JCICS UPDATE!

Dear Friends,

Humanitarian Parole

It is Joint Council’s position that the U.S. government should immediately grant humanitarian parole to all children being adopted by U.S. citizens. At present, Joint Council is appealing with the U.S. government, specifically the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), to issue humanitarian parole for any child that has been referred to an American family. Humanitarian parole, if granted, would eliminate the need for a visa. Humanitarian parole would also minimize the paperwork and possibly eliminate the need to find documents, which have been destroyed in the earthquake. Given the urgent needs of the children, the fact that the Haitian government has lifted all exit requirements and that the children have adoptive families, we believe that humanitarian parole is the most humane solution to this crisis. Please note that Joint Council has not received confirmation for humanitarian parole but we are working diligently towards that end. When and if humanitarian parole is granted, we will publish the information widely.

From our many, many meetings with Members of Congress, the Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security, you should know that your government is working diligently and with great compassion to find a solution which will help get the children into safe, permanent and loving families as quickly as possible.

Haiti Adoptive Families & Orphan Database

Thank you for helping adoptive families register with our Haiti Adoptive Families & Orphan Database. To date we have over 250 families registered. Please continue to publicize the database, even if you are not directly involved with Haiti. The wider the message is distributed the more families we will ultimately reach. The database allows us to keep the families and our government updated on the latest information and how the ongoing efforts effect the children we all serve.