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News & Events
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MAPS - In the NewsPreet Mandir orphanage updateMay 25, 2010 MAPS began placing children from Preet Mandir orphanage in 2003. Upon hearing concerns about the validity of child documents and proper care of the children, we stopped accepting referrals from Preet Mandir and completed our last placement in June 2006. It is because of decisions like this that MAPS is considered a highly reputable agency in India and continues to maintain this reputation within India's child welfare community. Although it is the legal responsibility of Central Adoption Resource Authority in India to assess whether an orphanage is fit to facilitate international adoptions or not, we also maintain our own reviews of orphanages. Our decision to work with an orphanage is based on the care of the children and demonstrated ethics of the organization, rather than the availability and frequency of referrals. We pride ourselves on this commitment to high moral and ethical standards. Please contact us if you have specific questions about MAPS' history with Preet Mandir. Russia Adoption News4/21/ 2010 As of today, the Ministry of Education in Russia has not made an official announcement in regards to the suspension of adoptions. Our staff in Russia is moving forward on all MAPS' cases until we receive official notice from the Ministry that they have received instructions not to process adoptions. The meeting in Russia that was scheduled on Tuesday was postponed; the US delegation couldn't fly to Russia because the Iceland volcano caused air travel to be suspended. The US still plans to send a delegation to Moscow sometime in the near future to begin discussing a bi-lateral agreement. We hope to have more information after the delegation meets with Russian officials and will inform waiting families of what we find out immediately upon receiving any information. 4/19/2010 Here is the latest announcement from the U.S. Department of State regarding Russian adoptions: http://www.adoption.state.gov/news/russia.html For waiting families who have court scheduled, please follow the instructions to contact the US State Department regarding your case. For all other waiting families, this is a good link to go to on a daily for the latest news. The Ministry of Education has not made an official announcement in regards to the suspension of adoptions. MAPS' staff members in Russia are moving forward on all cases until we receive official notice from the Ministry of Education that they have received instructions not to process adoptions. The US is sending a delegation to Moscow this week. We hope to have more information after the delegation meets with Russian officials and will inform our waiting families immediately upon receiving any information. 4/15/2010 Today Russia announced a suspension of adoptions to US citizens until a bilateral agreement is signed between the US and Russia. We are in communication with our Russian overseas coordinators to determine how this decision will impact our adoptive families currently in the process. We know how distressing this news is to our waiting families; please know that we will communicate the details as to how this will impact families as information is reported. JCICS published this announcement to member agencies this morning:
Adoption from HaitiSince the terrible earthquake, we have heard from many people wondering about adopting children from Haiti. MAPS does not currently have an adoption program in Haiti. However, we offer homestudy and adoption preparation services for families in MA, ME, VT, and NH who are adopting from any country, including Haiti. We also offer other international programs to find homes for children in need. Please visit our adoption pages and consider joining us at one of our adoption info sessions or webinars. Book sales to benefit MAPS Adoptive mom Vikke Ford is donating a portion of the sales of her new children's book, Anya's Magic Heart, to MAPS. Visit her website to place your order: Many thanks to Vikke for supporting our efforts to help children here in the US and around the world. Cisco employees build hope!
Stepping Stones services include infant/child assessment and mental health intervention; teaching and assessment for parents; evaluative services for mothers and fathers; life skills classes; nurturing/parenting groups; on-site childbirth education; and other programs to meet the needs of homeless, pregnant, parenting, and at-risk young people and their children.
New MAPS StepUP! program in the newsBangor Daily News and WABI-TV Bangor Adoption and finance offices have movedOur Maine adoption and finance/administration departments have relocated. Our new address is: 100 Brickhill Ave. MAPS Receives Grant from Maine Community Foundation to Help Homeless Children(Portland, Maine) MAPS, a Maine non-profit agency, has received a $2,500 grant from the Maine Community Foundation to help homeless children through the MAPS Maine Homeless Children’s Program, which serves children (from birth to 18 years old) whose families are in crisis and who are staying with their mothers in MAPS’ Portland shelter. Children often arrive at the shelter without even the most basic necessities. The Maine Homeless Children’s Program supplies clothing, healthy and age-appropriate food, diapers and baby supplies, hygiene supplies, and other equipment to make the children’s lives safer and more comfortable. The goal of the shelter is to stabilize, rehabilitate and reunify families in crisis by providing safe housing, case management, training programs, and parenting education for pregnant and parenting young women. Luetta Goodall, Director of Residential Programs at MAPS, says, “This grant helps us give homeless children the stability they need in order to grow and learn while their mothers receive support and counseling. The Maine Community Foundation’s support will make a difference in the lives of the children staying in our shelters - the difference between going hungry and having proper nourishment, between being cold and having warm, comfortable clothing, and between uncertainty and stability.” Ethiopia AdoptionMAPS is partnering with Children's Home Society and Family Services to offer an information session on adopting from Ethiopia. Check back for meeting dates. We are Hague AccreditedWe have received notification from the Council on Accreditation (COA) that we have been granted accreditation under the new Hague regulations. This is important news for MAPS and for our clients because once the US ratifies the Hague treaty, those adopting from other Hague-ratified countries (such as China and India) can only do so through an accredited agency. We are very proud to be in the first group of US agencies to receive this designation. The goal of the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption is to ensure that the best interests of children are considered with each intercountry adoption and to prevent the abduction, exploitation, sale, or trafficking of children around the world. 68 nations, including China, India, Guatemala, and Peru, have already ratified the treaty, and the US is expected to become a member nation on April 1. Once the US legislation is ratified, all US adoption agencies must be accredited under rigorous guidelines in order to place children from other Hague Convention nations into American families. In order to receive accreditation, MAPS had to meet stringent requirements regarding licensing and corporate governance, financial and risk management procedures, ethical practices, professional qualifications and quality control policies. More about Accreditation HERE. Russia News : We Are Accredited in Russia!After a long wait during Russia’s reaccreditation process, we are now reaccredited by Russia’s Ministry of Education! With this new accreditation in place, we can begin processing waiting families, have reopened our Russia adoption program to new applicants, and can start placing babies, toddlers, and older children again. The accreditation is non-expiring and ensures that we can continue our work in Russia for years to come. MAPS families whose paperwork is up to date and already submitted should contact Kate or Jill at (207) 775-4101 to discuss specific time frames. We thank all of you for your patience during this delay and look forward with joy to helping you bring your new child/ren home. We also urge new families to contact us to learn more about adopting through our Russia program. In 1991, we were the first American agency to begin placing children from Russia with families in the United States. Since then, we have found homes for 1200 Russian children throughout the US and have funded humanitarian aid programs to improve the lives of the children who remain in Russia’s orphanages and foster homes. |
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For the past four months, employees in Cisco sales offices from Maine to New York collected donations of new and gently used household items for families graduating from Stepping Stones Family Services, a residential family services program with locations across Maine. On October 23, they delivered a U-Haul truck of goods and erected a small building to serve as the "Hope Chest Store", where families in Stepping Stones programs earn credits toward basic household and child care supplies that they need as they move into their own homes and toward stability, self-sufficiency, and lives free of government assistance.
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