Dear Friends,
As the Directors of A Child’s Waiting, we would like to express our gratitude to those of you who have offered such words of encouragement and overwhelming support over the past several months. We are so blessed to have hundreds of families willing to speak on our behalf regarding their positive experiences with A Child’s Waiting. For those of you who were not aware, the State of Ohio was considering not renewing the agency license. The media can unfortunately distort the truth and sensationalize a story so we apologize if this is the means you discovered the issue. Throughout this process we have continued to practice and move forward with many successful placements both with birthmothers and County agencies. Families have not been affected during the past several months as or agency status never changed. As of Friday, August 22, ACW agreed to a settlement with ODJFS as to avoid the high cost of litigation. As part of the "no-fault" settlement ACW has agreed to no longer take custody of children. What this means for you as our available families is that your adoption process can continue with very little modification.
For those in the infant program, you will still be presented to birthparents as you have in the past. ACW will coordinate phone calls, interviews, and arrange for services for the placement of a baby. Placement from birthparents from out-of-state will not be affected, as we do not take custody of these children anyway. Ohio birthparents and adoptive parents will now have an attorney that represents them in Probate Court. Meaning, the process is still the same except for the fact ACW is not the custodian. Due to the fact ACW does not take custody; the "placement" fees will be reduced from previous fee schedules for the services that you receive. ACW will continue to provide services to birthparents including counseling, assessment, support, case management, presenting profiles and coordination of services with the adoptive parents. Additionally, all agreed upon birthparent correspondence will still come through ACW. (I.e. letters and picture/updates)
Families wishing to adopt from the foster care system in the public program will not be affected by the changes, as ACW was never custodian of those children. ACW has maintained contracts with a variety of States and Counties throughout this process and will continue to successfully place children in this program as well.
In order for the agency to move forward in a positive direction we have agreed to step aside as the agency Directors and appoint a new Administrator and new Supervising Director. We will continue to be the owners and operators of the organization and support the new leaders as they move forward. The new Supervising Director, responsible for the daily activities of ACW, will be Ronda Berger. Many of you have an existing relationship with Ronda so the transition will be an easy one. Ronda has been with our organization for over 6 years and has a proven history of excellence and professionalism. The Administrator position will be filled and announced shortly on our website.
In closing, we would again like to thank all of you for your patience and support throughout this difficult and often emotional process. ACW has successfully placed over 1500 children in just over 8 years which is a remarkable accomplishment and we have much pride in our work. We care deeply for the children and families we serve and will continue to assist all members of the adoption triad throughout their adoption journey.
Sincerely,
Crissy Kolarik, PCC-S
Jennifer Marando, PCC-S
No comments:
Post a Comment