Call To Action - The Guatemala 5000 Initiative

I need your help!!! Guatemalan adoptions have been "under fire" for a long time now, but the threat of adoptions ending has gotten more and more serious. Now not only are we looking at the possibility of adoptions closing in the future, we are also faced with a very real risk that current pending cases will not be allowed to be completed.

In response to this threat, the Joint Council on International Children's Services has created the Guatemala 5000 Initiative to help mobilize a response to the proposed changes. There are approximately 5,000 pending cases right now, so if "in process" adoptions are ended, 5,000 Guatemalan children could be left with an uncertain future. The Guatemalan government has NO infrastructure, NO budget, and NO PLAN to take care of these children. Gerson Misael and Elviz Eliezer are 2 of the 5,000.

Please join us in the fight to make sure that pending adoptions are completed.

Please go to this petition, read it, and sign it. Please pass this link on to everyone you know and ask them to sign. http://www.petitiononline.com/foafoa1/petition.html

I have copied the JCICS recommendations for calls and e-mails below. Guatadopt has form letters that make it very quick and easy to make these contacts. DH sent ours today via e-mail.

JCICS Call to Action --

What can you do? Make six simple phone calls and one email.

1. Call your U.S. Senator.
· You can find your Senators’ phone numbers at www.senate.gov
· Ask to speak with the Legislative Director or Chief of Staff

2. Call your second U.S. Senator.

3. Call your representative to the U.S. House of Representative.
· You can find your representative at www.house.gov
· Ask to speak with the Legislative Director or Chief of Staff

4. Call or fax the Department of State’s Office of Children’s Issues
· Their number is 202-736-9130
· Their fax number is 202-736-9080

5. Call or fax UNICEF Headquarter
· Ask to speak with Ann Veneman, Executive Director
· Their number is 212-326-7000
· Their fax number is 212-326-7758

6. Call or fax UNICEF Guatemala
· Ask to speak with Manuel Manrique
· Their number is 011-502-2327-6373
· Their fax number is 011-502-2327.6366

7. Send and email supporting Intercountry Adoption to guatemala5000@jcics.org
· Write briefly or at length
· Joint Council will use the cumulative email petition in our advocacy for Intercountry Adoption

When should you call? Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday (October 8th, 9th 10th)
· For maximum affect, we are asking you to make these calls within a 72 hour window!

What should you say? Speak from your heart and give them the following information.
· The Guatemalan government has announced that all adoptions with the U.S. will be suspended on January 1 2008.

· Their announcement also indicated that there will be no ‘grandfathering’ of adoptions already in process.

· If children referred to families are not allowed to be adopted, they will languish in institutions or foster care.

· Your office must get involved and sign the CCAI sponsored letters to the President of Guatemala and UNICEF. These letters ask that all adoptions in-process as of January 1 2008 be allowed to processed to completion under the existing notorial laws.

· Your office should contact the Office of Children’s Issues at the Department of State. Their number is 202-736-9130.

Can you explain the problem behind the pending crisis? Here is some additional information…

· Guatemalan President Oscar Berger has announced plans to effectively stop all adoptions into the United States including those children who have already been referred to adoptive parents

· Over 5,000 children have been referred

· The birthparents for these children have already relinquished their parental rights. As a result, they currently have no family and the Berger suspension will result in these children having no prospect for a permanent, safe and loving family

· The government of Guatemala currently does not have the finances or facilities to even provide housing for these 5,000 children

· The Berger plan is a crisis waiting to happen