Adoption & Beyond
Here at CCAI, we believe that adoption is just the beginning of our services. We are committed to putting the needs of children first: before, during, and long after the last piece of adoption paperwork is completed.
CCAI Post Adoption
We are honored to be part of the lives of our adoptive families and beautiful Chinese children long after they come home from China. After you return, CCAI’s Post Adoption Department will join hands with your social worker to provide post adoption services on issues including US birth certificate and attachment questions. We will support you as you work through the post-adoption processes in your state and adjust to your precious new family member. Our Parent Training classes will always be available (at no extra charge) if you feel the need to re-take the classes.
Children’s Charity Fund
Unless we reach out to the children left behind in China who may never find a loving home like yours, we would be just another adoption agency. In 1995, Josh & Lily established the “Orphan Formula Fund” to provide baby formula to needy orphanages. Over the years, that has grown into the Children’s Charity Fund, which raises and contributes half a million dollars a year to support the “left-behind” orphanage children with basic care, nanny training, foster care sponsorship, medical assistance, education support and disaster-relief missions. Every year, hundreds of charitable projects are performed through the charity fund, and more than 5,000 children’s lives are touched and living conditions are improved.
Joyous Chinese Cultural Center (www.joyouscenter.org; www.chinacharm.org)
The Joyous Chinese Cultural Center came to life in 1996 as a positive and entertaining way for adopted Chinese children to connect with their heritage and as a unique opportunity to come together with other families just like theirs. JCCC students learn Chinese dance, art, and cooking, as well as written and spoken Chinese through this one-of-a-kind Chinese cultural center designed specifically for adopted Chinese children and their families. Classes are offered at CCAI on weekdays and weekends. The Distance Learning program teaches through books, CDs and DVDs, and is a great option for families living outside the Denver area. In addition, JCCC’s Cultural Club and Summer Camps attract children of all ages from all over the country every year to experience Chinese culture and find new friends.
China AdopTeen Camp & Conference (www.chinaadopteen.org)
To meet the growing needs among adopted children who are entering the teenage years, CCAI launched the China AdopTeen Camp & Conference in 2007. The Camp & Conference creates a fun, secure and teen-friendly environment where adopted teens can connect with old friends and find new friends, receive and lend emotional support, share openly without adult interference, discover commonalities, create an adoptee-need focused network, build leadership skills, feel pride in and take control of their own lives, reach out and make a positive difference, and have tons of fun!
ChinaRoots Heritage Tour
Going back to China and visiting the place where they were born is the desire of many adopted children as they grow older. We organize ChinaRoots Heritage Tours so adopted children will not only have the opportunity to visit the beautiful scenery of China, but also their orphanages. If situations allow, they can even volunteer in an orphanage! A Heritage Tour is another wonderful way for adopted Chinese children to feel pride in their country of birth while integrating their forever family into the world of China.
Family Network
When you adopt through CCAI, you join a family of thousands. We have placed children in every state in the US, so you can be sure to connect with another CCAI family in your area. We organize a National Reunion in Denver every year on the third Saturday of June (Father’s Day weekend), and our adoptive families hold their own annual local reunions all over the nation. Many CCAI families also form their own networks and play groups. Beginning with the references included in this packet, you will have the support of thousands of families who have walked the path you are now considering.