A. Unlike many of the ex-Soviet countries Bulgaria no longer requires annual reports after the initial two years of supervised reporting is completed as above.
Q. WHAT do I include in my report?
A. These post-placement reports address your child(ren)'s bonding with the family, physical health development, social development, educational development and plans, and extended family relationships. Your home study agency should be familiar with these requirements.
In Fall 2006, the following advice was obtained by Karen's Adopiton Links for all families who needed to file their own Post Placement Reports (to be completed by a home study provider):
1. Use a Licensed Social Worker to do the Post Placement Report
2. Translate report with a Certified Translator.
3. Get the Post Placement Report apostilled.
4. Include 5 pictures
5. Suggested Sample form
6. Send directly by DHL or FedEx to the Minister of Education in the country or region of adoption.
Each post-placement report, prepared by a state-licensed home study agency, should include at least 4-5 photographs of your child. All original post-placement reports should be submitted to FTIA for submission to the foreign adoption officials (with photos, notarized and apostilled,
Q. how do i file my post-placement REPORT?
A. Your home study agency will do the filing and should be familiar with the requirements. If your agency is unable to help you with this, or no longer has an active Bulgarian program, contact the Bulgarian Embassy for guidance.
Q. WHAT will happen if i do not file a post-placement report?
A. We strongly urge you to comply with the wish of Bulgaria and complete all post-adoption requirements in a timely manner. Your cooperation will contribute to Russia's history of positive experiences with American parents.
Failure to complete post-placement reports in a timely manner is a violation of the terms of our adoption agreements. When we adopted, we all signed an adoption agreement with our children's birth country that includes the provision that we will file these reports. If we do not file them on the schedule specified by our children's birth countries, we are out of compliance with our adoption agreement.
While the U.S. State Department has requested that adoptive parents comply with any agreements they made with their children's countries of origin, the State Department says on its Web-site that it is true that "The U.S. Government does not have the legal authority to compel U.S. citizens to comply with foreign laws. No U.S. official is going to come to your home and force you to send in your post-placement reports. Nor is any Ukrainian official going to take your child away if you don't."
However, it cannot be emphasized how very important it is that we all abide by the agreements we made. These post-placement reports are vital.