PPR's

from another list: Dear List Members, I offer this from another list to underscore the importance of post placement reports and follow up. Regards, Gerald A. Bowman, LCSW, ACSW Licensed Clinical Social Worker [url]www.GeraldBowman.com[/url] Notice to American Citizens Who Have Previously Adopted from Ukraine The U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Consular Affairs is asking for your assistance on a very important project. As one of the thousands of U.S. families who have experienced the joy of giving a permanent home to a Ukrainian child in need, you can play a role in ensuring that other American prospective adoptive parents and Ukrainian children will continue to have the same opportunity that you had to become a family. As many of you are likely aware, in September 2005, the Ukrainian National Adoption Center (NAC) stopped accepting new applications from prospective adoptive parents from the United States and five other countries, on the grounds that too many previous adoptive parents from these countries had failed to comply with Ukraine's mandatory post-placement reporting ("PPR") requirements. In November, the NAC eased this ban somewhat when it began once again accepting applications from prospective parents who wanted to adopt children over age 10, children whose biological siblings the same U.S. petitioners had already adopted, and children with identified special needs. Apart from these limited categories of children, however, the ban on new applications would remain in effect for each country until the parents achieved a 100% compliance rate in submitting their delinquent post-placement reports. Recently, Assistant U.S. Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Maura Harty met with Ukrainian Minister of Family, Youth and Sports Yuriy Pavlenko to discuss this issue, on which the Government of Ukraine places a great deal of importance. Minister Pavlenko said that Ukraine is missing reports on nearly 900 children adopted by U.S. citizens between 1996 and 2004. Minister Pavlenko, whose ministry is scheduled to take over responsibility for adoption processing on May 1 of this year, noted that he will be unable to reinstate the United States for all adoptions until past American parents whom Ukraine views as delinquent have filed their missing reports. The U.S. Government does not have the legal authority to compel U.S. citizens to comply with foreign laws. No U.S. official is going to come to come to your home and force you to send in your post-placement reports. Nor is any Ukrainian official going to take your child away if you don't. You adopted your child under Ukrainian law, and you are his or her parents. And in most cases, your child has obtained U.S. citizenship under the Child Citizenship Act of 2000. Nothing can change that. It is very important, however, that all American parents of Ukrainian adopted children realize that the high rate of non-compliance with the Ukrainian PPR requirements you agreed to when you adopted your child is having a very real and negative effect on the ability of other families to do the same. That is why the Bureau of Consular Affairs has launched a broad-based campaign, working with the Ukrainian Embassy here in Washington, U.S. adoption agencies, social workers and others to encourage all parents to submit missing post-placement reports. With all of us working together, we hope to ensure the continuation of intercountry adoption from Ukraine, which all of us must agree is an important goal for the thousands of Ukrainian children waiting for permanent families. Thank you.