We find ourselves at a standstill with a couple of our cases. In May of last year, we received two children from the local PANI office in Limón. Derik is an 11 year old boy who has been waiting for 2 years for his case to be resolved. That branch is the only office that works on behalf of the children in that jurisdiction; and as such, they have only one attorney fighting for children's rights. Susana is a 1-1/2 year old baby girl whose mother is an addict, and she has been apprehended for selling her other children for sex. During the month of May, we have been communicating with the Limón office and it appears that the attorney has been lax in moving the kids cases. We have expressed our concern that Derik will be 12 in September and he still hasn’t been declared abandoned. The older he gets the slimmer his chances become for being adopted. Susana is dark skinned and precious. She can be placed with a family as an “adoption at risk.” This is when the adoptive family assumes her even though she has yet to be declared abandoned. In these cases, the judge has to be very sure that the child will not return to any member of the biological family. Because of her family history, it’s very probable that she will never go back to them. So we are asking that she go ahead and be placed so as not to negate her right to have a family. We have had to get our PANI supervisor involved now, since the local office is not moving forward with the cases. Please pray for favor and for God’s timing for Derik and Susan’s cases to be resolved, and for them to be placed with loving families.
Last month, we shared a little bit about our girl Guadalupe. We told you that she was being evaluated from head to toe at the children’s hospital. After undergoing CAT scans, heart exams, blood work, and more, her tests came out perfectly! There is nothing organically wrong with her!
As for the evaluation at the special education school, we have heard “unofficially” that they did not accept her. Please, please pray for wisdom on how to educate her here in a system that isn’t set up for kids like her. We can’t help but think that God has a plan for this lil’ girl.