Adoption news from June 2003!

Another, from Oct. 2003!!! [url]http://www.elpanamaamerica.com.pa/archive/10032003/nation22.shtml[/url] I'm curious about the reference (toward the end) to NO American agencies being accredited in Panama (none applying except for one which wasn't accepted because it didn't have a Panama office!). That's quite odd, eh? Of course, this was written 8 months ago. Plus, this author may be going by "old" news, since she has written about the adoption procedures in the past. Anyway, enjoy... "Title: Disabled Children Hope for Adoption There is an increase of disabled, abandoned children and the need to create a special center to care for them, said Carmen Donna Aven, responsible for the National Direction of Adoption of the Department of the Youth, the Woman, the Childhood and the Family. The creation of such a center is urgent because the children are found (abandoned) in hospitals and are not receiving the adequate therapies for their rehabilitation, Aven said. She said that the majority of them are abandoned by their parents in the hospitals after being born and it is very rare that someone would want to adopt them due to the special care that they require, which is very costly. Because of this, the aid of civic clubs is needed to supply a place where the children can stay because there are 7 disabled children in different centers such as the Hospital of Chepo, Chiriqu, in the Larga Estancia of Palo Seco and in the order of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Of these centers, the Hospital of Chepo is the only one that covers all of the expenses of the boy who has lived there since his birth in 1992, while the MINJUNFA provides the medicines for a girl of 13 and a boy of 10 who live in the Hospital of Long Stay (Larga Estancia). Aven called the organizations that have the resources and they could be interested in building this center with a specialized team to attend to these disabled children. She (Aven) reported that in the 2002 they attended 86 cases of children abandoned and this year (2003) it is 51. She assures that many children who were abandoned were returned to their families and others stayed in shelters or in foster homes and may be adopted. The other function of the National Direction of Adoption is to do the investigation of the boys and girls that are abandoned. For example, said Carmen Donna Aven, when a baby is abandoned in a hospital, this lets us know that the infant was left and we should apply the first measure of protection and that is to put him in a place where he can be well, and second to initiate the investigation of his birth family to see if he can be returned (to them). The National Direction of Adoptions was created under Law 18 of May 2, 2001, as a central authority in this matter. PROCESS OF ADOPTION According to Aven, the adoption is not difficult, but there are a series of requirements and documents. She explains that the potential adoptive parents are recorded in a bank of data and when there is a boy or a girl that can be adopted, they search through the files to find a matching family. (So much for the infamous "waiting list"!) So that the adoption is official, a judge has to disqualify the biological parents (TPR hearing) to declare the child available for adoption and to give the final declaration of adoption. This process is handled in the Courts of Childhood and Adolescence (rather than Family Court). She adds that they (DNA) have a database with the characteristics of the adoptive couples and they try to place children in those homes according to the characteristics (interests) of that couple. We think that to a child should not spend his infancy in an institution, Aven stresses. We believe that it is healthy that he grows up in a healthy environment of love and with a family. Almost all the children that have arrived at the DNA because they have been abandoned, we have placed them with couples or persons that are in the databank and that are expecting to be assigned a child, reported the official. The law that governs the adoptions is the Law 18 of May 2, the 2001. It is found in the Code of the Family. THE PROCEDURES The director of Adoption clarified that the procedures have no cost. It cannot even be sealed with a postage stamp, because the law establishes that the procedure is free and the adoptive parent does not need to even put any type of postage stamp on their file." Also she clarified that they do not work with any international adoption agency because they are not accredited, and the only one that did request it was not accepted it because it did not have a branch office or residence in Panama, and it originates from a country (United States) that has not ratified the Hague Treaty of 1993, that refers to the protection of the child and to the cooperation in matters of international adoption. REQUISITE TO ADOPT A CHILD -Medical certificates of the couple that state their health -Social evaluation: to verify that they have the economic stability to care for the child -Psychological evaluation -Birth certificate: to make sure the parent is 18 years older than the adoptee. -Certificate of marriage: to verify a minimum of two years of marriage or a union, that they maintain fidelity and stability, that the Code of the Family requires. -Sworn statements of persons that know the couple or the single person who adopts. -Police record from the PTJ (Panamanian police...for Panamanian families), to know if they have committed child abuse or broken the law. -The adopted parents promise to provide post-placement reports from one to three months after the adoption (this should be "years"). COMMITMENT OF THE ADOPTED PARENTS THE CHILD SHOULD KNOW THAT HE IS ADOPTED: During the adoption process, parents should tell the child from the first day that he was adopted. First, because a child has the right to know his origin, and it is better to hear it from his parents than to learn it on the street, and because the best thing for a child is to know he has a family who wanted him very much."

One more, from Aug. 29, 2003 (I couldn't find any news stories re: the DNA from 2004!!! If anyone else has found any, please post them for us.) From [url]http://www.estrelladepanama.com/site20030829/sucepolicivos.html[/url] (second story)... "The national director of Adoptions of the Department of the Youth, the Woman, the Childhood and the Family (MINJUMNFA), Carmen Donna Aven, reiterated the need to solicit the police reports (criminal background checks?) for persons or couples interested in adopting children in our country. Aven is concerned because at this moment she cannot require singles or couples to have a "record policivo" (criminal background check?), a document that is very important to know in what conditions the families are living in, including their physical health as well as mental. According to the director, in Law N 18 of 2 of May of 2001 (the one that created the National Direction of Adoptions), there are existing requirements that detail the steps that couples should take if they are interested in adopting a child. She affirmed that they have held meetings with the director of the Judicial Technical Police (PTJ), Rodolfo Eyrie Franceschi, to handle the matter of the (criminal background checks?), Гdue to the process of adoption it is delicate because it is a matter of delivering a child to a responsible person. She explained that she has also brought this to the attorney general's attention and they arrived at the conclusion to create a commission to analyze the request of the document as a requirement for adoption. She emphasized the importance of knowing any civil and legal proceedings of the persons or couples that want to adopt. ԓHow could we know if the people to whom we are giving a child have not been accused of maltreatment or abuse? , she said. Aven is conscious that the law that regulates the request of the criminal record should be reformed, so that it can be established as requirement of the adoption process. She affirmed that they (DNA) are not authorized to request the document, but they expect that the law mentioned will be restructured. ԓIf the National Direction of Adoptions has under its charge all the administrative procedures of adoption, then we have all the right to request the criminal records for the reasons I have already given. ***** Hmm....Either she REALLY cared about the kids and was trying her darnedest to get things straightened out in the DNA, or these stories are all public relations hype. What I don't understand is what ever happened to those 160 families who never adopted (only 30 of the 190 families received a child between 2001 and 2003)?! Why all of these public solicitations for worthy adoptive parents, when there were already 160 on the waiting list??? Just my .02.