Waiting Child Program

The Waiting Child Program was established to help find outstanding families for older children and children diagnosed with special medical needs. Great Wall is honored to be entrusted by the China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA), to seek families for Waiting Children. We feel a huge responsibility to positively impact the lives of these children. The ultimate goal of our Waiting Child Program is to help an older child or a child with medical needs reach his or her full potential.

Over the last decade, Great Wall has been successful in finding homes for children with many different types and severity of special needs. Our success would not be possible without the loving and nurturing families that have opened their hearts to these children. We thank those families and are grateful to have participated in finding Forever Families for our Waiting Children. Please review the information below to learn more about our Waiting Child Program. If you have any questions about our Waiting Child Program, please contact:

Stephanie Crouch at stephanie@gwca.org (512-323-9595 EXT 3053)
or Leigh Anne Graf at leighanne@gwca.org (512-323-9595 EXT 3080)

Angels of Hope Newsletter

Great Wall Angels of Hope Newsletter is Great Wall's official monthly Waiting Child newsletter publication. In it you will find a selection of stories from Great Wall families as well as information about China’s Waiting Child Program, medical and financial resources and other relevant information.

Current Volume: Volume 1 - 2008

• Issue 2 - December 2008
• Issue 1 - November 2008

Eligibility Requirements

Candidates for the Waiting Child Program must meet the standard requirements to adopt from China. In addition to the regular standards of eligibility, the following attributes are preferred by CCAA and Great Wall.

• Mentally prepared to nurture a child with medical needs
• Openness and flexibility, taking into consideration all the worst case scenarios that may be associated with the particular needs of the child
• Insight into the daily realities of parenting a child with special needs
• Experience caring for a child or children with special needs or,
• A minimal level of exposure to children with special needs; work experience, volunteer experience, caring for extended family, or friends who have a special needs child.
• Knowledge of medical and community resources for children with special needs.

Unfortunately, families who currently have a dossier registered with the CCAA through any agency other than Great Wall will not be eligible to participate in our Waiting Child Program.
CCAA Online System
The CCAA provides information on children currently available for adoption in the Waiting Child program to agencies through a secured online system. Multiple agencies have access and work within this system to place these children who are older and/or with special needs. Great Wall is one of the honored agencies to have access to the shared agency listings - viewed by multiple agencies - as well as an individual listing of children - available only to Great Wall.
Shared List: For children on the shared list, Great Wall reviews the information on the children when they become available and then reviews the General Waiting Child Applications currently on file with our agency for a good fit. Upon finding a good match for the child we will contact the family. Should the family choose to move forward after a doctor reviews the child's file,  Great Wall will "lock" the file and the family will have 48 hours to submit the information required for the online application. Until the file is reviewed and then locked by our agency, Great Wall cannot guarantee the availability of the child.
Individual List: Children on our individual list are designated to Great Wall only and cannot be seen by other agencies. Great Wall will review the General Applications for families for these children as well as allow families to specifically apply for these children who are listed on our Waiting Child password protected site. To go to the Individual List - click here.

Submitting a General Application and Accessing Great Wall's Individual List

To access our password protected site that includes additional information on the waiting child program and our listing of children currently available through Great Wall's individual list, families may submit a general waiting child application to keep on file with Great Wall. If you are a Great Wall family with a valid contract who is is currently in  the process of compiling a dossier or have a current Log in Date (LID) at the CCAA, this application is free. If you are a prospective family, there is a $100.00 application fee. Great Wall will use this fee to initially screen families for eligibility and provides your family with access to our password protected site. This money will be applied toward your General Application to Adopt with Great Wall if you are matched with a child and decide to move forward.  
In the interest of the children, Great Wall does not post identifying information or pictures provided by the CCAA for any child to the public in accordance with the agreement provided by the CCAA and accepted by Great Wall.

The Review Process

Please note each child has a designated time frame listed regarding dossier registration in order to apply for that child. For some children, applicants must have a dossier in place prior to applying for that child and for others there is a 3 month timeframe from application to submitting the dossier. This is a current CCAA policy.
General Application Review Process: The general application provides Great Wall staff with the opportunity to review and potentially match children with qualified families as we receive information on the children. Great Wall will use these applications for placement of available children from all lists.

• For families who access and review the listing of children on the individual list, you will be given the opportunity to submit your interest in a child from that list through the password protected website.
• Great Wall will use the general application and any additional information sent in requests from interested families to review for placement of that child.
• Upon notification of available children, Great Wall will initially review the General application for a potential match for the child. If there is a suitable match, Great Wall will initiate contact with suitable family.
• All applications are reviewed by Great Wall staff members. Upon finding a family that meets China's Eligibility Requirements as established by the China Center of Adoption Affairs and Great Wall's Waiting Child Program Eligibility Requirements as stated above you will be contacted to discuss the application for the child in more detail.
• Should Great Wall staff and the family feel it is in the best interest of the child and family to move forward, the family will be provided the child's full file for review. The family must have a doctor/and or specialist review the file.
• All families matched with a particular Waiting Child may have up to 30 days to review the child's documentation to determine if they would like to proceed with the adoption. Great Wall requires that all families review the child's medical information with a medical professional. We also highly recommend the family to discuss your decision with your social worker. Your family will need to be approved by your social worker to complete the adoption process of this child and bring him or her into your family. Great Wall encourages all families to contact doctors specializing in international adoptions. We have included a link for your convenience.
  

It is important to note that due to the change in policy by the CCAA regarding the "locking" of a child's file, a family reviewing that child's file may not be the sole family in this process of review. Great Wall cannot guarantee the child will be available should the family decide to move forward with the adoption.
Please note, Great Wall China Adoption only matches families with children, the CCAA determines final approval for all placements.

The Waiting Child Adoption Process

·  If you have already submitted your dossier to China:

• Great Wall will submit your application, Rehabilitation and Nurture Plan, and a Parent Information Sheet and photos to the CCAA within their online system for approval
• Families must provide a home study update that approves them for the placement of a child with Special Needs; If you filed the I800A application, you must update your file with USCIS
• Once Great Wall receives your Pre-Approval, a copy will be forwarded to your family via email
• The CCAA will expedite the processing of your dossier. Upon approval of your dossier the CCAA sends Great Wall your official referral letter - or Letter Seeking Confirmation. We forward this to your family to sign and return.
• Upon receipt of the signed LSC the CCAA will then issue your Travel Approval.

We have made significant changes in regards to the Waiting Child Program in order to protect the privacy of the children and our families.

• The approval process is confidential. In order to protect the privacy of our families, Great Wall will not disclose specific information regarding the placement of any child.
• We will no longer allow families to post any identifying information for a particular child on any public forum, including but not limited to: chat groups, blogs, websites, newsletters, etc. until the placement of the child has officially been approved by the CCAA.

Sample Downloads

• Parent Info Sheet (doc)
• Sample Rehab & Nurture Plan (doc)