News:

11/04/07: Fundraiser for Russian Orphans

RALEIGH, NC -- Adoptive families gathered today to help raise money for orphans in Russia. The Raleigh-based Frank Adoption Center is held "For Love of a Child," a benefit fundraiser, from 3 to 7 p.m. at the Wake County Shriner's Club in Raleigh. The center expects to raise more than $5,000 to help improve orphanage conditions in regions of Russia.

News coverage:

• 11/4/07 - NBC
• 11/4/07 - News Observer

10/25/07: Frank Foundation Continues Its Support of Disadvantaged Children of Kirov Oblast

RALEIGH, NC -- This summer, Frank Foundation Child Assistance International (FFCAI) was pleased to expand its long-standing cooperative programs within the Kirov Oblast through a campaign to support some of the most disadvantaged children in the region. In partnership with the Office of the Governor and the Department of Education, FFCAI launched three specific programs: Housing Grants, Family Preservation Program, and support for TB orphanage. All three programs followed existing protocols established through FFCAI pilot programs conducted in other Oblasts in Russia and Kazakhstan as well as with existing government programs. (full article)

10/25/07: Support for HIV Children in Tver

RALEIGH, N.C. - In September of 2007, Frank Foundation and Adoption Options of San Diego California joined together to support the Tver’ orphanage which has recently been designated to care for HIV positive children in a specialized wing of the home. While the orphanage has received financial support from the government, funds had not been adequate to fully serve the very specific needs of these vulnerable children. As we know, there is no cure for HIV; nevertheless, it is our belief that each child deserves to live with dignity, comfort and love. (full article)

8/11/06 - We received our NGO Registration!

8/1/06: Paperwork Requirements for Russia

New paperwork requirements for Russia:

As most of you know, there were new Russian document requirements added since our last update:

The documents above should be done without delay. These documents are good for one year, as is most of your dossier paperwork. Many of you have already completed these. There are two other documents that must be done before trip 2:

These two documents expire every 3 months, same as state police checks and medical certificates. Please check with your social worker for templates/forms, and for clarification. If you are still in the process of completing your dossier and have not been assigned a social worker, please check with our dossier specialists, Suzanne Hopkins or Amy Hemler.

**The following paperwork information may not be new to many, but it is still very important so it will remain in this update.

8 Doctor Medical Form

The 8-doctor medical is now being required in most regions. The list of regions continues to be in flux, so you will be notified by your social worker if this requirement is applicable to you at the time of referral. Stay tuned and keep your fingers crossed! While there are many regions that are now requiring families to complete the 8 Dr. Medical while in their child’s region, there are still some regions requiring this to be done in Moscow at the American Medical Clinic. Once we have a child referral for you we will be able to provide information as to where you will do your 8 Dr. Medical. The clinic in Moscow may accept Mastercard or Visa, whereas the clinic in region will only take cash.

Other Russia Paperwork

It is still critical that in-process families for Russia update all required documents for their dossier in order to receive referrals and even travel dates for trip 1. Therefore we need to make sure all paperwork remains current and that all families continue to update their medicals, police clearances and employment letters prior to expiration. Statewide police clearances are needed instead of local checks.

Psychologicals: These are being required by most regions and they will be done between trip 1 and trip 2. The list of regions is in flux, so you will be notified by your social worker if this requirement is applicable to you at the time of your referral.

Russia Program

From January until now (2006) we have had more than a dozen families travel to Russia for Trip 1 and/or Trip 2. We have a few families traveling this weekend and next.

We were told this week that INDEPENDENT SOCIAL WORKERS WILL NO LONGER BE ALLOWED TO COMPLETE DOCUMENTS OF ANY KIND FOR OUR FAMILIES, unless they’re contracted with a home study agency. We have several families in this situation. Please know and understand that this decision was not made by Frank Adoption Center or Frank Foundation Child Assistance International, but rather the Russian Ministry of Education in Moscow. We have been able to get around this issue for a very long time, but now it has become impossible. If you are in this situation, you will need to locate a home study agency in your state to redo your documents. Your individual social worker at Frank Adoption Center will be able to assist you with possibly locating a home study agency in your area, but ultimately it will be the family’s responsibility to make the initial contact with that agency and then to make the switch. We are frustrated by this recent turn of events and we will continue to be here to support and encourage our families through this process.

Russia has added additional legal paperwork fees (this has changed since last update) for translation and authentication of documents in-country, and offsets the cost of the post-placement reports in-country. This affects trip 2 travel expenses. The travel checklist and the FAC fee schedule have been updated to reflect this new change. This increases the cost of adoption $700 for one child and $1150 for two children. This went into effect in February 2006 and it is already being implemented for families currently traveling.

There are a couple more issues that have come up very recently. One is the age of the father. As you all know, in the past only the age of the potential mother was an issue. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find a region that will work with older fathers. We are still trying to get clarification from the Ministry of Education as to what the specific ages will be and we will keep you posted. Please know though that in the very near future, the age of both potential parents will most likely be weighed equally.

The second issue involves medical “problems”. Regions are becoming increasingly reluctant to work with families that have or have had any medical issues. This can include just about anything that is specifically addressed in your medical paperwork by your doctor or in your home study by your agency/social worker. For more detailed information, please check with your individual social worker.

The guidelines for post placement reports have slightly changed. The 1^st report is due the first day of the 5^th month after your court date (no earlier than 4 months after). The 2^nd report is due the first day of the 11^th month after court date (no earlier than 10 months after). The 3^rd report is due the first day of the 23^rd month after court date (no earlier than 20 months after). Finally, the 4^th report is due the first day of the 35^th month after court date (no earlier than 30 months after).

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER ALLOWED!!!!! We recently had a family who put identifiable information about a referral on the internet. This is very serious and it could have devastating repercussions for our Russia program as well as all the other families working with us. The information that we give out regarding a child is private and confidential and it needs to be treated as such. We realize and understand your excitement in wanting to share your good fortune; however until you return from Russia with your child we must ask that you keep the information about the child under the strictest of confidentiality.

FAC remains very grateful to all of our families who are patiently waiting for their referral, trip 1 or trip 2 dates. You have been a pleasure to work with and we are very excited to see you through this process.

 

8/1/06: Kazakhstan Program

We are very happy to report that we have families traveling at present in KZ!!

This program appears to be moving again!

New dossier requirements have been sent out to all our Kazakhstan families. We will be helping each family understand and complete these new requirements, as we have been working with our Russian families on theirchanges.

We will continue to work with the Kazakh government for clarification as needed to expedite the process as quickly as possible.

At this time, families whose dossiers have cleared the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are being advised that there is a child available for them, which means that families will receive this information closer to travel. The Embassy of Kazakhstan in Washington DC, continues to be processing new dossiers slowly, but they have assured us that the program is moving forward and so we patiently remain hopeful that the process will speed up.

Once families have completed the necessary document changes, we will submit the dossiers for translation and then they will be sent to the Kazakhstan Government for processing. We will keep you informed of any additional information once we receive it.