Children's House International is thrilled to be approved as a Special Needs Agency! CHI wishes to help ALL children in need but has been and will continue to be the strongest advocates for the children who seem to have the smallest voices. The children with needs considered harder to place is where CHI will continue to concentrate.

An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle but will never break. -- Based on an ancient Chinese belief Is the red thread pulling you to China?

CHI GENERAL OVERVIEW:

Children's House International has been working as a registered adoption agency in China since 1994. As you know, CHI always had a special heart for children with special needs and in 2001 became a part of the Waiting Child Program which placed children with special medical needs into families. CHI gained a strong reputation for advocacy and placed nearly 600 children with special needs into forever families and supported programs which sponsored medical intervention for children remaining in China.  CHI prides itself on being able to give very individualized attention to families. We are happy to "hold adoptive parents hands" as we realize that they are putting one of the most profound events in their lives in someone else's hands. We know the fears, hopes, anxieties, and dreams of adopting a child with special medical needs. We welcome families to ask questions and to clarify, clarify, clarify. That's our job and we love doing it!

Here are some more of CHI's strengths:

• CHI is directly accredited with the CCAA and does not need to work through another agency. We have direct communication with the CCAA and know each family's case intimately.

• CHI will help guide families through all stages of paperwork including (USCIS) and authentications.

• A complete itinerary is reviewed with CHI and given to families before they depart.

• We have a term relationship with our travel partners which allows our families to have personalized small travel groups at an affordable price.

• The smaller travel groups allow families more flexibility to tailor adoption trips to the personal preferences.

• This can include tours to Beijing and/or other Chinese cities can be arranged before or after travel to adoptive child's province.

• Families sign a financial agreeement available on our public website. Families know exactly what they are paying for, when, and why.

• CHI is an active member of Joint Council on International Children's Services (JCICS).

• Children's House International is fully COA HAGUE accredited.

CHILDREN WAITING FOR FAMILIES:

Right NOW there are over 928 children on the Shared Agency List of Children with Special Needs waiting for their chance to have a family...to have a future. It is not 92 or 28 children, but 928 little individuals who wait on that list. CHI has always advocated for these children with special needs. We know how many personal stories, personal tragedies, personal dreams and personal miracles this number represents.

The Shared Agency List is composed of files very much like those CHI has seen in our past groups....and we all remember how magnificent all those children were and continue to be!

There are precious infant girls with cleft palates, energetic toddler boys with limb differences, delightful pre-school aged girls with Hepatitis B, bright school aged boys with visual impairments, and hopeful 8 and 9 year olds and even pre-teens who are physically healthy, but teetering on the threshold of aging out of adoptive opportunities.  As awlays in China most children have been abandoned and information on their birth families does not exist.

ELIGIBILITY:

• Married couples must be at least 30 years of age and under 55 at the time the dossier is logged into China. If it is the first marriage for both the husband and wife, they must be married a minimum of 2 years.

• If either the husband or wife has been married previously, their current marriage must be a minimum of 5 years.

• Up to two divorces each for both the husband or wife may be allowed.

  

• Families must have 4 or fewer children under the age of 18 in the home at the time of dossier registration. Though family waives may be requested on a case-by-case basis.

• The youngest child in the home must be at least 1 year old at the time the dossier arrives in China.

• Families must have an approved home study completed that includes all of the Chinese requirements.

• Families must have (US)CIS immigration clearance (this includes an FBI fingerprint results).

• Parents must be in reasonable health and have no medical condition that would limit their ability to parent a child. Severe diseases that affect life expectancy will not be allowed. Medications for serious depression, mania or anxiety may need further medical information. For other medical issues that may be decided on a case-by- case basis, please contact CHI for specific medical issues.

• Neither parent may have a BMI (Body Mass Index) of over 40. You can calculate your BMI using this website.

• Families must meet the CCAA yearly income requirements of a minimum of $30,000 for a childless couple or $10,000 per person in the household and an additional $10,000 for the newly adopted child. Another example, a family of four should make a yearly income of $50,000. That is $10,000 each for the four members already in the household plus an additional $10,000 to cover the child to be adopted.

• Families must be able to report a minimum Net Worth of $80,000.This can include your home, all household possessions, computers, jewelry, vehicles, pensions plans, retirement benefits and 401K to name a few examples. Please call our office for more information on what may be included.

• Parents should have no criminal records. On an case-by-case basis, consideration will be given when either parent meets all of the following conditions: has less than 3 criminal records of slight severity and have resulted in no sever outcomes AND the time of correction has been at least 10 years ago.

• China will not allow parents to adopt with any history of domestic violence, sex abuse, child abandonment or abuse.

• China will not allow parents to adopt with any recorded history of narcotics abuse.

• Parents may be accepted on a case-by-case basis with an alcohol conviction if there has been no issues within the past 10 years.

• At least one parent MUST travel to China to complete the adoption there. CHI recommends that both parents go as the experience it is truly life changing. Length of stay in China is approximately 7-10 working days. With the exception of the Guangdong province which is 10-14 working days.

CHINA ADOPTION FEES:

Please view our financial agreement, as well as all of our agency documents by clicking here to receive information on the agency contract, financial agreements and statistical information on: the number of adoption placements per year for the prior 3 calendar years, the number of placements that remain intact, the number of families who apply to adopt each year, and the number of waiting children eligible for adoption.

REFERENCES:

Please click on the following link to hear from some of our wonderful CHI families and their feelings about their CHI experience. Our Families Speak.

The world has most recently focused its heart on the orphaned children of Haiti. There are so many children there needing help and it is hoped that the world can help change their futures. But it is not just through natural disasters that tragedy befalls a child. Hundreds of thousands of children around the world are bereft and alone with no family of their own. A little one can be left with nothing when they have medical needs their birth families cannot meet or will not accept. Without the support of a family, many children don't have the opportunity for corrective medical treatment, or have their needs even minimally met.

EACH of these Waiting Children is deserving of the future in which they hope to be part of a forever family. EACH child deserves advocacy and our undeterred efforts to help them home. CHI will be here for them. CHI will be here for the families needing help to complete their adoptions. CHI will remain here for the families and children as life moves forward after the adoption has been completed.  

For agencies who are now receiving their first approval into the Waiting Child Program under the Hague, there is a new requirement. These agencies will be allowed to work ONLY in their licensed states using their own agency social workers to complete home studies. After one year, if the agency shows that it can work and remain in good standing, the requirement may be lifted.

This means that at this time, CHI may work with families within the states of Washington, Utah, and Florida as well as selective Overseas families.

TO GET MORE INFORMATION:

For additional information on our China Waiting Child Program please email: china.inquiry@chiadopt.org.

China is our passion as thousands of children are still waiting in Chinese orphanages for their forever families. Is your child waiting for you?

"Remember, this is the greatest thing that will ever happen in the life of this child. Tell her to go forth on behalf of all her sisters who will never have this chance and change the world."
Parting advice from a very wise and loving orphanage director, Mrs. Fenrong Chen (pictured at right).

The staff of the CHI China Waiting Child Program remains dedicated, passionate and highly experienced in adoption from China. We look forward to serving more children and more exciting news as we roarrrrr into the year of the TIGER!