Cultural Programs for Adopting Russian Orphans

A growing number of adoption agencies and organizations sponsor exchange programs in which children from Russia and other Eastern European countries visit the United States for a three-week cultural and host-family experience. The intent of these programs is to increase awareness among American families of older children available for adoption, and to find permanent homes for the children.

It's estimated that nearly 700,000 children live in Russian orphanages. Many of these children have at least one living parent who either neglects the child or is too poor to care for the child. Most older children in these orphanages are not adopted, and when they leave the orphanage at age 18, as many as 40 percent become unemployed and homeless, 30 percent become criminals and 10 percent commit suicide, according to Morgan Bates, Director of International Family Services of Arizona.

International Family Services' Family Hope program brings groups of 20 to 26 children, ages 5 to 12, from Russia for a three-week stay with host families. Local families host an individual child or sibling groups of two or three children. "Our families are pre-qualified and screened, but they do not need to have a home study completed," says Bates.

During their visit, the children attend camp every weekday. They learn to swim, they take English lessons, and they go on field trips to the museum and zoo. In addition to offering the children the opportunity to become acquainted firsthand with American culture, the program "gives the host families the opportunity to see if a child will be a good fit," says Bates. "It gives them a chance to form a deeper relationship than they would during a short visit to a Russian orphanage."

After the camp experience ends, the children return to their orphanages. Families who choose to adopt a child can often complete the adoption within two to 12 months.

Bates explains that adopting through the Family Hope program costs less than a traditional Russian adoption, which would require two trips to Russia: one to meet the child and a second trip to adopt the child. Because the child and his or her potential family have already had the chance to get acquainted, adoptions completed via the Family Hope program require only one trip to Russia to bring the child home. Families who adopt multiple children and sibling groups also do not pay full adoption fees for each child -- they get a discounted rate (they also get to claim the Federal Adoption Tax Credit for each child).

Colette Steele of Gilbert, AZ, and three other families in her neighborhood hosted children though the Family Hope program. All four families are adopting children who participated in the program. The Steeles, who already have five biological children, are adopting two girls and a boy (I'll explain how the families are raising the funds to adopt their children in an upcoming article to be published at preconception.com).

Bates says that 95 percent of the children who participate in the program are adopted. That figure rings true for similar organizations, such as Kidsave International, The Gladney Center's Bright Futures Camp, Cradle of Hope Adoption Center's Bridge of Hope program and Adoption Adventure. An article in Adoptive Families magazine (July/Aug 2004) indicates that 90 percent of the children who participate in such camps are adopted.

According to Mara Kamen, who wrote "Summer of Hope" for Adoptive Families magazine, the children who participate in these programs are screened for HIV, TB and hepatitis. They're selected based on their age, health and ability to travel and live in a family setting.

While they're not supposed to know that the goal of the trip is for them to be adopted, many of the children figure that out. Critics of such programs claim that the children feel intense pressure to impress their host families so that they will be adopted, creating an unrealistic situation for both the host family and the child.

Families who aren't adequately counseled to deal with attachment and trauma issues, attention deficit disorders, controlling behaviors, school age children, and/or the effects of malnutrition are sometimes disappointed in their own inability to cope and with the child who they had been told would behave like angels.

Families who are considering hosting a child or adopting through a summer program should speak with others who have hosted children. Interview families who have gone on to adopt and talk to those who have chosen not to in order to glean a well-rounded perspective of the pros and cons of hosting/adopting an older Russian child.

*Note: I do not endorse the programs listed here; I simply provide information about them. I'd love feedback from people who have participated in such programs. I urge anyone interested in hosting a Russian child to thoroughly investigate the program and the agency affiliated with it before signing up.

**Updated information from a reader (August 2007):

The Russian Ministry now requires two trips. My husband and I are adopting a 12- year-old girl we have known for 7 years and who has been to America through a [host] program. The Ministry required my husband and I travel to Russia, meet with an official at the MOE office, sign numerous papers, and then file a petition for our court date. This had to be done in person and both parents had to be present.  Our second trip will be our court date, then the waiting period, and then we come home.

For more news and information about adoption, visit www.laurachristianson.com, and check out my Exploring Adoption bookstore.

Comments

[Eve Lohnes]

I am interested in finding out more about the summer program. Who do I contact in order to begin the registration process for hosting a child from Russia. Please let me know if you've been through the process.

[South Bay - Long Beach Kidsave Community]

Kidsave International is Taking Applications Now for Host Families (May 2005) for Its Summer Miracles Program

Russian and Colombian Orphans Need Host Families
* 6-weeks this summer July - August
* Children Live with U.S. families
* Enjoy a summer away from the orphanage
* Meet people who can provide them a secure future
* Have Fun

With your support Kidsave hopes to bring 150 children from Russian and Colombian orphanages for this year’s Summer Miracles Program. These children will experience life with a family, attend summer camp during the day, receive medical and dental attention, cultivate a lifetime connection with an American family, and may even find forever families (90% of these children find adoptive families).

We need volunteers, fundraisiers, and host families to host the children during their 6-week stay.

Host families pay fees, submit fingerprints, and meet with social workers. Kidsave International provides training for host families and other support, including access to social workers and a network of host families and volunteers (including host families that have gone through the program in years past).

For more information or to volunteer see Kidsave International's website: www.kidsave.org

If you are in the South Bay area of Los Angeles see our website: Southbaykidsave.com or send an e-mail to southbaykidsave@yahoo.com

To host a child call Kidsave International at (888) Kid-Save or (310) 479-5437.

Support Kidsave International's Summer Miracles Program "Because Every Child Needs a Family!"

[Meredith Conrad]

My family is interested in hosting a child this summer. We live in Hickory, NC. Please let me know if it would be possible for us to do so through your organization.

Thank you,

Meredith Conrad