New Blog...come see us!

We are in the process of moving to a blog location on our very own website.  Please come and visit us at:

www.internationaladoptionnet.org/blog

 

 

 

We will eventually be phasing this blog out, so please change your bookmarks!

 



IAN does apologize, however, The trainer for todays training is ill and will not be able to conduct the training this morning. IAN will notify each family when the training is rescheduled. IAN wishes to apologize again for any inconvenience. Thank you for your understanding and patience.

Help us plan for Summer 2013!!

With the end of 2012 rapidly approaching, and 2013 right around the corner it's time for us to begin planning for the events of next summer!

Here are some of the things we are looking forward to:

IAN Family Picnic: One of our annual highlights! All current and former IAN families are invited to gather, eat, play and reconnect.

Family Journey's Culture Camp: Keep your child's Ethiopian heritage alive with classes on food, dance, language and many other things. Classes are available for older children and for younger children. Siblings are welcome!

IAN Ethiopian Heritage Tour: This will be IAN's first experience in taking a group of adoptive families back to Ethiopia to reconnect with the people and experience the homeland of their adopted child. This is the realization of a long-held dream of IAN's Executive Director, Joan Strauss.

Would you please take just a few short minutes to answer the following questions? These things are for you, and we want your input!

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

Referral Acceptance!

We have great news today! A wonderful family has accepted the referral of a beautiful baby girl!! Congratulations to the happy family!

List movement is below:

Infant girl: everyone after #10 move up one

All other lists remain the same.

Post Adoption Reports

We'd like to send this friendly reminder to all IAN families who are safely home with their Ethiopian children:

  Post adoption reports and photographs are a very important part of the adoption process!   

Post adoption reports are filed with the local government offices in Ethiopia, and are available to your child's birth family if they would like to have updates.   They are also monitored by the Ethiopian government to ensure that adopted children are being well cared for.   The Ethiopian government has recently become much stricter in monitoring reports received, as well as wanting them submitted on time.  If post placement reports are not submitted, it could very likely have a negative impact on all future Ethiopian adoptions.

When you arrived home you should have received a letter indicating when your post adoption reports are due, guidelines for what is required and other valuable information.   As a reminder: the first year reports are due at three months, six months, and twelve months home (and one month if you are a Colorado resident).  These first year reports must be completed by a licensed homestudy agency.  After the first year, parents can submit reports on their own.  These reports are due once a year either on the anniversary of the date your child arrived home, or on your child's birthday.

If you need a reminder about when your reports are due, or about the requirements for the annual self-report, please contact your coordinator or IAN's post placement department at postadoption@internationaladoptionnet.org. 

By honoring your post adoption agreement, you are helping more Ethiopian children the opportunity to have a forever family.  Thank you so much for your cooperation!  

Uganda Referral Acceptance!

IAN is very pleased to announce that our first official referral of two baby girls from Uganda was accepted last week. We at IAN are excited to see the Uganda program moving along so well and wish the family Congratulations!!!!!

Another Referral Acceptance!

We have even more great news this week! An adorable baby boy has found his forever family!

The list movement is as follows:

Infant boy: everyone after #7 moves up 1

All other lists remain unchanged.

Congratulations to the happy family!

Another Referral Acceptance!

We have MORE wonderful news! An adorable 2 1/2 year old boy found his forever home today!

The list movement is as follows:

Toddler boy: everyone below #5 moves up 1

All other lists remain unchanged

Congratulations to the happy family!

Referral Acceptance!!

We have wonderful news to share today! An amazing family has accepted the referral of a baby boy!

The list movement is:

Infant girl: everyone below #11 moves up 1

Infant boy: everyone below #4 moves up 1

Toddler girl: everyone below #5 moves up 1

Toddler boy: everyone below #2 moves up 1

Siblings: everyone below #4 moves up 1

Congratulations to the happy family!

Launch of the Upgraded Website

IAN is very excited to announce the launch of the new website as an effort to improve our service to our families. The layout and format you are used to is very similar, which should provide for an easy transition to the new website and continue to provide easy access to information.

IAN is Reaching Out

IAN is working very hard to improve its services to our current and future families. IAN is making major efforts to respond to input from families on the items they would like to see improved. IAN is very interested in receiving more feedback from the families in order to address the issues our families would like to see improved or changed. Please feel free to fill out a survey directly from the family section of our website or if you prefer call Bill directly at the office, I would be happy to speak with you directly.

IAN staff will be traveling to Ethiopia and Uganda next month to begin to facilitate some of the necessary changes in order to improve our service to our families. IAN is very serious about the feedback we have received and is taking actions to see that the issues that were brought to the attention of IAN will be addressed directly.

Thank you very much for your feedback, it is appreciated and welcomed!

Picture Help Anyone?

Hello all,

I am puting together a post about the dinner at Habesha last weekend and was wondering if anyone could send me a picture or two from that evening?

Short Visit with Yared!

Hello to all our wonderful families!

Yared is in town for a very short stay and will be hosting a dinner at his restaurant next weekend on Saturday the 22^nd of September at 6:00 P.M. Please click the following link for more information about the restaurant: http://habeshadenver.com/

IAN staff will also be attending this dinner, so come on out and have some fun!

If you are interested in coming please RSVP to bill@internationaladoptionnet.org by Wednesday September 19^th, so I can give Yared an idea of how many families wish to attend. If there are enough families the dinner will be a buffet style dinner and the cost will be $9.00 per person. If there is not sufficient turn out then it will be regular menu ordering. Hope to see you there!

New Referral Acceptance

We have great news today! A wonderful family has accepted the referral of an 11 year old waiting boy and a 4 year old girl!! Congratulations to the happy family!

List movement is below:

Infant boy: everyone after #10 move up one

Toddler girl: everyone after #9 move up one

 

Toddler boy: everyone after #7 move up one

 

Siblings: everyone after #8 move up one

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi

IAN would like to offer condolences to those people who are mourning the loss of Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.

IAN has spoken to staff in Ethiopia and was informed that at this time, neither IAN nor the Ethiopian Government are anticipating delays and IAN will be working diligently to continue assisting these wonderful children to their “Forever Homes.”

Child Sponsorship Opportunity!

As you know, IAN has launched a child sponsorship program.  We are so excited to have this opportunity to provide care for some of Ethiopia's vulnerable children. 

We are looking to build a small steering committee to help us build and develop this program.  If you have a few hours each month, some good ideas, and a desire to care for orphans and vulnerable children, please contact allison@internationaladoptionnnet.org.

Thank you!

Referral Acceptance!

We have great news today! A wonderful family has accepted the referral of a beautiful baby girl!! Congratulations to the happy family!

List movement is below:

Infant girl: everyone after #10 move up one

Toddler girl: everyone after #9 move up one

New Sponsorship and Waiting Children Uploaded

There are new waiting children and sponsosrhip children uploaded to the website,
Please help us bring home or support these wonderful children!

Referral Acceptance

We have great news today! A wonderful family has accepted the referral of a beautiful baby girl!! Congratulations to the happy family!

List movement is below:

Infant girl: everyone after #8 move up one

Toddler girl: everyone after #3 move up one

Siblings: everyone after #2 move up one

Referral Accetptance

We have great news today, a referral acceptance! A wonderful family has accepted the referral of a beautiful baby boy! Congratulations to the happy family!

List movement is below:

Infant girl: everyone after #10 move up one

Infant boy: everyone after #4 move up one

Family’s time on the waiting list: 1 year and 7 months

Ethiopia Child Sponsorship Program Announcement

Hello to All,

Please take a look in the Help Us / Sponsorship Programs / Ethiopia section of our website at the following link:

http://www.internationaladoptionnet.org/index.php/ethiopia-sponsorshipprograms

To view all of the new children that is now posted and waiting for wonderful sponsors to bring a little happiness and support into their little lives.

2012 Picnic Information

IAN Family Picnic 2012

Saturday, June 23, 2012 • 11 am – 1 pm

Belleview Park, Pavilion #1 • East end of park

5001 S. Inca, Englewood, Colorado

Limited parking is available in the lot on the east side of the park,

additional spaces in the lot near the water park. 

Food provided by IAN through Smiling Moose Deli

Don’t Forget:

·        The attached waiver – Required for all picnic attenders!

·        Sunscreen

·        Extra water (IAN will provide bottled water, but more is always needed)

·        Swimsuits and towels for wading in the creek

·        $$ if you want to ride the train or visit the petting zoo

Please remember that the annual family picnic is a private, IAN sponsored event, and is for IAN families only.  By attending the event you are releasing IAN from any and all liability during the event. 

Questions?  Please call the IAN office at 303-691-0808

Announcement List for Updates

Hello to all of our Wonderful Families,

IAN is making changes to improve its ability to communicate information to its families through the use of an Announcement List. This is a list of families that would like to receive information from IAN when IAN sends out an important update that would require more than just a posting to Facebook, Twitter, or the IAN Blog. These updates will come directly to the email address that you provide.

If you would be interested in receiving these updates please sign up at the following link:

http://www.internationaladoptionnet.org/index.php/family-center-current-issues-a-updates/announcement-list-subscription

This link is located in the family center section of our IAN Website under Announcement List Subscription. Please be advised you can unsubscribe at any time at the same location.

IAN also does not share your information with outside sources. The purpose of this list will be to get important information to IAN families.

Thank you very much for your patience while IAN makes changes to its online presence in order to better serve its families.

Friendly Reminder

Hello To Our Wonderful Families,

This is just a friendly reminder email about our Annual Picnic:

IAN FAMILY PICNIC

Who: All current and former IAN families and their children.

Where: Belleview Park, 5001 S. Inca, Englewood, Colorado

When: Saturday, June 23, 2012 11 am until 1 pm

What: IAN will provide lunch, families can come and enjoy beautiful Belleview park and reconnect with other adoptive families.

... Please RSVP via email to:

IANFamilyPicnic2012@internationaladoptionnet.org

You must RSVP to ensure that we order a lunch for you. Please specify how many adults/children. Thank you!!

We look forward to seeing you there!

IAN External Media Site Closures

Hello to all our wonderful families. IAN has asked for feedback concerning online media and communication with its families online and how IAN can better serve its families and the response has been overwhelmingly there are too many sites, groups, blogs, etc…

IAN values the input of its families and therefore will be shutting down some of its online media in an effort to make receiving updates and online posts of information easier for families to keep track of.

IAN will be closing the following:

1.      IAN will be closing the Yahoo group as it is the least used media site for families and requires extra steps in order to become part of the group.

2.      IAN will be closing the external blog resource page (currently at URL http://blog.ianfamily.org) as it is not being used currently. If there is an interest in external blogs links this can be added to the family section of the IAN main site or on the blog resource page presently located at http://adoptian.blogspot.com

IAN will keep the following resources open:

1.      IAN Facebook page located at http://www.facebook.com/pages/International-Adoption-Net/45346077991

2.      The IAN blog located at http://adoptian.blogspot.com/  (This will inherit the URL http://blog.ianfamily.org once the page using it is closed.)

3.      The Twitter feed located at http://twitter.com/#!/IANfamilies

It is IAN’s sincere wish to better serve its families with online access to information and recent posts to follow current information concerning families and international adoption.

Referral Acceptance

We have great news today, a referral acceptance! A wonderful family has accepted the referral of a beautiful baby girl! Congratulations to the happy family!

List movement is below:

 Infant girl: everyone after #8 move up 1 spot

Toddler girl: everyone after #3 move up 1 spot

 Family’s time on the waiting list: 1 year 8 months

More 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!

2012 Summer Picnic

IAN FAMILY PICNIC

Who: All current and former IAN families and their children.

Where: Belleview Park, 5001 S. Inca, Englewood, Colorado

When: Saturday, June 23, 2012 11 am until 1 pm

What: IAN will provide lunch, families can come and enjoy beautiful Belleview park and reconnect with other adoptive families.

Please RSVP via email to:

IANFamilyPicnic2012@internationaladoptionnet.org

Referral Acceptance

We are happy to announce the referral acceptance of an adorable 8 month old little boy!!

Congratulations to the happy family!!

List movement is below:

Infant boy:  everyone after #4 moves up one spot

Family’s time on the wait list: 1 year 8 months

IAN Family Picnic 2012

IAN FAMILY PICNIC

Who: All current and former IAN families and their children.

Where: Belleview Park, 5001 S. Inca, Englewood, Colorado

When: Saturday, June 23, 2012 11 am until 1 pm

What: IAN will provide lunch, families can come and enjoy beautiful Belleview park and reconnect with other adoptive families.

Please RSVP via email to:

IANFamilyPicnic2012@internationaladoptionnet.org

You must RSVP to ensure that we order a lunch for you. Please specify how many adults/children. Thank you!!

We look forward to seeing you there!

Referral Acceptance

Today we happily celebrate with the family who was matched with their beautiful 9 month old girl!  We also want to thank the family for coming into the office to share their joy with IAN staff!


Wait list movement:  Everyone after #8 on the infant girl list moves one spot. 
Family wait time:  1 year, 9 months, 10 days.

New Waiting Kids Posted

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!

We have great news today, a referral acceptance! A wonderful family has accepted the referral of a beautiful 4 year old girl. Congratulations to the happy family!

List movement is below:

Toddler girl: #15 & #16 move up one

   

   Everyone after #18 move up two

Family’s time on the waiting list: 4 months, 12 days

Outstanding Support! Thank You Very Much!

Everyone at IAN, both here in Colorado and in Ethiopia, would like to give a big THANK YOU to Ashley Sawyer, Crocs Inc. and our very own adoptive parent Kristin Barber for the donation of 50 pairs of Croc shoes! These Croc shoes will be delivered by Kristin to our staff in Ethiopia and will then be delivered to our care center and 3 orphanages we work with. With this wonderful donation, all of our children will be able to wear a new pair of shoes! Thank you again to everyone involved for all of your hard work!

Reduction in Adoption Visa Application Fees

The US Department of State recently announced that as of April 13, 2012 US immigrant visa application fees changed. The fee for ‘Immediate Relative and Family Preference Applications’ (I-600 or I-800 petition) decreased from $404 to $230. All visa applicants must pay the fees in effect on the day of the payment (when your case is submitted to the Embassy for review), not the day of the visa interview.

Please feel free and view the announcement at: http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/types/types_1263.html

New Waiting Kids Post

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!

Referral Acceptance!!

We have great news today! A wonderful family has accepted the referral of an adorable 4 year old girl. Congratulations to the happy family!

 List movement is below:

 Toddler girl: everyone after #11 move up 1

 Older girl: everyone after #1 move up 1

Referral Acceptence

We have great news today! A wonderful family has accepted the referral of a brother and a sister, ages 5 and 3 years old. Congratulations to the happy family!

List movement is below:

Infant girl: #6 - 19 move up 2

    #20 – 25 move up 1

    #27 and below move up 2

Infant boy:#3 – 13 move up 1

    #15 and below move up 2

Toddler girl: everyone after #14 move up 1


Toddler boy: everyone after #8 move up 1

Siblings: #2 – 10 move up 1

            #12 and below move up 2

Bole Airport Visa Update

Many of you have contacted IAN concerned about the possibility that entry visas will no longer be available upon arrival at Bole Airport in Addis.  We have checked with our in-country staff, with the state department and with the embassy in Addis, and there is no cause for concern.  Entrance visas WILL continue to be available at Bole airport for arriving passengers. 

Thank you for bringing this to our attention!

Baby E Update!

There is a new Baby E update on the website! Go check it out!

Family Picnic 2012

This year’s IAN Family Picnic will be:

SATURDAY, June 23rd

11am – 2pm

Belleview Park

Baby E Update 03/14/2012

There is an update to the Baby E story on the website go check it out!

Thank You for all your support with this wonderful Little Girl!

BABY E POST!

Baby E Public Announcement

IAN has recently been given an opportunity to work with a very special little girl. Baby E was born at a hospital in Mekelle, Ethiopia, with medical needs beyond what any hospital in her region can handle.

IAN is honored to be entrusted with this special girl. Every effort is being made to find Baby E an adoptive family. Until that family is found IAN is committed to providing Baby E with the best possible care.

IAN’s commitment to Baby E is something to be taken seriously, including the responsibility to protect her privacy. There are many IAN families who have come to love her and want to follow along with her journey and to partner with IAN in caring for her.

For this reason, there is now a running update specifically to share Baby E’s story. It is on this website, however, is hidden from view without the correct log in information. You will need to register to follow along. To register simply send a request to:

babye@internationaladoptionnet.org

An email will be sent to you with the instructions on how to log into the website in order to view and follow Baby E’s story.

There is also a place created here for those of you who would like to contribute to her care. Baby E will need extensive medical care, physical therapy, travel support, and more. All donations to Baby E are fully tax deductible, and will go directly to her care.

Referral Acceptance 03 09 2012

Referral Acceptance!

We are excited to announce the referral acceptance of a very adorable 4 year old boy! Congratulations to the happy family!

There is no list movement.

Special Announcement

IAN was recently contacted by one of our Ethiopian orphanages with a unique opportunity to help a very special child. The child is not able to be adopted in-country based on severe special needs and physical deformity. The child’s issues may be correctable with surgery that is still being determined at this time with no final answer. The child may have long term medical needs. As this is a special case, there will be an extensive evaluation process for interested families. We will be looking for a home that will be able to provide for all the child’s needs. If you are interested in knowing more about this special child, please contact Casey at:

casey@internationaladoptionnet.org or at the office at (303) 691-0808.

Please understand this is a very unique situation and IAN is attempting to assist this child in finding a home, however, please do not call concerning this child unless you are seriously considering a very unique child.

Thank you very much and let’s hope we can help this child to a “Forever Family!”

Referral Acceptance February 23, 2012 #2

Another Referral Acceptance!

What an exciting day here at IAN! We are thrilled to announce that we have another referral acceptance of an adorable 2 month old baby girl! Congratulations to the happy family!

The list movement is below:

Infant girl: everyone after #4 moves up one spot

Referral Acceptance February 23, 2012 #1

Referral Acceptance!

We are so happy to announce that our ‘AU’ has found his forever family! ‘AU’ is a 5 year old boy and has been waiting for his forever family since December 23, 2011. Congratulations to both the happy family and ‘AU’!

There was no list movement.

Referral Acceptance February 17, 2012 #2

We have even more happy news today! A wonderful family has accepted the referral of two brothers, ages 2 and 4. Congratulations to the happy family!

List movement is below:

Infant girl: everyone after #24 moves up one spot

Infant boy: everyone after #12 moves up one spot

Toddler boy: everyone after #6 moves up one spot

Siblings: everyone after #8 moves up one spot

Referral Acceptance February 17, 2012

We are very happy to announce the referral acceptance of our waiting children RO and RA! RO and RA have been waiting for their forever home since January 17, 2012. Congratulations to the happy family!

List movement is below:

Infant girl: everyone after #21 moves up one spot

Family time on the waiting list: 1 year, 1 month and 2 weeks.

Referral Accetpance February 14, 2012

Today we celebrate a special referral acceptance. A wonderful family has been matched with a beautiful 3 month old baby boy, and this match occurs on the anniversary of this new Mom’s breast cancer diagnosis. We are so grateful to share this family’s joy in both a new baby and a healthy, healed mom.

List movement is below, and Happy Valentine’s Day to all!

-Infant girl: everyone after #15 moves one spot.

-Infant boy: everyone after #6 moves one spot.

Family time on the waiting list: One year, four months, nine days (with several weeks on hold).

Also, due to a family consolidating to one list, the waitlist is moving again!

-Infant boy: everyone after #4 moves one spot.

-Toddler girl: everyone after #3 moves one spot.

-Toddler boy: everyone after #1 moves one spot.

IAN Needs Your Help!

Due to a last minute change in a families plans, IAN is requesting for a family to volunteer to come in this Saturday during our training class to speak with our new families about what they may encounter during the adoption process.

If you can volunteer please contact Cat at Catherine@internationaladoptionnet.org or simply call the office. Your help is very much appreciated. Thank You!

Have a Great Weekend!

Everyone Be Safe this weekend and stay warm!

The office is open !

The office is open !

Office Closure Severe Weather Watch

Due to the snow storm and severe winter weather watch the office is currently running on a two hour delay, more updates to follow as they occur

Waiting Children Advocacy Team

Hello friends and families of IAN,

We all know how much of a heart you have for the waiting children of Ethiopia.

We are excited to announce a new parent led team to continue advocating for waiting children now and once they are home.

This team will manage a blog called Hoping You Home at www.hopingyouhomeian.blogspot.com.

Here we will have information on the waiting children (information that is allowed to be shared) and other adoption resources geared specifically to waiting children and older child adoptions.

We encourage you to follow this blog and share the posts as they are published.

Our goal is to help these precious children find a family and to encourage and support those families along the way.

If you have any questions or thoughts, please feel free to email the Team Leader Charisa Knight at gcknight@verizon.net

January 2012 Ethiopia Trip Report

Please check the Current Updates section of our Family Center on the IAN Website for the January 2012 Ethiopia Trip Report

http://www.internationaladoptionnet.org/index.php/family-center-current-issues-a-updates/current-updates

Referral Acceptance!

Congratulations to the family of 'OO' and 'AO' from the waiting child site! OO is a 3 year old boy and his brother, AO is a 6 1/2 year old boy who have been waiting for 4 months to find their forever home.

List movement:

Infant girl: everyone after #30 moves one spot

Infant boy: everyone after #17 moves one spot

Toddler girl: everyone after #15 moves one spot

Toddler boy: everyone after #10 moves one spot

Siblings: everyone after #12 moves one spot

Referral Acceptance!!

Congratulations to the happy family who accepted the referral for a beautiful 2 year old girl today!!

List movement:
Infant girl: everyone after #20 moves one spot.

Infant boy: everyone after #9 moves one spot.

Toddler girl: everyone after #8 moves one spot.

Toddler boy: everyone after #3 moves one spot.

Siblings: everyone after #6 moves one spot

Family's time on the waiting list: Twelve months, fifteen days