LawAdoption Blog: June 2016

Thursday, June 30, 2016

Adopting an older child Part 2

One of our clients, "Mark”, graciously took the time to talk to us and tell us about his and his wife's journey of fostering and adopting older children. Over the span of 30 years, this inspiring couple has adopted five older children. I asked, "How did you get involved with becoming foster parents"? As newlyweds, Mark and his wife became aware of foster care children that attended their church. They came to know these children individually. They saw that so many children are waiting in the foster care system to be adopted, so they decided that that was how they were going to grow their family.

Mark expressed that it's hard when children have had several transitions throughout their childhood. Going from home to home and family to family is traumatizing. Ultimately, when fostering a child, you want to limit their transitions. People may think it's more difficult to parent an older child, but the reality is that parenting, in general, is hard. You have to be willing to learn, to not hold rigid expectations and to overall be open to helping your child adjust to his unique challenges. Every child comes with a back story of how he got into foster care. He's been hurt, he is dealing with emotions, and he might not trust adults because of his past.

However, at the end of the day, assisting a child with these challenges can be very rewarding. Mark talked about how exciting it was to see the change in emotions and to watch the child grow and overcome his personal battles. As he overcomes his struggles, he starts to thrive. His individual skills and talents start to come out and the rest of the world gets to see how special he is. He might have had a rough start but he now has healthy thriving relationships. Our client believes that, "Every child deserves to be cherished and to have a family that loves them".

Is this type of parenting something you would consider? You can begin to explore foster care parenting through your local Department of Family Services. Additionally, many private agencies have "waiting child" programs, where children who are in the foster care system are matched with pre-screened families. You might attend an information session to learn more from either the local Department of Family Services or the private adoption agency. Some of my biggest heroes in the adoption community are the foster care parents that I have assisted. There are people like Mark and his family who love children and are willing to invest in their lives.

Drafted by Brittany Alness, staff member of the Law Offices of Karen S. Law, PLC.
Disclaimer

This blog and the information contained within have been prepared by Law Offices of Karen S. Law, PLC for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. This information is not intended to create, nor does receipt of it constitute an attorney-client relationship. Viewers should not act upon information found here without seeking legal counsel. All photographs shown on this blog are depictions of clients and are not actual clients of this law firm. Copyright Karen S. Law, 2016

Monday, June 20, 2016

Adopting an older child

Although many people feel best equipped to parent a newborn, adding an older child to your family can be a source of great joy. A recent article written by Dawn Davenport featured on the site Creating a Family, describes a few of the many benefits of adopting an older child.

As a potential family for an older adopted, an important aspect is understanding your child's prior life. When kids reach the age of about 8-10 years, they are able to communicate their life story. This helps you have a better understanding of what they have gone through. Being able to communicate also helps out in counseling because they can be fully involved in the sessions. It's also easier for them to do things your family enjoys- At an older age children are discovering what they like and dislike. Your child may not like everything you like, but there will be something you can find that you can both do together. Older children are more self- sufficient and are able to do things on their own. They can get themselves ready in the morning and at night. They, of course, will still need you there for them but they are a little more independent. You can have "real" conversations with your child. They will have a greater understanding of what is happening in their lives and the ability to articulate that. an older child has more formed thoughts and opinions and it can be such an exciting thing to share with each other. They can also express how they are feeling so you can help them work through past trauma.

We are grateful that Christi Carmouze, a social worker from the Loudoun County Foster Care and Adoption Department of Family Services, took the time to let us interview her. Christi's specific responsibilities are to educate potential individuals in what foster care is and what the agency does. She expresses that the ultimate goal/mission may be to return the child back to their biological family, if that can be accomplished safely. But, that if it cannot, the foster parent may ultimately be found to be the best resource for the child in terms of adoption. She was very open about what takes place and what is expected of the foster parents while fostering a child and what happens if the foster parents end up adopting the child.

Christi talked with us concerning what's involved when a foster parent completes the training and the rigorous home study process. A foster family gets placed onto the DFS roster, then, once a child needs home, families on the roster is reviewed to see if they could provide that home. The family is then contacted and is told the information about the child. They then have a quick time period to talk it over with the rest of the household and to make a decision if this is a child they will be able to provide care for. After the decision has been made, the child is typically placed in the home that same day or the next day. There are some situations; however, where it could be a few weeks until the child enters the foster home.

Heather Crittenden also spoke with us. She is from the Loudoun County Foster Care and Adoption Department of Family Services, and serves as the Adoption Assistance Worker and the ICPC worker. She also manages adoption cases in the agency and does interstate compact placements, where a child is moved from a different state into Loudoun County. We asked her about the biggest changes once the foster care parents become the adoptive parents. She expressed that the agency is no longer responsible, they can be there for support but everything is now on the new parents. When adopting an older child, the child gets a say once they are 14 years of age on if they want to be adopted by a specific family which could be difficult if the biological family is still involved. A family must be open to waiting for the older child to make their decision and be open to having the biological family involved if they are still around and if that's what the child would like.

There are still "firsts" to be had with an older child, not everything happens when a child is a baby. We asked Heather what’s one of the most important things we can pass on to all of you; "No Story is the same; each child has a different story and a different opportunity. If you are willing to commit and take the journey the reward is far more rewarding than you could imagine".

Drafted by Brittany Alness, staff member of the Law Offices of Karen S. Law, PLC.
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Thursday, June 16, 2016

CIS Filing Fee Increase for N-600 Unfairly Hurts International Adoption Community

In early May, USCIS, (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services), proposed to raise the majority of its filing fees. This is a big problem for parents of international adopted children:

USCIS Filing Fee Increase and the Impact on Adoptive Parents

Current Fee Proposed Fee Increase

1. Orphan Cases $720 $775 8%

I600A/I600

2. Hague Cases $720 $775 8%

I800A/I800

3. Adoptive Child Overseas $420 $535 27%

I-130

4. Adoptive Child residing in the US $1,405 $1,675 19%

I-130/I485

5. Citizenship Application $600 $1,170 95%

N-600/N600K

6. Replacement Certificate of Citizenship $345 $555 61%

N-565

While USCIS is a fee based agency and an increase in some of its fees may be warranted, the percentage increase for the forms that most affect international adoptive parents, the N-600 and N-600K, is disproportionately high. The increase is almost 95%, which is an unfair burden on these adoptive parents. Intercountry adoption processes are already long and emotionally challenging. Adding to the costs would serve as a possible deterrent to prospective parents and an impediment to needy children finding a permanent family.

Further, many families who did not complete their adoptions overseas, subsequently have completed the re-adoption or finalization process in the U.S. prior to the child's 18th birthday. This means that their children became U.S. citizens under the Child Citizenship Act of 2000. However, they do not have proof of their child's status because they never filed for a Certificate of Citizenship, using the Form N-600. So, the filing fee increase not only will negatively impact future adoptions, but it unfairly impacts children who are already U.S. citizens but whose parents have just never filed the appropriate form.

For those families, I urge them to file the N-600 for their adopted child now before the increase becomes effective. Also, I encourage the adoption community as a whole to express its opinion about this increase as USCIS is allowing public comments about the fee increase until July 5, 2016.

Send your comments here:

You may submit comments, identified by DHS Docket No. USCIS-

2016-0001, by one of the following methods:

     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.

Follow this site's instructions for submitting comments.

     Email: You may email comments directly to USCIS at

uscisfrcomment@dhs.gov. Include DHS Docket No. USCIS-2016-0001 in the

Subject line of the message.

     Mail: You may submit comments directly to USCIS by mailing

them to Samantha Deshommes, Acting Chief, Regulatory Coordination

Division, Office of Policy and Strategy, U.S. Citizenship and

Immigration Services, Department of Homeland Security, 20 Massachusetts

Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20529-2020. To ensure proper handling,

please reference DHS Docket No. USCIS-2016-0001 on your correspondence.

This mailing address may be used for paper or CD-ROM submissions.

     Hand Delivery/Courier: You may submit comments directly to

USCIS by having them delivered to Samantha Deshommes, Acting Chief,

Regulatory Coordination Division, Office of Policy and Strategy, U.S.

Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of Homeland Security,

20 Massachusetts Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20529-2020. The contact

telephone number is (202) 272-8377.

Hopefully, if enough people express their dissatisfaction with the filing fee increase for the N-600, USCIS might consider a smaller filing fee increase or no increase at all.

Drafted by Karen S. Law, Esquire with assistance from intern Amanda Wong

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