We belong to the Pearl S. Buck (PSB) Vietnam adoption Yahoo newsgroup (for prospective and current adoptive parents working with the PSB agency). Today we received some interesting information from the head coordinator for Vietnam adoptions. The information was very dense and somewhat confusing, so I will try to summarize it below.
- Bad news first: Our agency is currently placing children from two orphanages in Ho Chi Minh City (one orphanage is called Thi Nghe and the other is called Picasso). There is much competition with various agencies in these orphanages. Some of the agencies are using questionable tactics, so the placement for our agency, PSB, has been slower than expected. Specifically, other agencies are giving donations to the hospitals in order to have abandoned children “earmarked” for their agency. PSB is not willing to give donations directly to hospitals for adoption, because in their view it could lead to hospital staff convincing people to give up their babies. So, while we would like the process to speed up, we are happy that PSB is so ethical and we support this decision.
- Good news: Despite the above problems, the Ho Chi Minh City agencies and the Department of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs have assured PSB more referrals by June 30th.
- Good news: PSB announced they will also be placing children from the coastal province of Khanh Hoa (from three orphanages, one in Nha Trang and two in surrounding communities). The deal should go through any day now, and the good news is that PSB is the only agency working in Khanh Hoa right now (no competition for the moment).
- Good news: There was a meeting between U.S. and Vietnam adoption officials at the Embassy in Hanoi last week. They addressed the problem that some agencies seem to be getting more placements of children than others, presumably because of the tactics they are using. Currently, each Province in Vietnam handles the adoptions, and there is no centralized oversight. The decision has been made to have a central Vietnam organization (the Department of International Adoptions) handle all "referrals" of children. It may take a while for this new system to be put in place, but it is a step in the right direction (i.e. this will lead to a more even distribution of placments accross agencies).
Well, that is all for now. I added some links to some interesting websites to the right. I will add more links as I discover them.
2 comments:
Waiting sucks, but ethical is very good. Thanks for the update!
That is exactly what is happening with FTIA. Sorry you are being affected by it, but it sounds like things will pick back up for your agency.
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