Four approaches:
There are 4 different approaches to the waiting child (WC) program. Here is a (very) brief out line of each:

1) Start out in the NSN track & send dossier to China only to find a waiting child on your agency's list & switch to SN program;

2) Send dossier to China requesting a SN child (list the SN you are willing to accept) & have the CCAA match you;

3) Pick an agency, start paperchasing & wait for a child that matches your SN & age criteria to show up on your agency's waiting list; or

4) Start paperchasing & search agencies' lists - go w/ the agency who has the file of the child you want to adopt.  Most agencies will allow you to look at their children's files without being a client - no fees, no applications. You simply have to contact them & they will give you a password to their web page or will mail you their list.  (FYI - You should probably assume that if you find a child w/ a particular agency, that you will have to use the agency that has the child's file.  Transferring of files to one agency to another is rare.)

Waiting Lists:
Once an agency receives a list of kids, that agency has 3 months to find homes for the children. At the end of the 3 months, the agency must return the children’s files who did not find forever families. The CCAA will (usually) send the returned files to another agency. The agencies receive the lists in staggered fashion - in other words this month a few agencies received new lists & next month more lists will come out to other agencies.

How do you know when agencies receive new lists?  1) Contact each agency and inquire about their lists; and 2)Read the WCC Elist.  The members are EXCELLENT about announcing when an agency receives  a  new list.

Letter of Intent/Pre-Approval/Travel Approval:
With the exception of  approach # 2 (having the CCAA match you), once you find your child, you will need to send in a Letter of Intent w/ a rehabilitation & nurturing plan - in essence you write what type of  medical treatment you will provide the child, what doctors s/he will see, that you have health insurance, etc. Once the Letter of Intent is sent you wait for Pre-approval - pre-approval is the CCAA saying you have actually been matched w/ the child you requested. Once you have pre-approval and you are DTC, then you wait for travel approval  (this is final approval in the waiting children program).

Time Frame:
Once you have Pre-approval (pre-approval usually takes 4 to 8 weeks to receive) and you are DTC, you can expect to receive your travel approval in 2 to 4 months.

For a more thorough explanation of the WC process, I recommend you go to Anne Isom's wonderful web page http://waitingchild.org/home.html  You will find, among other things, a list of agencies that have a WC program w/ direct links to their web pages/emails, stories from families who have adopted a WC, and information re a variety of special needs that are commonly seen in the WC Program.

Types of Special Needs:
Most of the children in the waiting child program are healthy but have a special need that can be surgically corrected (or doesn’t need any medical/surgical intervention).  The more common special needs are cleft lip/palate (repaired & unrepaired), port wine stain  (birthmark), club foot, strabismus (crossed eyes), scars, blind or low vision limb difference (missing fingers or hand), VSD/ASD  (heart conditions that may or may not need surgical intervention) , hypospadius,  albinism, pstosis (droopy eyelid), & deformed ear (with & without hearing loss).

Please note that there are a lot of children who have already had their conditions surgically corrected but because they had the condition in the first place they do not qualify for the NSN program & are put on WC lists.  There are also older children on the lists that have no medical condition but are considered special needs simply because of their age.

Insurance:
If you have an employer sponsored plan (group health insurance), in accordance with federal law an adoptive child has to be covered from the date of placement.  Also, the insurance company can NOT impose a pre-existing condition waiting period or deny coverage due to a pre-existing condition.  If you have individual plan or insurance through your state or local government, you will need to check with your state law to see what protection your state affords you.

Singles:
The singles quota does not apply in the waiting child program.  Most agencies will work with singles.