Special Needs Assessment
As part of AAI's China team, it is our desire to provide excellent service to all of our clients, which means ensuring that the children that we place with our adoptive parents are the best possible fit for their families. This is especially important for the orphans in our Special Waiting Children (SWC) program who may need extra love and care in order to reach their full potential. In order to help us create the best matches between adoptive parents and available children in our SWC program, we place all of our China clients on one of two lists. The first list is for AAI clients who are "SWC only," which means they are only interested in adopting a Special Waiting Child. The second list is for families who are current AAI clients in the "Regular" China program but are also interested in exploring the possibility of adopting a Special Waiting Child.
"SWC ONLY" FAMILIES
AAI families interested in adopting a Special Waiting Child only must complete the following items before their name can be added to the list:
- Special Needs Assessment Questionnaire (below)
- Health Insurance Verification Form (available after completing Questionnaire below)
- A meeting with their caseworker/consultant regarding their decision to adopt a child with special needs
"REGULAR" PROGRAM FAMILIES
Families in the "Regular" program who are interested in exploring the possibility of adopting a Special Waiting Child must complete the following before their name can be added to the list:
- Special Needs Assessment Questionnaire (below)
- Health Insurance Verification Form (available after completing Questionnaire below)
Those on this list will need to meet with their caseworker about their desire to change programs when they become eligible for an identified child on the list from which they hope to adopt.
PRIORITIZATION PROCEDURES
Families that are "SWC only" will have priority over the families in the "Regular" program when considering the available Special Waiting Children and will be shown the list first. When the list of children is shown by e-mail to families, it will contain a flyer of the new SWC children. The family will then need to notify the consultants listed below in a timely manner of any children they are interested in. Families will be considered based on our prioritization procedures, which are as follows:
1. We will only accept questionnaire submissions (below) expressing interest in particular children (no telephone calls please). Submissions WILL NOT be prioritized by first received.
2. After the "SWC only" clients have considered the new list of children, we will then show the list to families in the "Regular" program that have expressed interest in adopting a Special Waiting Child. These clients in the "Regular" program will be prioritized based on the length of time the family has been in the China program, AAI policies regarding birth order and age spacing, as well as CCAA requirements. We will then forward the referral information to the first family for consideration. For instance, if eight families contact us about one particular child, we will offer the referral to the family that has waited the longest, provided that the AAI policies and China eligibility regulations are maintained. We will encourage the first family on the list to review the referral information for not more than three days, if possible. If that family is unable to accept the referral, we will contact the next family on the list.
3. While we anticipate being able to offer a referral of a particular child to the family that has waited the longest, we will, most importantly, take into consideration what is in the best interest of the child. The policies regarding birth order and age spacing apply--meaning we will not insert a child into an already existing birth order, nor will we place a child who is not at least nine months younger than the youngest child in the home. We will also be using the Special Needs Assessment Questionnaire as a tool to assist us in finding an appropriate family for every child.
