Letter regarding the MCFD

A local adoptive family approached us and asked us to do a blurb about the wait time it has taken to get into the AEP program for our adoption. They decided to draft a letter to be sent to some government representatives to try to have the system reviewed and bring attention to wait times for adoptions within Canada.  I've attached a copy of the letter here, as an example for others who are experiencing similar wait times and need/want to try to help make a change occur. 

To:       Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, BC’s Representative for Children and Youth

            [Name omitted], BC Liberal MLA

            [Name omitted], MP 

 

Re: Concern over adoption wait times for adoptions within Canada

Did you know that there are more than 30,000 children waiting for adoption in Canada (www.canadaswaitingkids.ca)? These children reside in foster care through the Ministry for Children and Family Development (MCFD) until they can be matched up with a prospective adoptive family. Various studies prove what I think most of us know: children need the stability of a forever home through adoption.

Did you know that presently there are significant road blocks and administrative red tape that prevent prospective adoptive families from completing Canadian adoptions through MCFD in a timely manner? This means that precious children who want and deserve loving families wait even longer. Consider the following:

 

·         There is currently NO formal foster-to-adopt program in BC. Parents who foster a child available for adoption may adopt that particular child, but families willing to foster-to-adopt are not connected with children through a formal network, meaning MANY potential connections are missed. A family in a small, rural community willing to foster-to-adopt may not have any eligible children in their area, where there could be many children available in large city centres, such as the lower mainland. With no formal foster-to-adopt program, both these available families, and more sadly, these waiting children, will needlessly continue to wait when a simple connecting process could end this.

·         Prospective adoptive parents in this area have waited extraordinary amounts of time to take the government-required pre-adoptive training programs. In some cases, home studies aren’t done until this training is completed, meaning prospective adoptive families and waiting children wind up waiting almost a year to get the administrative portions of the process taken care of. Case in point:

“Our journey to adopt through the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) began in March of 2013.  So far we are finding the process to be slow moving and frustrating.  Our main concern so far has been the time we had to wait prior to being able to enrol and begin the required Adoption Education Program (AEP).  Between March and September there was no course available, in spite of us being willing to travel, or take it by correspondence.  The options available are not sufficient for people who are adoption-ready.  We were told at one point that few adoptions proceed during the summer – and that was very concerning to us as well.  Children don’t stop needing forever homes, and parents don’t stop wanting children, just because the weather is nice out.  We have not felt that the MCFD has made finding forever families for these children a priority.” – E and Cal, [town name removed] BC (Sept. 2013)

·         Families who have adopted and would like to adopt again are restricted by the MCFD “one year policy” – families are supposed to wait one year between adoptions. Recognizing this may be valuable in many cases, there are other cases where families are adopting foster children that may have lived with them for years. It does not make sense to make these families go through another waiting period; the child is not new to the home, and there is no adjustment period like there would be in an adoption where a child is newly placed. For families in these situations, it is frustrating that it is hard to even get home studies and other administrative necessities updated by MCFD during the waiting period. This waiting period could be used fruitfully by getting paperwork out of the way, and possibly even meeting with a child the family would like to adopt; when the one year period is over, the adoption placement could be done in a timely manner instead of adding increased delays.

With all of these points combined, I am deeply concerned with the issues people are having in adopting within Canada. These waiting children are precious, and deserve better. They deserve to be connected with the families that are trying hard to battle the administrative delays, so they too can enjoy stability, and a permanent home.

Please join with me in advocating for these children, who cannot change the process themselves, and yet are most affected by it – every day, until they are adopted.

Sincerely,

 

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