January 19th, 2012

CCCWA posted Special Needs referrals on Monday, 1-16-12, We were able to find forever families for 3 beautiful little girls!

CCCWA also released referrals for the Regular Program, for log in dates up to August 15, 2006.

Six families will arrive home tomorrow from China, with their children!

EAC had several children on our individual list and also on Rainbow Kids.

All but 1 of those children have been placed.

We have requested (from CCCWA) that we be given additional pictures, and medicals.

It is going to take a week or two, as China will be celebrating Chinese New Year 1-23-12 till 1-30-12.

Happy Chinese New Year to everyone!

December 22, 2011

We received the TA's and got Embassy appointment for 6 families.

They will be going to China, right after the holidays! One of the families is adopting 2 children.

CCCWA posted the Special Needs list this week, and 3 more babies found their forever families!

A special "Thank You" to all the families that have taken the time to send all the cards, and BEAUTIFUL pictures, of your children!

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays!

December 8, 2011

Four families picked up the visa's for their children today, in Guangzhou.

Zhou will be home this week end, too. After 5 weeks in China, he is ready to be home, and enjoy the holidays.

We're waiting for CCCWA to issue TA's for more families, so we can schedule our next group.

We hope everyone has a safe, and very Happy Holiday Season!

November 14, 2011

Mr. Zhou is currently in China with 5 families.

They will have their embassy appointments this week and will be home on Friday.

We have 4 more families leaving for China next week!

We'll be waiting for TA's, so our next group can be scheduled.

EAC would like to wish you all, a very happy Thanksgiving!

April 13, 2011

Zhou is returning from China this week. Nine (9) families completed their adoptions on this trip!

We're waiting for TA's for nine (9) additional families so they can travel soon!

CCCWA (The China Center for Childrens Welfare and Adoption) and issued referrals (regular program) for LID up to June 15, 2006.

We received very uplifting stories about a couple of our recent arrivals that had successful corrective surgeries

We received a video of "Peter", one of our "Special Focus" children and posted it on our website. He is adorable - check him out!

Registration has open for our 19th Annual Memoreial Weekend Reunion, and look forward to seeing many of you there!

March 29, 2011

The China Center for Adoption Affairs (CCAA) released a statement today detailing changes to its requirements. Here is a summary of what is stated:

In reference to Homestudies:(applies to families receiving LIDs after 10/1/11)

1) Must be completed by Hague Accredited Agencies ONLY

2) "Adult" children of couple will need to submit a letter of reference

3) A total of 12 hours of training

4) If there has ever been counseling or therapy relating to alcohol/drug abuse. trauma. or emotional loss - a psychological test will need to be completed.

In reference to Post Adoption reporting:(applies to families receiving TA's after 8/1/11)

1) 6 reports will be required - 30 day, 6 month, 12 month, 24 month, 36 month, and 60 month. The 24, 36, and 60 month reports will require a medical and school evaluation. Certificate of Citizenship required with 12 month report.

2) Eight (8) photos to be submitted with each report

>> Download the full document (click here) <<

March, 2011

Zhou is leaving for China this week. Six (6) families will be completing their adoptions. We're waiting for TA's for several additional families so they can travel and arrive while Zhou is still in China.

CCAA issued referrals (regular program) for LID up to June 9, 2006. We have new "Special Focus" children on our website, that need "forever families".

We have begun preparations for our 19th Annual Memoreial Weekend Reunion, and look forward to seeing many of you there!

February, 2011

Happy New Year!!!!

It was nice seeing many of you at the EAC Valentines Day party!

- We had 10 families travel to China and complete their adoptions - including one proud family of 6 year old twins!

- We have a number of families waiting for TA's (travel arrangements)for March

- Our Special Needs program found homes for 5 children last month - they will be home soon!

- CCAA posted that referrals have been sent out for LID (log in date) up to 6-2-06

November, 2010

- 10 more families came home with their children in November!

- Last month, 8 families accepted referrals through the special needs program.

September 14, 2010

April 4, 2010

March, 2010 - Part III

Speaking of Memorial Weekend, REGISTER TODAY at www.eacshop.com

March, 2010 - Part II

The Adoption Tax Credit (ATC), which was scheduled to expire in 2010, was extended for one-year (through December 31, 2011).   The highlights of the ATC are;

• The maximum credit was increased from $12,150 to $13,170,
• The ATC is now retroactive to January 1, 2009.  This represents a potential increase of $1,000 for adoptive families.
• The ATC was made refundable.  If a family has no tax liability, the IRS will refund the amount due.

The extension of the ATC through 2011, was passed as part of the health care reform bill which was signed into law by President Obama on Monday, March 22, 2010.   There was some concern that the ATC would be included in the reconciliation process, however JCICS has confirmed that it is not part of reconciliation.  This means that the ATC is law until December 31, 2011.

March, 2010 - Updates

*CCAA announced that special needs referrals will only be made to those that have received their official Log In Date. This change was made in large part due to the fact that referrals were being given and families were not readily getting their paperwork completed.

*Mr Zhou is currently scheduling a group to travel this month. We are hoping to send 5 families to bring home more children.

*CCAA has released referrals for Log In Dates up to April 11, 2006. Five WHOLE days this time!

*Please remember to check the expiration of your CIS approval and fingerprints.

December, 2009 - Updates

*As many of you already know Kim Abramski is not with EAC any longer. Like you, we will miss her,
and wish her the best.

*Mr Zhou is in China with 10 families, completing their adoptions. Everyone is scheduled to be home
this weekend. Just in time for Christmas!

*We received referrals for our 3/29/06 LID families. Congratulations to them. CCAA has completed
referrals through the month of March 2006!! We'll be waiting to see if the "wait time" changes now?

*Please remember to check the expiration of your CIS approval and fingerprints.
 We wish you all a happy and safe holiday season.

EAC has just been made aware of some contributing factors to the delay in travel approvals and LOAs.

To follow is the exact information we received:

Joint Council has learned that after 8-years as Director General of the China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA), Mr. Lu Ying has been appointed to a position within the Ministry of Social Affairs.  Joint Council extends its considerable appreciation to Director General Lu for his years of dedicated service to the children of China and his leadership in ensuring that Chinese orphans live in a permanent family.  Please join us in wishing Director General Lu much good fortune in his new position and the best that life has to offer.  

A new Director General will soon take on the responsibilities of leading the CCAA.  As more information becomes available, we will publish it as appropriate.  At this time, no significant policy changes are expected from the CCAA. 

Joint Council again thanks Director General Lu for his continued commitment to children and families.  

Harvest Moon Info and Referrals: September 17, 2009

We hope you all had a wonderful summer and are back in the groove with the new school year.

Our five families have returned home from China last week. Two families were sent out this past Saturday and received their children earlier this week (2 year old girl & 6 year old boy). Four additional families are arriving as we type to meet Mr. Zhou in China to complete their adoptions. Everyone will be home October 1st.

Like most of you, we are hearing a lot of chatter about referrals. We are trying to get confirmation from Mr. Zhou as to how much is true.

Mr. Zhou does intend to be at the seminar/Harvest Moon celebration in Columbus on October 3rd. Because he will still be on "China time", to ensure his safe arrival, Kim will be his chauffer for the day! Feel free to remind him what day it is and where he is.

If you are interested in attending or would like more information, please contact Jenny Ewing at eacjenniferewing@yahoo.com

Hope to see you all there!

New Referrals and Travel: August 20, 2009

Congratulations to the eight families that accepted referrals. We placed five girls and three boys this month!

Mr. Zhou is leaving next week to complete five adoptions. We wish them all safe travels. We are hopeful we will be receiving Travel Approvals for six more families while Zhou is in China. If the TA’s come in as hoped for, Mr. Zhou will wait in country and complete their adoptions in September before returning home.

Mr. Zhou has confirmed that the typhoon has NOT affected the orphanages but is currently tying up communication lines this week between the US and China. CCAA is confident this will be repaired shortly.

As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call.

Making Chinese language learning possible for parents.

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ChineseForParents.com is a social venture providing parents who are adopting children from China with linguistic and cultural training.

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We have received a statement from Tom Difilipo:

"As you may be aware, Joint Council has been working with Dr. Dana Johnson and other stakeholders including Quad A, NCFA, and EACH as well as Congressional Offices, on the issue of the CDC TB protocols. Together we have actively advocated with the United States Dept of Homeland Security, the U.S. Dept of State Office of Children's Issues and the Center for Disease Controls and Prevention on the new TB protocols. However, at this time no positive change has been made by the CDC.

As each day passes, more and more children and families are affected by this issue. Joint Council is currently aware of three families who have been affected by the new protocols. In an attempt to gain support and advocacy on this issue in boarder terms, Joint Council has launched a petition requesting that the CDC change its protocols and more appropriately protect the health of America. The petition can be found at http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/build-families-not-barriers.html. We encourage you to sign the petition and distribute it widely. Through online social networking, the petition has gained over 1,600 signatures in only a few days."

In any of you would like to sign the petition, please use any of the above links.

Bonds have been formed, ties have been made! Most of you still have contact with some, if not all of your travel group. Many of you have met families from other travel groups or internet groups. EAC understands these unbreakable bonds!

You now have the ability to form your own groups! Go back to China for another child and share the experience of a lifetime at a comfort level of complete familiarity with people you already know.

Talk to others from your previous travel groups, others you have met along the way, or even that first time adoptive family from your town who may need the reassurance that YOU will be there for THEM and they will be there for you!

With a minimum of 5 families per group, all meeting CCAA’s requirements to adopt from China, EAC will waive the $500 registration fee for ALL families* in the group!

Call Kim to begin organizing your group today!

* When all five families have submitted their applications to EAC and have all been approved by the review board.

The review room has completed reviewing files through August 31, 2007.

Mr. Zhou is currently in China with 12 families completing their adoptions.

We have received several requests from our families for informational flyers to put up at their fund raisers, churches, picnics, libraries, and/or summer events. If anyone else is interested, please let us know and we can get them out to you!

Effective this week, EAC is implementing new hours for the summer. The consultants will not be available on Fridays. As always, there will be someone available for emergencies.

On a side note: If your looking for something to do this summer the Cleveland Museum of Art is featuring an exhibit on Asian art through August 23rd entitled Streams and Mountains Without End: Asian Art and the Legacy of Sherman E. Lee.

We have 12 families leaving July 1st to pick up their children. One family received twin girls!! We wish them safe travels.

CCAA has confirmed that the Review room has completed files through 6/30/07. Referrals have been issued through 3/20/06.

We have recently added some new individual referrals to our website. Please contact the China Department with any questions.

The China Department has earned their coolness! We now have a Facebook page. Facebook is a great place to meet new people and network. Search for us by our email address, china@eaci.com or as China Adoptions. We will be posting updates on here as well as Facebook. Be sure to add us as your friend!

Starting July 1, 2009, new screening and treatment requirements for tuberculosis will become effective for Chinese immigrants, including adopted children. For medical exams on or after this date, panel physicians will be required to follow the 2007 Technical Instructions for Tuberculosis Screening and Treatment issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Children between the ages of two and fourteen on the day of the medical exam will be required to have a tuberculin skin test. The test results must be read 48 to 72 hours after the test is administered. If the results are positive, a chest x-ray must be performed. Based upon the results of the chest x-ray, a physical exam, and the child's medical history, the panel physician will determine the appropriate classification, if any, of tuberculosis. Further testing and treatment, prior to immigration, may be required. For further information on the new requirements, please contact the CDC. Please keep these new requirements in mind when scheduling visa appointments with the U.S. Consulate.

It was wonderful seeing everyone for Memorial Day weekend.

We have confirmed travel arrangements this week for five families. Ten additional families are pending. It looks like Mr. Zhou will be in China again this summer.

We have received ten individual special needs referrals. We currently have seven posted on our website as the other three are currently being reviewed by families.

After talking with several families during our holiday weekend, we understand that many of you have hosted fund raising events for Project Sunshine and EAC. If anyone is hosting your own event and would like further information, please contact Scott @ 800-533-0098.

There are currently five families in China with Mr. Zhou. They will be home next week. Pictures have been posted on Zhou's Angels.

Special Needs referrals were posted again this week. We were able to place children with sixteen families! Congrats to everyone!

A notice was sent out from CCAA regarding the Swine Flu. Travel and referral will not be held up, but they are requesting for families NOT to visit the orphanages for now.

Wait times from referral to travel for Special Needs adoptions has been averaging 5-6 months since February.

We're looking for more adoption stories and pictures our China parents for the website. If you are interested in contributing please email the China department (china@eaci.com) or call Chris or Kim (800-533-0098) for more information.

As many of you know, CCAA has issued a statement regarding the swine flu and travel:

CCAA has NOT issued any statements regarding the issuance of referrals, LOAs or TAs. We know this is a very tense time for everyone and we will do our best to keep you updated with any information that becomes available to us. Mr. Zhou is in constant contact with officials at CCAA and at this time, the officials are not sure how they are going to handle this situation. This is a holiday weekend for them and they will not be back in the office until their Monday morning. Hopefully we will know more then.

On a lighter note, we wish our five families that just arrived in China this morning safe travels! Mr. Zhou will be home in time for Memorial Day weekend. We look forward to seeing all of you there!

As of 4/1/09, CCAA has issued referral up to and including March 6, 2006. We have received no information regarding the review process.

Some of you may have heard the rumors regarding the online system with CCAA. Most of these changes are internal and should not affect our families. All forms and fees have been completed by EAC already. We have confirmation of continued support from CCAA.

Mr. Zhou has only been home two weeks and we are already preparing to send him back to China again! This will be a short trip to ensure he is home for Memorial Day weekend. Check our website for details about the events for Memorial Day weekend. Registration is available online this year. Hope to see you all there!

14 Families in Guangzhou