Our agencys interpretation of CCAA changes

Chinese New Year Starts February 18, 2007.

Hope you all have a healthy and Happy New Year. Enjoy your weekend and remember stay safe!

This was the letter we received from our adoption agency. It is interesting to hear all the different speculations being made from the different agencies,. If your agency has told you anything different than ours has told us, I would like you to leave a comment stating what their interpretation of the meeting was just to compare.

Notice Concerning Changes in CCAA Policies and Practices Dec 9, 2006

CCAA Meeting with Agencies
On December 8, the CCAA called a meeting in Beijing of agencies from around the world.The purpose of the meeting was to advise the agencies of new CCAA policies and administrative practices, and to offer a forum for discussion.
As of printing this notice, we have not received printed instructions from the CCAA so there are a number of ambiguities and some details are missing. The following is our understanding from the oral presentation. Most of the commentary below applies to the regular program.

Observing Hague Convention Requirements
The CCAA will implement the full requirements of the Hague Convention which will require that the provincial governments issue a letter to CCAA indicating the government acceptance of a proposed child (in addition to the family's acceptance). This may impact the length of time between receiving the child proposal to depart on the China adoption trip.

Restrictions on Single Applicants
CCAA will not accept applications from single applicants from May 1, 2007. Agencies are still restricted to submitting applications on behalf of singles up to a total of 8% of their total submissions between January 1 and April 30.
(I understood from someone elses blog that they would still except them but just fewer single applicants.)

Age Restrictions
Married applicants must now be both no older than 50-previously one of the applicants was required to be younger than 55. This new policy will be applied as of May 1, 2007.

Marriage Requirements
A couple applying must have been married at least two years at the time the dossier is submitted.
If one of a couple has had a previous marriage, the couple must have been married at least five years at the time the dossier is submitted. This policy will be applied as of May1, 2007.

Medical Requirements
CCAA will not accept applicants with serious medical issues. Overweight (BMI over 40), cancer, treatment for depression and other mental illness were mentioned as examples. These conditions are effective now.
(I'm wondering if this applies to dossiers already logged in??????)

Criminal Check
The CCAA reiterated that an applicant must have a clear criminal record.

Children in the Home
The CCAA reiterated the restriction that there can be no more than 4 children currently living in the home and added that the youngest child must be at least one year old at the time the dossier is submitted to China. This policy will be applied as of May 1,2007.

Switching Between Programs
Applicants with dossiers in China cannot switch to the Waiting Child program or have their dossier put into the Expedited (applicants that can demonstrate Chinese heritage) stream.

Post Adoption Reports
CCAA will dictate a compulsory format for the 6 and 12 month Post Adoption Reports.

Fee Change
The CCAA dossier assessment fee will be increased from US$410 to US$620. The new fee applies to documents submitted as of January 1,2007. For the Waiting Child program, the assessment fee US$390.

Discussion on Wait Times
The CCAA discussed the current wait times. It was explained that applications to adopt have been received at rates which exceed the rate at which children are becoming available. Consequently there is a backlog of applicant dossiers waiting to be matched. The CCAA expects wait times which are now 15 to 16 months to lengthen considerably in the medium term- wait-times in the future may be between 1 and 3 years.
(I hope and pray that ours does NOT take 3 years!!!!!!!).