MEDICAL
FOSTERING PROGRAM
LIMIAR
is a Brazilian organization that is first and foremost a child advocacy
organization. Part of what LIMIAR does, as a child advocacy organization,
is to find homes for orphans identified by the Brazilian courts. LIMIAR
finds homes for children not only in the US, but all over the world.
LIMIAR was established in 1981 and since that time has helped place
over 1,600 Brazilian children in loving homes. LIMIAR has a main office
in Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil, with representatives in other major
Brazilian cities.
The
Medical Fostering program brings children in need of gratis medical
treatment to the U.S. for assistance. Usually the children are wards
of the courts, residing in orphanages in Brazil. Someone at the court
or the orphanage will ask LIMIAR to get involved in a particular child’s
care. LIMIAR will then recruit foster families who would bring this
child into their home, provide gratis care, food, shelter, medication
and love during the time of the child’s medical treatment. While in
the US, the child will be under the family's guardianship. As assistance,
these children are escorted to the United States from Brazil.
The
responsibilities of a foster family include:
- Identifying
gratis medical treatment, even surgery, to be given at no cost to
the US government, Brazilian government or to LIMIAR. In this day
and age, it is increasingly difficult to find hospitals who will donate
their time and facilities........but they can be found. Both the
hospital and the physician must provide a notarized letter confirming
their gratis treatment. In some case, a foster family's health insurance
will cover the medical expenses of the family's legal ward; this
should be researched by the foster family. If possible to use the
family's health insurance, a doctor and hospital must agree to receive
the child as a patient and to bill the family's health insurance provider.
- Communicating
to LIMIAR the plan of treatment for the child after he/she arrives
in the US and providing written reports and photographs of the child’s
progress every three months.
- Communicating
with the US Immigration and Naturalization Service to keep the child's
"medical" visa current and renewing it when necessary.
- Not
adding any other children to the family - to foster or to adopt -
for at least 6 months after the placement of the medical-needs child.
- Providing
a current family homestudy at time of application.
LIMIAR
will:
- Do
the "foot-work" in Brazil to procure the child's Brazilian
passport, US visa, and guardianship.
- As
funds permit, finance the airfare for the child and escort to a US
port-of-entry.
- Convey
the written progress reports and photos to the court and translate
communications (if not adoption related).
In
some instances, the legal rights of the birth parents of these children
have already been terminated and these children may be adopted later.
In other cases, it is believed that the rights of the parents will
eventually be terminated. And in some situations, the child will not
be eligible for adoption and must return to Brazil. LIMIAR is informed
of the child’s legal status and that information is passed on to the
prospective foster families. In all instances, the child must be returned
to Brazil - either to his original orphanage or birth family, or to
process his U.S. visa prior to adoption. It must be stressed that
The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service will not grant a "medical"
visa to a child when eventual adoption is the stated purpose. For
this reason, discussions are confined to, and documents are prepared
first for, the medical treatment. In a Brazilian adoption, both parents
must travel to Brazil and cohabit with the child(ren) for 30 days (if
the child is 2 years old or older) before the adoption can be finalized.
Often when children have been under the foster care of the family interested
in adopting them, the Brazilian court may reduce the required stay in
Brazil (usually to about 1-2 weeks). A potential adoptive family must
be able to comply with whatever requirement the court makes. LIMIAR,
of course, will advocate for the foster families to reduce their stay
as much as possible.
The
Medical Fostering Program is so central to the founding principals of
LIMIAR, that fostering children with medical needs has been made as
simple and as inexpensive as possible. LIMIAR will pay all expenses
incurred by bringing the child to the U.S. Should the foster family
wish to financially contribute or eventually adopt, LIMIAR asks only
that the foster family pay any out of pocket expenses. LIMIAR will
provide all necessary “footwork” and manpower
to bring the child to the U.S.
Some
examples of those out-of-pocket expenses are: translation and registration
of the homestudy and letters, transportation
costs for the escort to and from the child's court, the one-way airfare
for the child and the round trip airfare for the escort, having a passport
prepared (i.e., the cost of the passport itself and of having pictures
taken), obtaining an U.S. visitor’s visa, and room and board may need
to be provided for a few days for the escort. Each fostering situation
is different and the costs will vary. When a specific child has been
identified, LIMIAR can more closely estimate the expenses.
LIMIAR
keeps a list of waiting children with medical needs. Some medical
conditions are correctable...some are not.
Regardless, any treatment given to one of these children will improve
their quality of life and offer hope for a future !
