Letter sent to agencies from A child's waiting

Dear Friends,

As the Directors of A Child?s Waiting, we would like to express our  
gratitude to those of you who have offered such words of encouragement  
and overwhelming support over the past several months. We are so  
blessed to have hundreds of families willing to speak on our behalf  
regarding their positive experiences with A Child?s Waiting. For those  
of you who were not aware, the State of Ohio was considering not  
renewing the agency license. The media can
 unfortunately distort the  
truth and sensationalize a story so we apologize if this is the means  
you discovered the issue. Throughout this process we have continued to  
practice and move forward with many successful placements both with  
birthmothers and County agencies. Families have not been affected  
during the past several months as or agency status never changed. As  
of Friday, August 22, ACW agreed to a settlement with ODJFS as to  
avoid the high cost of litigation. As part of the "no-fault"  
settlement ACW has agreed to no longer take custody of children. What  
this means for you as our available families is that your adoption  
process can continue with very little modification.

For those in the infant program, you will still be presented to  
birthparents as you have in the past. ACW will coordinate phone calls,  
interviews, and arrange for services for the placement of a baby. 
 
Placement from birthparents from out-of-state will not be affected, as  
we do not take custody of these children anyway. Ohio birthparents and  
adoptive parents will now have an attorney that represents them in  
Probate Court. Meaning, the process is still the same except for the  
fact ACW is not the custodian. Due to the fact ACW does not take  
custody; the "placement" fees will be reduced from previous fee  
schedules for the services that you receive. ACW will continue to  
provide services to birthparents including counseling, assessment,  
support, case management, presenting profiles and coordination of  
services with the adoptive parents. Additionally, all agreed upon  
birthparent correspondence will still come through ACW. (I.e. letters  
and picture/updates)

Families wishing to adopt from the foster care system in the public  
program will not be affected by the changes, as ACW was never 
 
custodian of those children. ACW has maintained contracts with a  
variety of States and Counties throughout this process and will  
continue to successfully place children in this program as well.

In order for the agency to move forward in a positive direction we  
have agreed to step aside as the agency Directors and appoint a new  
Administrator and new Supervising Director. We will continue to be the  
owners and operators of the organization and support the new leaders  
as they move forward. The new Supervising Director, responsible for  
the daily activities of ACW, will be Ronda Berger. Many of you have an  
existing relationship with Ronda so the transition will be an easy  
one. Ronda has been with our organization for over 6 years and has a  
proven history of excellence and professionalism. The Administrator  
position will be filled and announced shortly on our website.

In closing, we would
 again like to thank all of you for your patience  
and support throughout this difficult and often emotional process. ACW  
has successfully placed over 1500 children in just over 8 years which  
is a remarkable accomplishment and we have much pride in our work. We  
care deeply for the children and families we serve and will continue  
to assist all members of the adoption triad throughout their adoption  
journey.

Sincerely,

Crissy Kolarik, PCC-S

Jennifer Marando, PCC-S