Grants Available for Waiting Children

Each of the following children have $2000 adoption grants available to them through ATWA (www.atwakids.org)! Please consider making these children your own and sharing their stories with everyone you know. Let’s work together to find families for each of these children.

First we have Noah. A baby boy born 3/2012 with DS.

The second child that has received a $2000 grant is Ana. Ana is so sweet. Her DOB is 1/2011. Her special need is post op spina bifida. She has no use of her lower limbs and is incontinent. Ana is very healthy and a video is available of her if you are interested.

Our third child who has received an adoption grant of $2000 is Benjamin. Let’s get real honest here, the only reason Benjamin is waiting is because he is a boy. He is healthy! His DOB is 5/2010 and he is post op CL/CP. Bring him home!

All of these children are designated to Across the World Adoptions. You can learn more about them at http://www.atwatogether .org

Matthew has a grant

A few I weeks ago I posted about Matthew. I heard tonight that Matthew has an adoption grant available that will cover almost if not all of the adoption expenses. Spread the word! Matthew ages out in September. He is hoping for a family of his own. You can read more about Matthew here, as I was a guest blogger at Love Without Boundaries a few weeks ago.

An New Documentary on Adoption

I loved Somewhere Between and I am looking forward to seeing Stuck. If you have not seen Somewhere Between, go watch it! Below is a quick description of Stuck.

“STUCK is a new award-winning documentary film, produced by Both Ends Burning that uncovers the personal, real-life stories of children and parents navigating a rollercoaster of bureaucracy on their journeys through the international adoption system, each filled with hope, elation – and sometimes heartbreak.

STUCK steps into the complex human experience of adoption, exploring the challenges faced by birth parents, prospective adoptive parents – and children.

The film follows Tihun from Ethiopia, Nate from Vietnam, and Erickson and Therline from Haiti on their individual voyages from orphanages in their native countries to their homes with families in the United States. Filmmaker Thaddaeus Scheel tracks the chapters in the lives of these four children, and the three couples seeking to be their parents, revealing along the way the intense hope and disappointment they experience on the odyssey to unite as families. Some stories are heartwarming, showing incredible examples of kids who blossom after joining their families, while others offer insight into the emotional and physical impact institutional life can have on these kids”.

See the trailer here.

US Adoption Agencies Closing

“We see no other choice but to close our doors,” said Christian World Adoption, which had handled Kyrgyz adoptions, in an e-mail to the waiting families. The agency, based in Fletcher, N.C., said an array of factors, in Kyrgyzstan and elsewhere abroad, had boosted its costs and cut its income to the point where it would file for bankruptcy.

Read the rest of the article here.

 

Cambodia Will Open Adoption Program ***ALERT*** Read below

Beginning January 1, 2013, Cambodia will open its doors to International Adoption after being closed down 4 years ago due to corruption. The United States will allow adoptions from Cambodia as well. To read more, click here.

***ALERT*** The United States has determined that it will not be able to process intercountry adoptions in Cambodia at this time, under the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-Operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (the Convention). January 2, 2013 read more here.

Adoption Tax Credit…..What Do You Think

The New York Times ran an article that dealt with the fact that the adoption tax credit is going to expire this year and how that will affect many Americans wanting to adopt. Many people depend on this credit to replenish their savings or pay off a loan that they took out to finance their adoption. Some people think that if the adoption credit does go away, the cost of an adoption will go down. Some think that the cost will remain the same and less adoptions will take place. What do you think? Many different topics are discussed on this debate forum and I hope that you will find them interesting/helpful/informative.

Read the article here.

Blog Recommendation for Great Adoption News

I know that I run a blog that will keep you updated on adoption news, however this blog is updated just about every day and it is very helpful. So, instead of just sending you to a particular post, I wanted to simply recommend the whole shabang. Enjoy devouring it!

Adoption Tax Credit 2012 and Beyond

The adoption tax credit is refundable for both 2010 and 2011. Under current law (which could still be changed), the tax credit is as follows in 2012 and 2013:

2012 — The tax credit will be $12,650 per child. Families who adopt children with special needs will be able to claim the full credit regardless of their qualified adoption expenses. Other adopters will have to have qualified adoption expenses.

The credit will NOT be refundable, meaning that families can benefit only if they have federal income tax liability. Just as before 2010, families will claim the credit with their 2012 taxes, use what they can that year, and then can carry any remaining credit forward for five additional years until the credit is used up or time runs out.

We strongly encourage everyone who is eligible to claim the credit even if they will not benefit in 2012. It is possible families’ tax situations will change in future years or that the credit might become refundable again.

2013 — Only families who adopt special needs children from foster care will be eligible for up to $6,000 in the adoption tax credit. However, the credit will be based on expenses so families would need to have qualified adoption expenses to claim any credit. The credit will not be refundable, so families can benefit only if they have federal income tax liability. The income limits for the credit will also be reduced significantly in 2013, meaning that families with higher incomes will not benefit.

The adoption credit was made permanent for special needs adoption when the credit was first created. Credits for other adoptions are time limited and are scheduled to end by December 31, 2012.

 Information taken from this article.

Adoption Tax Refund 2010 Confusion

I don’t know about any of you, but the adoption tax refund process was a nightmare for us. We filed in March and finally received our refund in November. It took a very long time! The General Accounting Office released a report discussing this very issue.

GAO Releases Report on the Adoption Tax Credit

In response to concerns about processing problems and delays related to the adoption tax credit, the General Accounting Office (GAO) studied how the credit was processed during the 2010 tax season. During the research phase, NACAC was able to share with the GAO information we had gathered from families about problems they encountered.

The report found that the IRS’s communication strategy was lacking and its compliance review process was very time consuming. The report found that 83 percent of the 100,000 claims filed were sent for additional review. Reviews found that only 17 percent of returns needed to be adjusted; the other 83 percent had no change in refund made or taxes owed. The review found no fraudulent claims and no cases were referred for criminal investigation.

The GAO suggests that the compliance reviews took more IRS staff time than warranted and unnecessarily slowed refunds (with each review taking an average of 74 days). GAO is recommending changes in the process for the 2011 adoption tax credit, including better communication up front.

Download the full report

This information was taken from ATWA.

New Mexico Program Opened in September

For those of you interested in adopting from Mexico, a new program was opened with Across the World Adoptions in California. Click here to read more about the program, you will be reading the Mexico page on this website.