EU Presents New Adoption Resolution as Child Protection ?

Adoption in the EU: ensuring children's right to a family life

Citizens' rights − 19-01-2011 - 14:00

Plenary sessions

Adoption, and where necessary international adoption, should be encouraged, so as to give children who are abandoned or at risk of becoming institutionalised in orphanages a family life, says the European Parliament in a resolution approved on Wednesday.

The resolution, presented by EPP, S&D, ALDE, ECR and GUE groups, stresses the need to protect a child's right to a family life and preclude the need for long stays in orphanages. It was approved by a show of hands.

Adoption or an alternative family care solution, such as foster and residential care, should preferably take place in the child's country of origin. Failing this, an adoptive family should be found in another EU Member State, says the text. Placing a child in institutional care should be the very last option and also a temporary one it adds. In cases of international adoption, Member States should recognise the "psychological, emotional, physical and social/ educational implications" of removing a child from his or her place of origin and offer appropriate assistance to the adoptive parents and the child. National authorities are also asked to report periodically on the child's development to his or her country of origin.

Facilitating adoption within the EU

All EU institutions should play a more active role in the relevant international fora so as to facilitate international adoption procedures, and remove unnecessary bureaucracy whilst safeguarding children's rights, say MEPs.

The institutions should also explore the possibility of co-ordinating the use of the international adoption instrument at EU level, whilst bearing in mind that adoption is a Member State competence. Co-ordination could, for example, improve assistance in information services, preparation for inter-country adoption, processing of application procedures, and post-adoption services.

Preventing child trafficking

The resolution insists that all EU institutions and countries must participate actively in the fight against child trafficking for adoption.

Proper control of all adoption documents, including birth certificates, is essential to remove doubts over a child's age or identity. A reliable system of birth registration can prevent child trafficking for adoption, notes Parliament, adding that all the requisite legal measures should be put into place to facilitate mutual recognition by Member States of adoption-related documents.

REF. : 20110119IPR11957

READ ALSO - ICA Child Protection of Breach of Children rights ?

MEPs debate Romanian adoptions

PPL

POUND PUP LEGACY

Wed, 2011-01-19 01:51 - Kerry

See also

• The Perverse Effects of the Hague Adoption Convention
• When children become a commodity
• Romania - For Export Only
• Council of Europe and EC conference aimed at re-trafficking Romanian children again.
• Romania for Export Only
• Battle of international adoptions reaches peak
• When they closed the Romanian “baby shops”

By Eithne Donnellan

January 19, 2011 / irishtimes.com

SOME 9,950 children were “exported” from Romania between 1997 and 2000, the European Parliament was told yesterday, during a debate on whether more could be done to save children from a life of institutional care within the EU.

Romanian MEP Victor Bostinaru said his country, which “exported” so many children, would never again “accept such an abomination”. He said people had to learn from what happened as “opening the gates widely for international adoption” had meant for Romania child-trafficking networks, kidnappings and children being sold in western Europe.

His colleague MEP Elena Basescu said Romania was under pressure to resume international adoption, halted in 2001, but there were more families in Romania wishing to adopt than children available, despite about 22,000 children in care centres there.

Romanian legislation did not provide for the relinquishment of parents’ rights to their children unless there had been abuse, she added.

Roberta Angelilli, an Italian MEP who introduced the debate, said there were many abandoned children across Europe. They could end up in poverty or exploited by organised crime for prostitution, organ-trafficking and illegal adoption. These children had a right to be adopted and should not stay in an institution for longer than necessary.

Slovak MEP Monika Flašíková-Benová said the problem of abandoned children in Europe was getting more and more serious. “We have to abolish the rights of biological parents if they do not care for the children,” she said.

Fine Gael MEP Seán Kelly said prospective adoptive parents whose bone fides were beyond reproach should be facilitated in giving a child a home and not be encumbered with lengthy processes. The parliament heard some families were paying up to €30,000 to begin the adoption process.

A resolution on the issue is due to be voted on today.

Listening To Adult Adoptees: A Lesson For Adoptive Parents

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Adoptive parents are familiar with the difficulties of fielding intrusive comments, so why have they begun challenging and quizzing adopted adults?

Lydia sits down next to me and begins talking with an adoptive mother. Both Lydia and the woman’s eleven-year-old daughter are adopted from Korea. “What about the guys you date?” The mother asks, looking over the tops of her reading glasses. She raises her eyebrows. “Do you go out with Asians?”

Lydia freezes. Then she sighs and shrugs her shoulders, her expression so dramatic changes across her face like sunlight slipping behind a cloud.

The carpet beneath my feet seems to press upward, and I wish I could become part of the wall. It’s unintentional, of course, this mother thinks she is only asking appropriate questions, and that it’s OK to expect an adult adoptee to open up her life for her examination.

I'm older than dirt. And over the years, as a parent of Korean born-children, I’ve met my share of noisy questions, but today the tables are turned. Instead of the insensitive comments from strangers that trailed me when my kids were growing up, today the rude remarks and probing questions I hear asked, slip from the mouths of adoptive parents, and are directed towards adopted adults.

Read more at her site.... and www.terratrevor.com

USA Gay Adoption Debate gets new impulse

Scott says he continues to oppose gay adoption, won't discuss adoption ban

Gov. Rick Scott left open the possibility Wednesday that he could revive the ban on gay adoptions outside of Miami Dade County amid his appointment of David Wilkins, former Accenture executive and finance chair of the Florida Baptist Children's Home, as new Department of Children and Families secretary.

The Florida Baptist Children's Home is a private agency that allows only ``professing Christians'' to adopt children in its care and Scott repeated his position that he opposes gay adoptions. "I believe adoption should be by married couples,'' Scott said at the annual Associated Press planning session in Tallahassee.

Last summer, a Miami appeals court declared unconstitutional a Florida law that banned adoption by gay men and lesbians. Outgoing DCF Secretary George Sheldon and then-Attorney General Bill McCollum chose not to appeal the Third District Court of Appeal's ruling to the Florida Supreme Court, saying the decision held sway throughout the state. Sheldon ordered his leadership team to cease enforcing the ban.

But Wilkins and Scott could challenge the Miami ruling by refusing to allow a gay man or woman to adopt elsewhere in the state -- which could trigger an appeal to the state's highest court.

On its website, the Baptist Children's Home says that ``in order to adopt through the Florida Baptist Children's Homes we require that you be a professing Christian, be active in a local Christian church, and follow a lifestyle that is consistent with the Christian faith.''

Meanwhile, Attorney General Pam Bondi, speaking to the same meeting, said she has no plans to challenge the appeals court decision. "We are following through with what Gen. McCollum did on that and chose not to continue that.''

Scott said he hasn't discussed whether to enforce the gay adoption ban again with Wilkins and said it doesn't matter what Wilkins' personal view is. "I'm the governor and whatever my position will be, will be the position that will be enforced,'' he said.

Scott defended Wilkins as "a very accomplished individual...He's an experienced executive and he's very focused on children's issues and family issues."

Read more: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2011/01/scott-says-he-continues-to-oppose-gay-adoption-wont-discuss-policy-plans.html#ixzz1BecOsQbH

Pennsylvania Enforcing Open Adoption Contact Agreements

Open Adoptions are now Legally Enforceable in Pennsylvania

On October 27, 2010, Governor Ed Rendell signed into law Act 101 of 2010, which makes several amendments to Pennsylvania's Adoption Act. The most significant change is that Pennsylvania will now enforce open adoptions, or voluntary agreements for continuing contact or communication, for the first time in Pennsylvania.

Currently, adoptive and biological parents can make their own agreements about continuing contact or communication after the adoption, but unlike 23 other states with open adoptions, the contracts were not legally enforceable. The change to the current law now allows these agreements to be enforceable. If an agreement between the adoptive parents and birth relatives to allow continuing contact or communication between the parents or between the child and parents is breached, then the birth relatives can petition the court to enforce the agreement. The Act also requires parties to an adoption, including a child who is old enough to understand, to be notified about the right to have an open adoption.

Our firm has several attorneys who work regularly with adoptive parents and provide guidance with regard to open adoptions so we want to take this opportunity to address some frequently asked questions regarding this new law:

Q. Who can make an agreement?

A. A birth relative of the child to be adopted and the adopted parents. This includes the biological grandparents, aunts, uncles and other relatives.

Q. What steps need to be taken to make the agreement enforceable?

A. The parties must submit the agreement to the court where the adoption where the adoption will be finalized and have the agreement approved. The court will determine if the agreement was entered into knowingly and voluntarily and is the best interest of the child or children who are being adopted. If the prospective adoptive child is twelve years old or older, the child must also consent to the agreement.

Q. What happens if the agreement is breached?

A. If an agreement is approved by the court then the birth relative or adoptive child or children can petition the court that approved the agreement to enforce the continuing contact or communication. The court will order specific performance, meaning the court will order the adoptive parents to comply with the agreement. The court will not set aside the adoption.

Q. Can the agreement be changed after the court approves it?

A. Yes. The court can change the agreement if either the adoptive child who is twelve years of age or older or the adoptive parents petition the court. The court will modify the agreement if doing so is in the best interest of the child.

The agreement will also automatically be terminated upon the child reaching eighteen years of age, unless the agreement states that it will end earlier. A party to an agreement or a child that is at least twelve years of age may seek to discontinue the agreement by filing an action in the court that finalized the adoption. The standard for discontinuance is also best interest of the child.

If you have questions about the Act or are interested in an open adoption agreement, you should consult an attorney with experience in Adoption Law.

Amanda

Important to note that this same law also contained a provision that robbed Adult Adoptees further of their right to access their birth documentation, along with vague wording appearing to provide for "open adoptions." How they will *really* be enforced and how mothers will be able to afford an attorney and court fees in order to persue enforcement are still questions we are asking. But open adoptions for adopted children were included in with this law that also impacts adopted adults.

Intra European Adoptions ?

Reopening intercountry adoption – subject of a Resolution of the European Parliament

Published by www.victorbostinaru.ro on Tuesday 18 January 2011 (informal translation)

On Monday night, European Parliament plenary session in Strasbourg has discussed an initiative of 62 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), mostly Italians, to re-open international adoptions to the European Union. Although both the debate and the resolution aimed at the general situation of international adoptions in all 27 Member States, in the MEPs speeches, Romania was the country mentioned almost exclusively with the criticism that its legislation does not allow international adoptions. The MEPs resolution will be put to vote tomorrow, 19 January.

The European Parliament debate comes less than a year after the petition of the Italian organisation Amici dei Bambini “, which called for the reopening of international adoptions by Romania, the proposal was closed by MEP Victor Bostinaru (PSD) and with the agreement of all members of the Petition Committee of the European Parliament.

MEP Victor Bostinaru welcomed last night’s debate in the European Parliament plenary session on the premise that “protection of child rights is and should be a priority of each EU member state as long as our ultimate goal for everybody here is to promote children’s interest. ”

At the same time, however, the MEP reminded those present that “opening the gates for international adoptions in Romania, has meant creating an unprecedented network of child trafficking, including cases of kidnapping children and selling them to the West, in collaboration with European and international organisations. ”

“Between 1997 and 2000, Romania has “exported” 9.150 children and my country will not ever again accept such a monstrosity,” said Victor Bostinaru.

In concluding his intervention in the plenary, Victor Bostinaru asked Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship and Vice President of the European Commission Viviane Reding to clarify the allegations published in Romanian and international media regarding the establishment of a European Agency for Adoption. According to revelations in the press in December last year, the European Commission pressured the law firm appointed to draw up a report on the status of adoptions in the 27 EU member states to include the conclusion that there is a need for the establishment of a European Adoption Agency.This agency should be followed to unite all the lobby mechanisms in order to force Romania to reopen international adoptions.

• • Against Child Trafficking

Debat Europees Parlement

Eurocommissaris Kristalina Georgieva.

Ik heb vanavond live gekeken naar het debat over de adoptieresolutie van het Europees Parlement. Passievol brachten de parlementariërs hun punten naar voren: met brede armgebaren, strakke kaken, overslaande stemmen in - soms verbeten - one minute speeches. "Ik zou willen dat EP-leden ook zo gepassioneerd waren over andere onderwerpen", verzuchtte één van de afgevaardigden.

Het patroon was duidelijk. Vooral Italiaanse en Spaanse afgevaardigden kwamen op voor aspirant-adoptieouders die uit Oost-Europa willen adopteren. Zij suggeren dat er vele weeskinderen in tehuizen liggen te verkommeren. Ierse, Britse en vooral Roemeense
parlementsleden kwamen op voor de rechten van kinderen en hun (gewoonlijk springlevende) familieleden: "Het is toch treurig dat in Europa nog steeds worden afgestaan uit armoede? We moeten families helpen, zodat ze zelf kunnen zorgen voor hun kind."

Ik was erg onder de indruk van de Europese Commissaris Kristalina Georgieva. Zij benadrukte dat we in Europa de rechten van de kinderen moeten waarborgen, dat we binnen Europa adopties moeten erkennen, dat het Roemeens verbod op internationale adoptie uitsluitend een Roemeense aangelegenheid is en dat de Commissie al actief is in het Haags Adoptieverdrag. Ze is niet van plan nieuwe regelgeving te ontwikkelen voor intra-Europese adopties.

Tenslotte vertelde ze nog dat ze zelf een peetmoeder is van een adoptiekind en dat ze de complexiteiten bij adoptie goed kent. En dat het belang van het kind het belangrijkst is. Wat dat ook moge betekenen.

Adoptee(s) victims of failing Adoption procedure

Another adoptee faces deportation

Posted: January 25th, 2011 | Author: resistance | Filed under: -ing while brown, can't see 'em | Leave a comment »

U.S. adoptive parents: Make sure your kids have their certificates of citizenship.

From New America Media:

A Korean woman in Arizona, who was adopted and brought to the U.S. when she was eight months old, is facing deportation after a second conviction for theft, reports the Korea Times. The 31-year-old mother of three is currently being held in a federal detention center in Arizona.

According to officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Seo (not her real name) was first convicted on theft charges in 2008, for which she served a seven-month sentence. She was arrested on a second theft charge in 2009, and sentenced to a year-and-half in jail. In January, ICE initiated deportation proceedings against her, requesting for a travel certificate from the Korean consulate in Los Angeles.

As I’ve noted previously, articles about adoption and citizenship often report that citizenship is “automatic” for international adoptees. New America Media repeated the erroneous statement from the original article in Korean:

“Although [she] was adopted as an infant, she is only a green card holder and not a citizen,” says Kim, adding that adoption laws were changed after 2004, long after Seo’s adoption, to grant adoptees citizenship 45 days after their arrival in the country.

This is false. The Child Citizenship Act of 2000 did grant citizenship to internationally adopted children who meet specific conditions. And in January 2004, CIS began to issue automatic certificates of citizenship within 45 days of arrival to children who became citizens under the Act.

However, children who arrive on IR4 visas do not obtain automatic citizenship. Thousands of internationally adopted children are at risk if their parents do not obtain citizenship for them or if they do not file for citizenship on their own. (Note that it’s a much easier process when the applicant is a child.)

In case you can’t tell, I don’t have the energy to froth at the mouth lately (although I can summon a spirited “Fuck you” when the occasion warrants). You can read previous froth about immigration and citizenship by searching the blog.

So the moral of the story is get that certificate of citizenship. That is all.