Friday, December 23, 2011

Christmas Referral Acceptance #3!!

Triple your excitement!  We are thrilled to announce yet another referral acceptance today!! Congratulations to all families!!

No list movement.

~ IAN Staff

Another Christmas Referral!

It's a double Merry Christmas this year!! We are thrilled to announce another referral acceptance! Congratulations from everyone at IAN!!

No list movement

~ IAN Staff

Christmas Holiday Hours 2011

IAN Office will be closed on Monday December 26, 2011
In Observance of the Christmas Holiday!
IAN Will be open during normal business hours on Tuesday 27, 2011.

Referral Acceptance!!!

What a great way to start the holiday weekend!!  We are very happy to announce the referral of an infant boy today!! Congratulations to the family!

List movement:
Everyone below #6 on the infant boy moves up one spot
Everyone below #15 on the infant girl moves up one spot

Family waiting time: 15 months, one day

Have a wonderful holiday weekend!!

~ IAN Staff

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Thursday, December 15, 2011

New Waiting Kids

There are new waiting kids on the website!

Please help IAN find all of our waiting kids a “Forever Home!”

Thank you very much for helping these waiting kids they should not be forgotten!

Friday, December 9, 2011

USCIS Update on Cases Receiving a “Not Clearly Approvable” Notice

Today USCIS hosted a conference call on the current status of cases identified as “Not Clearly Approvable” by the US Embassy in Addis. Hopefully many of you were able to join the call, but for those who weren’t able to join the call, here is a summary:

In October of this year, a total of 65 cases were originally given the “Not Clearly Approvable Status” by the US Embassy in Addis Ababa, and were adjudicated to the USCIS field office in Nairobi, Kenya. The Nairobi team traveled to Addis to investigate, and found:

Of the 65 Cases:

-49 were cleared and returned to the US Embassy in Addis. Of these, 46 of them have received their Visas, the other three have embassy appointments scheduled.

-15 cases were adjudicated to a USCIS field office in Nairobi or Rome. These were given Request for Evidence (RFE).

-One case received a Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID).

Note from IAN: IAN families accounted for only one of the 65 cases, that family is now included in the 46 home with their child!

Among the points noted:

-The cases were a mixture of relinquished and abandoned cases, and included children of all ages from various regions, orphanages, and agencies.

-The most useful tool in clearing these cases was interviews with birth family members.

-Half of the 65 cases required more information than was originally submitted in order for “the totality of evidence to meet the burden of proof.”

-Less than 10% of the total cases submitted to the embassy have been identified as “not clearly approvable.”

Where we go from here:

-When cases are adjudicated to Nairobi (or Rome), USCIS has promised that the cases’ transfer will be expedited, and communication will be transparent and timely.

-Training for Adoption Service Providers will continue, both in Ethiopia and the US.

-All Adoption Service Providers will need to continue to work to improve the quality of casework. Prospective Adoptive Parents are encouraged to work closely with their Adoption Service Provider in assuring all paperwork is complete before embassy submission.

Note from IAN:IAN has already put into place procedures to assure the standard USCIS is requesting. We are in the process of putting procedures in place for parents who wish to request a copy of their paperwork before it is submitted to embassy.  Please ask your coordinator for more information on this.

USCIS is working to implement a “Pre-Processing Pilot Program” to provide better service to adoptive parents. This would allow US Embassy officials to review cases before they are finalized in Ethiopian court to ensure the orphan status criteria is being met by all cases.

IAN is excited to see this program get off the ground, as it will allow parents additional peace of mind and simplify the embassy process!

Agency Feedback

Many of you have contacted IAN recently asking about how you can best give feedback about your experience with our agency.

1.  Email IAN directly. If you have concerns or suggestions, this is the ONLY way we can address them. If you have a testimony you’d be willing to have shared by IAN, we would LOVE to hear it.

Bill@internationaladoptionnet.org (or you can call us at 303-691-0808)

2. Fill out our online survey. We do track this information to see where we need to make improvements, and where we are doing things right. They are also kept on file for our annual state inspection.


3. Share your experience publicly.



4. Connect with us on Facebook. We love to hear your stories, and although IAN cannot recommend any specific groups run by our families, many of our adoptive parents have connected this way and are a source of support and encouragement to one another.


Thank you to all of our wonderful families for your support, and for your feedback about how to improve our services to you, and the children.  As always, please feel free to contact us if you have any questions!

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

You Will Be Missed!


It is with a combination of sadness and excitement that we announce the departure of IAN Program Supervisor, Liz Bogetveit. 

Liz has made the exciting decision to relocate to Bergen, Norway. Much of the Bogetveit family lives in Norway and this move will give Liz the opportunity to live near her grandmother and many cousins. As many of you know, Liz has previously lived in Thailand and Bosnia, so this will be another chapter in adventure for her. She is anxious to see where the adventure will lead and what opportunities await her there.

IAN has grown and thrived with Liz’s involvement. Her dedication, passion and expertise will be impossible to replace. She has made multiple trips to Ethiopia to train staff, network with Ethiopian officials and supervise the care of children. She has implemented programs to streamline the process and improve the adoption process for parents. She has been tireless in her efforts to ensure that children from Ethiopia be treated with the highest moral standards while finding their forever families. Most of all, Liz has grieved alongside families during their adoption struggles, and celebrated families as they came together.

We are happy for Liz as she begins this new adventure, however, she will be greatly missed. We will be introducing you to our new staff member in the coming weeks. Liz is currently training our new staff, and making sure the transition will go well for all staff and families.

Monday, December 5, 2011

More Great News !

 Another beautiful toddler girl found her forever family today! Congratulations!!!

There was no list movement.

Referral Acceptance 12 05 2011

More exciting news today!! A beautiful toddler girl and toddler boy found their forever family today. Congratulations!!!

Wait list movement:
Everyone below #20 on the infant girl list moves up one spot
Everyone below #10 on the infant boy list moves up one spot
Everyone below #8 on the toddler girl list moves up one spot
Everyone below #3 on the toddler boy list moves up one spot
Everyone below #5 on the siblings list moves up one spot

Family wait time: 12 months and 3 weeks

Thank you soooo Much!!

We are so proud of our families for raising a total of $4510 in auction and donations for the three waiting children. $3900 in bids and $610 in donations. Thank you so much for your time and energy and to everyone who participated. We are grateful to work with such an amazing group of parents and can't wait to see these boys come home to their forever families!!!!!

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Good News !

More good news!! Our four most recent families submitted to embassy were cleared within two weeks of their submission date and we will be welcoming them home before Christmas!! Let's hope this continues!!!