Colombia - Over 61,000 Children
February 09, 2009
Over 61,000 Children
Today in Colombia, there are 61,121 children that have been removed from their biological families because ICBF considers that they are in danger. Children that have been removed from their families have experienced one or more of the following situations: sexual abuse, physical abuse, child labor, abandonment, neglect, or life on the streets.
The number of children under the care of ICBF has increased in the last three years. In 2007, the number was over 48,000. In 2008, it was over 54,000.
Even with this staggering increase, the national director of ICBF, Elvira Forero, believes that there are many more children who are in a vulnerable situation. She hopes that people who recognize abuse and neglect will contact ICBF officials in their area.
Despite the plea for people to be on the look out for abuse and neglect, the director explains that ICBF's goal is not to find new homes for the children, but to educate the parents and hope that the children can safely be returned to either their biological parents or their extended families. In reality, 70 % of the children in ICBF care eventually return home to parents or extended family, while over 8,500, wait to be adopted.
Bogotá is the place that has the most children living under ICBF protection -- 13,939. Next is Antioquia with 7, 847. Then follows Valle with 6, 710, Santander with 2,624, and Nariño with 2,282. The areas with the least number of children in custody are San Andrés with 426, Arauca 358, Vaupés with 83, and Vichada with 41.
The article also points out that if the reason children have been removed is purely economic, ICBF tries to help the parents provide for their children.
This information was extracted from a newspaper article published in El Tiempo on February 5, 2009. To read it in Spanish, use the following link:
http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-3302343
Posted by Colombian Mommy at 12:00 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Labels: Adoption Statistics, Current Events
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
What happens to some children that are never aodpted?
On December 14th, 2008, El Tiempo published and article about 2,678 people, who although they were abandoned as children, were never adopted. This is the number of people who are now adults and yet remain dependent on ICBF for their care. The article states that of the 2,678, only 1,074 have some sort of disability.
Here is a summary, in English, of the article.
The article follows the life of Luz Ameida, who became part of the ICBF system when she was 8 year old -- now 27. She is paralyzed on one side of her body. She recently received her diploma and hopes to find a job in a supermarket and become more independent.
On average, 8,000 children ages 0-18 are on the waiting list for adoption. Of these 5,749 are considered SPECIAL NEEDS because of disability, age (over 8), or because they are part of a sibling group. Others are not adopted because they are of African American or Indigenous decent.
The article mentions that the KIDSAVE program in the US and the Private Adoption Houses often help these Special Needs kids find permanent homes in foreign countries.
It mentions that Colombians mostly want to adopt infants.
Next, the article discusses the life of Malkis Real, who beame part of the ICBF system at age 2. He is now 24. He has no disability, but because he was always a good student, ICBF continues to care for him while he goes to college.
There are a few other stories about the kids that remain in ICBF care, but overall I think that the important point is the need that SPECIAL NEEDS kids have to find homes. There are millions of abandoned children worldwide that need homes, and thousands of them are in Colombia. I am grateful to every family that chooses adoption.
If you would like to read the article in Spanish or see the pictures for this article check out the following link:
http://www.eltiempo.com/vidadehoy/gente/home/ARTICULO-WEB-PLANTILLA_NOTA_INTERIOR-4722953.html
Posted by Colombian Mommy at 12:00 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Labels: Adoption Statistics
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Latest Colombian Adoption Statistics
In November, ICBF had a conference where they annouced the 2008 adoption statistics. As of October 31, 2008, 2,093 children had been adopted. Of these, 831 were adopted by Colombian families and 1,262 by non-Colombian families.
2007 was reported as a year with the highest number of adoptions a total of 3,077 -- with 1,175 children adopted by Colombians and 1,902 adopted by foreign families.
Once again, in 2008, Italy topped the list as the destination spot for Colombian children with 354 Colombianitos going to Italy. Next on the list was France with 249, and then the US with 215 adoptions.
The end of year totals for 2007 were: Italy 444, France 406, and the US 339.
There were 598 special needs adoptions this year with 917 children still waiting. Special needs are considered to be children with mental or physical disabilities, sibling groups, or children older than 8 years of age.
Posted by Colombian Mommy at 7:26 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Labels: Adoption Statistics