Hague and our Agency

We received this email from our agency yesterday. Gee... so much going on. I'm really feeling the blues. I think I'm ready for winter to be over and I'm just blah.... I feel at times that this adoption will never happen. I'm trying to be patient and take it one day at a time and remember that God planted this in our hearts and so we will just be patient and 'let God'. Anyway, good news on the newsletter, as you read it we fall into option #1. Our I171-H expires May 28 and we've contacted our social worker about our homestudy update to refile. So we should be ready to re-file under the 'one time free extension' before our's expires. That renews us for another 18 months. However, should our agency not receive their accredidation by the end of our 18 months and our adoption is not completed, at that time... we're screwed. I know, I hate that word to, but no other fits right now! :-(
Our agency is 100% committed to receiving their accredidation, so I'm not too worried right now. But this will affect many families and my heart goes out to them. Until later....
His...JMS

Dear Children’s Hope International Families,
On March 7, 2008, Council on Accreditation (COA) reviewed Childrens’ Hope International (CHI) Hague Accreditation case. COA issued their report on March 19, 2008 and concluded that additional evidence is needed to demonstrate CHI’s compliance with the Hague standards. Our Hague accreditation status is still “pending”.
In COA’s March 19 report, they stated that CHI’s corrective action plan is very detailed; however, COA requires that full licensure status be obtained in Illinois, which is estimated to be May 31st or later. The agency must demonstrate that the corrective action plan has been fully implemented in Illinois. CHI also needs to provide a detailed implementation report for the period of January 1 to June 30, 2008 that documents that:
1. The corrective action plan has been fully implemented in Illinois;
2. The license status has been obtained in Illinois; and
3. The procedures are in place to ensure that the incident will not occur again.
CHI’s Illinois branch office has been working diligently with the Illinois Division of Children and Family Services (DCFS) on our corrective action plan due to be completed on May 31 and renewal of our license in Illinois which is due to expire on July 2, 2008.
As soon as we have a letter from Illinois DCFS documenting the successful completion of our corrective action plan and our new Illinois license, CHI can submit the requested documentation to COA. COA will then review the documentation and schedule a review by the COA Commission. After the meeting, COA will issue their findings to CHI. This process may not be completed until early fall 2008; however, CHI will do everything within our power to expedite this process.
CHI deeply regrets that we find ourselves in this position and have been working tirelessly to right the wrongs committed by two former employees in our Russia program in July of 2007.
Our pending Hague status does not directly affect our Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Russia or Vietnam families with USCIS as these are not Hague countries and USCIS will continue to process I600A applications for these countries. See below for more important information for the Vietnam and Kazakhstan programs.
Our pending Hague status directly affects our China and Colombia families in the following ways:
1. If you are a China or Colombia family and have a valid I171H or I797C and are entitled to still file a one time free extension, you do not need to take any action at this time.
2. If you are a China or Colombia family and you have already exercised your right to a one time free extension, you will hopefully complete your adoption prior to your I171H expiring or you will need to file an I800A once CHI is Hague accredited in the future.
3. If you are a China or Colombia family and you let your I171H or I797C expire, you have 2 options: 1. File an I600A, including fees and all documents except the home study to be stamped received by your local USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) office on or before March 31, 2008. You have one year from that stamped received date to file your home study with USCIS. Or 2. You may wait and file an I800A with USCIS once CHI receives Hague accreditation. If you choose to wait and CHI never receives Hague accreditation, you will not be able to complete you adoption through CHI.
4. If you are a China or Colombia application family and have not filed an application with USCIS yet, please file an I600A, including fees and all documents except the home study to be stamped received by your local USCIS office on or before March 31, 2008. You have one year from that stamped received date to file your home study with USCIS.
Please contact me if you have any questions. For instructions on how to file an I600A, please consult your program dossier workbook or go to www.uscis.gov and look under Immigration Forms.

Rebecca Davis, MSW