The National Adoption Center (the primary adoption authority in Ukraine since 1996) loses authority over adoption on April 30, 2006 to the new State Department for Adoption and Protection of Rights of the Child (SDAPRC). These are both Ukrainian government departments. Ukraine adoption is centralized and 100% controlled by the government.


Good-bye Scooby-Do hallway in the National Adoption Center (pictured above).........


Translation for anyone who doesn't watch Scooby-Do cartoons. A group of 4 kids (young adults) and a dog named Scooby-Do try to solve mysteries. And typically right before they catch the "bad" guy, they are chased around the castle/graveyard/warehouse/zoo etc... Everyone runs around like a chicken with their head cut off. Doors are opened and slammed.


As an adoptive parent standing in the NAC hallway, I watched government workers and translators pop in and out of various slammed doors. The analogy seemed very fitting.


The rumor is that the NAC's last appointments for pipeline cases (dossier approved) is April 7. And the paperwork will start moving over to the new Department on Adoption and Child Rights Protection on April 10. So from April 10 to April 30, NAC would just work with families who were in Ukraine, in the middle of the adoption process. But this is just a rumor.


Under the "isn't a rumor" category.


The NAC isn't accepting any new dossiers at this time.


The NAC's director is on vacation (out of the office) and this has the potential for slowing down some paperwork processing. However she has dropped into her office last week. And families are getting referrals and visting children.


From what I can tell... just listening to friends, reading emails.


Families who want older children, Families who had approved dossiers in May 2005, Families who hosted children, Families who had approved dossiers in August 2005, Families who had January and February appointments.... are getting appointments at the National Adoption Center in March and April.


And from families who are returning from adopting in Ukraine........ The American Embassy in Kyiv is asking families to please register their children and do their post adoption reports.


On Feb 3, 2006, 900 post adoption reports were missing for adoptions (completed by Americans) from 1996 to 2004. Three weeks later 800 post adoption reports are still missing. This is 13% of the adoptions by Americans between 1996 to 2004.


As I previously blogged here my 2003 post adoption report was one of these missing. I did email it to the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington DC yesterday. Yeah... Now there are only 799 reports missing.

Please feel free to email me at adoptukraineblog@adoptionmail.com to vent or share information.