you as future adoptive parents. The home study is an invaluable first step toward parenthood.

Approved Home Study

An approved home study preferably completed by a COA Hague accredited social worker who will ensure that all of the Haitian requirements for families are met in the home study process. The home study begins with adoptive parent education and a thorough evaluation of your family that will include several background clearances, medical evaluations and financial stability. Your home study is foundation on which USCIS and in country approvals for international adoption are based. They enable adoptive parents to learn, reflect, and prepare for parenting. It involves opening your hearts, minds, and home to a social worker through a series of meetings and gives you the opportunity to ask all the questions you may have as well.

USCIS Immigration Approval

USCIS immigration approval is required for all international adoptions (this includes an FBI fingerprint results). This approval allows your newly adopted child to receive a VISA from the US Embassy and enter the US and become a citizen.

Haiti Adoptive Parent Requirements

Unfortunately, the Haitian adoption requirements for adoptive families are very restrictive. In order to adopt a child under the age of 5 years your family must fit the following requirements:

• Married adoptive parents – One must be between 35 -50 years old. The younger parent must be at least 30 years of age.

• Married couples must be married for 10+ years

• Single Women (must be 35-50 years old)

• Divorce is permissible (case by case).

• Must not have biological children – if parents have one biological child they can adopt with proof of infertility.

For more information email: inquiry@chiadopt.com

Travel Process

The Haitian government does not require parents to be present for any in person interviews or court appearances. However, in order for the child to have U.S. citizenship immediately upon their arrival in to the United States, once the adoption is final, we strongly recommend that adoptive parents both visit their child during the process and file documents with at the U.S. Embassy in person during that trip. Since the process is a lengthy one, many adoptive families visit their child several times during this wait. One or both of the adoptive parents will need to return at the end of the process to complete the visa process at the U.S. Embassy.

Generally, adoptive families visit their children in groups. The travel arrangements for these visiting groups are organized by CHI and Chances for Children. They meet in Miami and travel to Haiti together. Because of the extreme poverty, there will be no opportunities to sightsee within Haiti. Families generally stay at the crèche when they visit their children. Due to the dangerous situation in Haiti, families are escorted at all times they are outside of the crèche grounds.

For more information email: inquiry@chiadopt.com

Waiting Children in Haiti

Information coming soon!

For more information email: inquiry@chiadopt.com

Country Facts

Background:

The native Taino Amerindians – who inhabited the island of Hispaniola when it was discovered by COLUMBUS in 1492 – were virtually annihilated by Spanish settlers within 25 years. In the early 17th century, the French established a presence on Hispaniola. In 1697, Spain ceded to the French the western third of the island, which later became Haiti. The French colony, based on forestry and sugar-related industries, became one of the wealthiest in the Caribbean but only through the heavy importation of African slaves and considerable environmental degradation. In the late 18th century, Haiti’s nearly half million slaves revolted under Toussaint L’OUVERTURE. After a prolonged struggle, Haiti became the first black republic to declare independence in 1804. The poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti has been plagued by political violence for most of its history. After an armed rebellion led to the forced resignation and exile of President Jean-Bertrand ARISTIDE in February 2004, an interim government took office to organize new elections under the auspices of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). Continued violence and technical delays prompted repeated postponements, but Haiti finally did inaugurate a democratically elected president and parliament in May of 2006. A massive magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti in January 2010 with an epicenter about 15 km southwest of the capital, Port-au-Prince. An estimated 2 million people live within the zone of heavy to moderate structural damage. The earthquake is assessed as the worst in this region over the last 200 years and massive international assistance will be required to help the country recover.

Population:

9,035,536

note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2010 est.)

Infant mortality rate:

total: 59.69 deaths/1,000 live births

male: 66.18 deaths/1,000 live births

female: 53.01 deaths/1,000 live births (2010 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 60.78 years

male: 59.13 years

female: 62.48 years (2010 est.)

Economy – overview:

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere with 80% of the population living under the poverty line and 54% in abject poverty. Two-thirds of all Haitians depend on the agricultural sector, mainly small-scale subsistence farming, and remain vulnerable to damage from frequent natural disasters, exacerbated by the country’s widespread deforestation. While the economy has recovered in recent years, registering positive growth since 2005, four tropical storms in 2008 severely damaged the transportation infrastructure and agricultural sector. US economic engagement under the Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement (HOPE) Act, passed in December 2006, has boosted apparel exports and investment by providing tariff-free access to the US. A second version of the legislation, passed in October 2008 and dubbed HOPE II, has further improved the export environment for the apparel sector by extending preferences to 2018; the apparel sector accounts for two-thirds of Haitian exports and nearly one-tenth of GDP. Remittances are the primary source of foreign exchange, equaling nearly a quarter of GDP and more than twice the earnings from exports. Haiti suffers from a lack of investment because of insecurity and limited infrastructure, and a severe trade deficit. In 2005, Haiti paid its arrears to the World Bank, paving the way for reengagement with the Bank. Haiti received debt forgiveness for about $525 million of its debt through the Highly-Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) initiative in 2009. The government relies on formal international economic assistance for fiscal sustainability.

Current Weather

tropical; semiarid where mountains in east cut off trade winds

Natural hazards:

lies in the middle of the hurricane belt and subject to severe storms from June to October; occasional flooding and earthquakes; periodic droughts

Environment – current issues:

extensive deforestation (much of the remaining forested land is being cleared for agriculture and used as fuel); soil erosion; inadequate supplies of potable water

Geography – note:

shares island of Hispaniola with Dominican Republic (western one-third is Haiti, eastern two-thirds is the Dominican Republic)

Executive branch:

chief of state: President Rene PREVAL (since 14 May 2006)

head of government: Prime Minister Jean-Max BELLERIVE (since 7 November 2009)

cabinet: Cabinet chosen by the prime minister in consultation with the president

(For more information visit the World Leaders website )

elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (may not serve consecutive terms); election last held on 7 February 2006 (next to be held in 2011); prime minister appointed by the president, ratified by the National Assembly

election results: Rene PREVAL elected president; percent of vote – Rene PREVAL 51%

Natural resources:

bauxite, copper, calcium carbonate, gold, marble, hydropower

Agriculture products and Industries:

coffee, mangoes, sugarcane, rice, corn, sorghum; wood sugar refining, flour milling, textiles, cement, light assembly based on imported parts

For more information email: inquiry@chiadopt.com