Update #4 from AGCI

Dear Families,

A HUGE THANK YOU to our families who are so generous in giving to Hannah’s Hope and House of Hope. I am blown away by the size of your heart. Thank you from all of us in Portland, OR and in Guatemala. Those children and birth mothers are so well cared for and it has so much to do with the kindness of our adoptive families. May you be blessed!

As I headed home last night and let the day melt away to enjoy the evening, I started thinking about how our team can encourage you through the adoption process. Let’s face it adoption is stressful for all of us! Here are some of my ideas… Tonight, when it’s dark and the stars are out, walk outside and just look up at the expanse of the sky and take note of the millions and billions of stars. And then think just for a moment of how really tiny we are compared to the vastness of the universe. And then, when you are pretty clear on how small we all are, tell God thank you for caring so much about you. Even though, compared to everything else, we are so small, we have a God who thinks the world of us and loves us intensely. Can you believe that He is so crazy about us?!?! I am blown away and I plan on being even more convinced of His care for me after I look at the stars and thank Him for who He is and His love for me. Thanks for your time reading this!

On to some important matters to share or re-share with you this week:

1) USCIS: Please be aware of the dates of expiration of your fingerprints and your Favorable Determination Letter (FDL) from USCIS. We can not keep track of these expiration dates for you, so please check your records. If you have questions, please ask SooJin Park, but if either is 3 months from expiring and you do not yet have your child home, you need to get these renewed through the proper channels. Save yourself the heartache of a delay near the end of your adoption.
2) NO TRAVEL DATES: Just a reminder about the dates where there will be no travel to Guatemala due to governmental meetings: March 16-21, June 28-July 8
3) FORMULA CLARIFICATION: I asked Guatemala again about formula and as it turns out, there are some Similac formulas that are more preferable than others due to what the babies in Guatemala are eating. I looked online at all Similac formulas and here are the recommendations: 1) Similac Advanced Soy Formula, especially for newborns up to 9 months of age, 2) Isomil Advance 2 Soy Formula for babies 9 months to 24 months old, 3) Similac Advanced Formula (milk based) with iron or, 4) Infant Organic formula. The kind of formula needed depends on what the babies are eating in Guatemala. Some have dairy based diets and others are soy based. Both are needed. Remember, cash donations can also be used to purchase formula by our staff.
4) DIAPERS: Our biggest need for diapers is newborn to 6 months.
5) To anyone who can help! We have a family who has filled up 5-20 lb. boxes of donated supplies for Hannah’s Hope and is wondering if any of our traveling families can offer to take one or more down to Guatemala for them. They are willing to ship them directly to your house if you can help!! Please email me if you are able to assist and I will put them in touch with you!
6) OLDER CHILDREN NEEDS: I also heard from Guatemala this week that we have 10 of our older children from Hannah’s Hope signed up to play soccer and we need a cash donation to buy their equipment. We hope to get this information on our website soon, but until then, I wanted to share this with all of you. We need $350 to buy soccer shoes, $200 for shin guards, and $50 for socks. Guatemala has expressed that it is easier to buy the supplies in Guatemala, so cash donations will be best. The team did receive already a donation of 16 soccer balls and pumps from one of our Guatemalan families. THANKS A MILLION! Please let me (Jill) know if you would like to make a donation to our kids in Guatemala.
7) Passport Copies Needed After First Trip: When you come home from visiting your child for the first time, please send full and complete (every page, stamped or not) notarized copies of the passports of each adoptive parent to AGCI to SooJin Park’s attention.
8) USCIS DESK AT THE USE NEEDS YOUR FDL ONCE YOUR CASE IS OUT OF THE PGN: Once you are out of the PGN, please scan and email a copy of your current I-171H (FDL) to the USE at this address: Guatemala.adoptions@dhs.gov. This is vital and non-negotiable!
9) HAGUE QUESTIONS: Many families have been asking about Hague in regards to your adoption, or because you know others who would like to adopt from Guatemala.
Please use this website link as your guide to understanding Hague: http://www.travel.state.gov/pdf/Prospective_Adoptive_Parents_Guide.pdf . We will have a Hague button on the homepage soon with this link.

Now, for the update:

PLACEMENTS:
We recently placed two girls.
First of the month calls: Kim will be calling all families on the boy and girl lists this month. She will finish her calls by the end of next week. Fridays we are updating our written material and she will not be calling on Friday. She is anticipating that this will take her 4 full days.

FIRST TRIP:
Four families traveled to meet their children for the first time this week.

FAMILY COURT:
We had one FC appointment this week and one scheduled so far for next week.

DNA PROCESS:
We had one DNA appointment this week and six appointments next week.

No pre-approvals this week. The US Embassy continues to process the pre-approvals in approximately 30 days once the DNA lab results are received by the USE.

PGN:
TWO families came out of the PGN this week!
Of those who have recently been approved, their last submission date was at the end of November or the beginning of December. Keep praying that things continue to move forward in the PGN!
37 families are in the PGN and we are preparing to submit four more to the PGN soon.

PGN Previews….please read. I have been receiving a number of questions on why it takes so long to fix a preview and so I thought I would explain a bit. A preview means that the advisor who has your case is asking for another document. There are about 130 documents that are submitted into the PGN in your file. When and if you have a preview on your case, we have to either get a document from another agency in Guatemala, or far less likely you will need to provide a document personally. The time that it takes to produce the new document depends on how quickly the USE, Family Court, Family Court social worker, Civil Registry, or You can produce the new document. In the same way that your dossier documents need to be notarized, county certified, state certified, authenticated through the Guatemalan consulate here in the states, registered through family relations, a similar process needs to be completed in Guatemala as well before a document can be submitted back into the PGN. In order to submit you, we are waiting on these other offices and processes. We have many staff members who can handle these needs, but the delay comes in waiting on other Guatemalan agencies to process and reproduce these documents. There is no means of expediting documents by paying an extra fee, like getting a passport or birth certificate expedited in the states. The timeframes are not a reflection of us being too busy to work on your case, or of us not having enough staff to process your case, but of the intricacies of working with multiple agencies to correct a preview.

Another question that keeps coming up is, “If all documents that are required in the PGN are the same then why do some cases get previewed and some do not?” The answer is that the advisors all have a subjective opinion that they are approaching your file with as to what is approvable. The PGN does not provide a guide for the perfect PGN file. Like your dossiers are all the same, the case that is submitted into the PGN on your behalf also looks the same. So, it would seem that all cases would process the same, but due to advisors who have different opinions on what the files should look like, therein lies the problem. Some go through without a preview and some have multiple previews. Remember, you are adopting from the country of Guatemala who has their own protocol for processing adoptions through their own government. We may have our opinions and ideas on how to improve the system, but we have to comply with the governmental process. That being said, we count it a privilege as an agency to be able to have a presence in Guatemala and to provide relief and care to the children and women who come to us.


PGN PROCESS:
PGN PROCEDURE
1) The file is submitted at the General Secretary’s office. They received the file at a special window. The person who submits the file gets a receipt, stamped by PGN and indication of the time and date.
2) The General Secretary distributes the files among the advisors and sends them “upstairs” to the designated advisor.
3) The advisor’s official receives the file and gives it to the advisor.
4) The advisor reviews the file and makes a resolution.
5) The advisor’s official is the person in charge of printing that resolution, he reviews it once more, prints it and gives it back to the advisor for his signature.
6) The advisor signs the resolution and gives it back to the official. The official then, sends the file to the Sub General Attorney’s office.

Procedure at Sub General Attorney’s Office.

a) The Sub General Attorney’s Secretary receives the file.
b) File goes to official 1, who’s job is to review data (names, dates, etc.)
c) File goes to official 2, who reviews data a second time
d) Then the file is given to the reviewer. The reviewer is an attorney who makes sure the resolution is in accordance to the Guatemalan Law regarding adoption.
e) Then file goes back to the Sub Attorney General’s secretary.
f) Finally, it goes to the Sub General Attorney’s desk for final signature.

7) Then the file is send to the General Secretary’s office.
8) At last, the General Secretary puts the file in the window ready to be picked up.

PREVIEWED AND APPROVED FILES.

The previewed file goes through all the steps mentioned above, except b) and d). The file that has been previewed is signed sooner than approved ones.

CIVIL REGISTRY:
Seven families are in CR

IN TRANSLATION:
We have 3 cases currently in translation; once everything has been translated these cases will be submitted to the USE for their pink slips!

IN US EMBASSY:
We have submitted one family to the USE for their pink slip and are awaiting a visa appointment.

PINK SLIP:
Five families had Visa appointments this week, two families will travel next week for their Visa appointment, and we hope to have at least one more appointment scheduled soon!

Have a great weekend,

Jill, Kim and SooJin