Adoption Appel

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Opening an Account
Administrative Procedures

1. Registration:
- Complete the Pre-Inscription Form

- Download the documents under “Downloads”
- Attend an information meeting offered by the organization
- Complete a formal request to open a file provided by the organization
- Sign the adoption contract
- Contact a representative of the youth protection service to prepare the psychosocial assessment

2. Preparing a dossier:
- Preparation and assembling of the dossier, including psychosocial assessment
- Sending the dossier to Colombia
- Acceptance notification from Colombia (approximately three (3) months later)

3. Proposal
- Proposal of a child from Colombia (between 24 and 36 months later)
- Departure of parents to Colombia (an interpreter will be arranged)
- The adoptive couple finalizes dealings with SAI

Adoption in Colombia
IIt has been more than thirty years since adoption law was developed in Colombia. The government will ensure that children's rights are respected throughout the process and the CIFW (Colombian Institute of Family Welfare) safeguards the rights of orphaned or abandoned children. Private orphanages, families and homes for children all help in looking after these children. However, they are often affiliated with religious institutions and cannot facilitate adoptions on their own.

Many of the foster families are middle-class families that can accommodate up to 7 children sent by CIFW. These children belong to the Adoption Program of the CIFW.

The Colombian Institute of Family Welfare (CIFW)
The CIFW is the government institution in charge of protection of orphaned or abandoned children. The institute attempts to re-integrate these children into their biological family, and as a last resort when the child is declared abandoned by decree, he or she is placed in the Adoption Program, and lives with a foster family.

The headquarters of the Institute is in Bogota, the capital of Colombia, and there is an office in each major city across the country, totalling 31 regional offices.

For domestic adoption, parents who want to adopt a child go to the headquarters of the CIFW. In cases of international adoption, the request must be made by an agency approved by foreign governments. In both instances, the CIFW will first analyse the file and then send it to one of 31 cities where there is a child or children within the age characteristics requested.

Private Orphanages
The CIFW delegates 8 private foundations (NGOs) with the authority to undertake national and international adoptions.
Of these 8 institutions, there are 5 in Bogota , 2 in Medellin and 1 in Cali :

- Bogotá: FANA, La Casa de la Madre y el Niño, Pisingos, CRAN and Ayúdame
- Medellín: La Casita de Nicolás and La Casa de Maria y el Niño
- Cali : Chiquitines. These institutions are independent legal entities
Their budget is funded in part by the Government and partly by donations from families who adopt their children.

Appel inc. currently conducts adoptions only through the CIFW, and in the past with La Casita de Nicolas and the Casa de Maria y el Niño. The big difference between adopting through the CIFW and private orphanages it that the waiting period is generally longer with CIFW (up to three years), while the costs related to adopting through a private orphanage can increase by $ 5 000 USD, depending on the age of the child desired.

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