Dear Sheri
We, the members of Families with Children from China, were sad to hear about the recent passing of Ricky Brisson who was a hugely influential and passionate person and intercountry adoption advocate. As she was also a woman who enjoyed leading from the front, I imagine that there are many things to consolidate within AFC.
I am reconnecting with you to ask whether there have been any developments generally referencing the following taken from your update in January 2015, and specifically for the China Special Needs program:
A submission for authorisation was handed to the AGD on 22 January 2015. AFC have applied to be authorised in Chile, Colombia, Bolivia, South Africa, China (Special Needs Program), Fiji, Hong Kong, Thailand, Taiwan, Philippines, and Sri Lanka.
You are aware that the China SN program is not available to prospective adoptive parents in NSW. In 2013 FCCA initiated a review to assess interest in the program (in VIC and NSW) and to provide information to Family and Community Services (FACS) about offering said program to interested families in NSW. NSW FACS maintained that they could not support the program. As AFC is now advocating handling the processing of special need adoption from China, FCCA are wondering if you will be advocating for NSW to be part of the program.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Best wishes
Karin Wentworth-Ping
President
Families with Children from China FCCA
An update from Australian Families for Children Inc. January 2015
AFC has previously announced that the agency was granted accreditation as an intercountry adoption agency by the Office of the Children’s Guardian (OCG), in August 2014.
The agency was then notified by the Attorney General’s Department (AGD), that in order to work with overseas countries, AFC would need to seek authorisation from the AGD.
AFC board members and the Principal Officer travelled to Canberra to meet with the AGD to try ascertain the requirements for authorisation and gather information on the proposed adoption reforms announced by government, but were informed that the proposed reforms had been dramatically altered and the only reform discussed was the introduction of a call centre directing adoption queries to State resources. No clear guidelines for the application for authorisation were obtained from the meeting.
AFC met with the OCG, in November 2014, to clarify the conditions of accreditation that conflicted with advice from the AGD. The OCG stated they would obtain legal advice and report back to AFC. We are still waiting for the legal advice.
After much communication with the AGD, and conflicting information from the OCG and AGD, on 24 December 2014, we eventually received an outline of the information that the AGD required for considering our authorisation.
A submission for authorisation was handed to the AGD on 22 January 2015.
AFC have applied to be authorised in Chile, Colombia, Bolivia, South Africa, China (Special Needs Program), Fiji, Hong Kong, Thailand, Taiwan, Philippines, and Sri Lanka.
The Principal Officer at AFC has also met with and spoken to the NSW information officers of various country support groups including China, Thailand, Taiwan, Korea, and the Philippines. The aim of these meetings was a needs assessment of adoptive families, both pre and post adoption.
