MLJ Adoptions believes that all children belong in families and that growing up with the love, care, and protection of a family is absolutely crucial for a child’s development and well-being. Though U.S. foreign policy theoretically aligns with these tenets by emphasizing the preservation and creation of families for children, the necessary structure, coordination, and resources are not in place to best serve these goals.
The estimated number of orphans worldwide, over 160 million, is positively staggering, with the number of children without families increasing daily. Children without families are vulnerable to abuse, trafficking, and exploitation. Institutionalization, which can negatively impact a child’s brain activity, brain size, IQ, ability to attach and ability to become self-supporting, is not a viable solution for the growing number of children without families.
With this in mind, MLJ Adoptions supports the Children in Families First Act (CHIFF). CHIFF is a holistic and preventative approach to international child welfare that ensures systems are in place to help children remain in their family of birth, be reunited with family, or be adopted locally or internationally. CHIFF, supported by a bipartisan coalition of members of Congress and child welfare organizations, redirects current U.S. government resources towards strengthening, uniting, and creating families, realigns foreign aid with American familial values, and supports intercountry adoption as a protection for children.
CHIFF achieves the above, in part, by establishing a bureau in the Department of State, the Bureau of Vulnerable Children & Family Security, to become the foreign policy and diplomatic hub on international child welfare. This Bureau would be tasked with building international capacity to implement effective child welfare systems, with particular focus on family preservation and reunification, and kinship, domestic, and intercountry adoption.
CHIFF would also streamline, simplify and consolidate responsibility for the processing of all intercountry adoption cases and the accreditation of adoption service providers by placing these functions under the direction of the United States Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS). Additionally, CHIFF establishes a Center of Excellence within USAID, dedicated to implementation of the 2012 National Action Plan on Children in Adversity, A Framework for International Assistance.
Here at MLJ Adoptions, our team members have been actively promoting CHIFF by reaching out to the Senators representing Indiana, Senators Joe Donnelly and Dan Coats, and our team members’ respective Representatives, through phone calls, letters, and social media efforts. Now, we are asking for YOUR help because together we can make a difference for children without families.
We encourage you to:
- Call your Members of Congress (Senators/Representatives).
- Your calls matter! Please call your Members of Congress to let them know you want them to support CHIFF. Telephone calls are very impactful, so please, even if you only have the time to support CHIFF in one way, call! Even if you e-mail a letter or Tweet at your Congressman or Congresswoman, still call!
- Find your Members of Congress here.
- A sample phone script is available here.
- Connect with your Members of Congress Online.
- Many Members of Congress have Facebook and Twitter accounts where you can reach out to them directly and ask them to support CHIFF.
- Find your Members of Congress here.
- Visit your Members of Congress
- You can visit your Members of Congress at your local state office or even in D.C.! Please contact the office to make an appointment or check to make sure you are visiting during open office hours.
- Let them know your personal story! This one page PDF document provides an overview of CHIFF and could be helpful for your in-person visit.
- E-mail and/or mail a letter to your Members of Congress.
- Let your Members of Congress know you want them to support CHIFF.
- A sample letter is available here.
- Be sure to personalize your letter to tell your story.
- If your Member of Congress is already a sponsor or co-sponsor to CHIFF, please call and tell them thank you. Many of our team members live in Congresswoman Susan Brooks district and we have let her know how much we appreciate her support of CHIFF.
Together we can give a voice to the vulnerable children of the world. If you would like to support CHIFF and require assistance, please contact MLJ Adoptions and we will be happy to assist.
Liane Steffes, JD
Liane Steffes, JD is an adoption attorney and serves as MLJ Adoptions’ Chief of Staff. Ms. Steffes earned her Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law and was admitted to the Indiana Bar in 2013. She is thankful for the opportunity to serve children in need of loving, permanent, and secure families.
Liane Steffes, JD
Liane Steffes, JD is an adoption attorney and serves as MLJ Adoptions’ Chief of Staff. Ms. Steffes earned her Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law and was admitted to the Indiana Bar in 2013. She is thankful for the opportunity to serve children in need of loving, permanent, and secure families.