Minister announces maternity and adoption leave changes
29/07/2008 :: Northern Ireland :: Department for Employment and Learning
Employment Minister Sir Reg Empey today announced that from October this year working parents on maternity or adoption leave will benefit from changes in employment law.
From 5 October women expecting a baby, or employees expecting a child to be placed with them for adoption, will be able to benefit from their normal terms and conditions of employment, apart from pay, throughout their maternity or adoption leave. Before this change in the law, entitlement existed only during the first 26 weeks of leave (‘ordinary’ leave) with more limited terms and conditions during the second 26 weeks (‘additional’ leave).
The minister urged employers to look at their policies before these changes commence. He said: “These changes will require companies to review their internal policies to ensure that all normal terms and conditions continue for the full period of leave.
“By removing a key difference between the first 26 weeks of maternity or adoption leave and the second 26 weeks, we are making the system more straightforward and beneficial for those caring for children. If company policies currently make a distinction between the non-pay benefits available to a new mother or adopter during their ordinary and additional leave, these will need to be removed before this legislation comes into force.”
Revised guidance on maternity and adoption leave is available from the Department for Employment and Learning.
Tuesday 29 July 2008
Thursday 10 July 2008
Legal
Bayh calls for US to negotiate with Vietnam on adoptions
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U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., has joined colleagues in the Senate and House in calling for U.S. negotiations with Vietnam to establish a system of bilateral adoptions with appropriate safeguards.
Bayh is a member of the 215-member Congressional Coalition on Adoption.
In 2005 the U.S. and Vietnam signed a bilateral agreement on adoptions, and since then 1,403 Vietnamese orphans have been adopted by American families, a statement released on Tuesday said. But that agreement is set to expire on Sept. 1, and the “State Department has expressed concern over instances of fraud and abuse within the Vietnamese system.”
Members want Secretary of State Condolezza Rice to negotiate a new agreement which guards against current problems in the system. “We believe that signing an interim agreement with Vietnam is consistent with your goal of moving toward a Hague-compliant system, provided that such an agreement would contain enforceable safeguards,” they wrote in a letter to Rice. “We strongly support the transition to a Hague-compliant system in Vietnam. However, we also understand that the establishment of such a system can take years, and it is not in the best interest of children to remain institutionalized or homeless during the period of transition.”
The Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption is a treaty which permits international adoption when no domestic family can be found.
“International adoptions can provide a safe, supportive, and caring family environment for thousands of children,” Bayh said. “Our State Department should redouble its efforts to strengthen safeguards in the Vietnamese adoption system so more American families can create loving homes for children who are truly in need.”
Back to Front Page
U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., has joined colleagues in the Senate and House in calling for U.S. negotiations with Vietnam to establish a system of bilateral adoptions with appropriate safeguards.
Bayh is a member of the 215-member Congressional Coalition on Adoption.
In 2005 the U.S. and Vietnam signed a bilateral agreement on adoptions, and since then 1,403 Vietnamese orphans have been adopted by American families, a statement released on Tuesday said. But that agreement is set to expire on Sept. 1, and the “State Department has expressed concern over instances of fraud and abuse within the Vietnamese system.”
Members want Secretary of State Condolezza Rice to negotiate a new agreement which guards against current problems in the system. “We believe that signing an interim agreement with Vietnam is consistent with your goal of moving toward a Hague-compliant system, provided that such an agreement would contain enforceable safeguards,” they wrote in a letter to Rice. “We strongly support the transition to a Hague-compliant system in Vietnam. However, we also understand that the establishment of such a system can take years, and it is not in the best interest of children to remain institutionalized or homeless during the period of transition.”
The Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption is a treaty which permits international adoption when no domestic family can be found.
“International adoptions can provide a safe, supportive, and caring family environment for thousands of children,” Bayh said. “Our State Department should redouble its efforts to strengthen safeguards in the Vietnamese adoption system so more American families can create loving homes for children who are truly in need.”
Health
Children Adopted From Poorer Countries May Need Repeat TB Test
By Nicole Ostrow
July 7 (Bloomberg) -- Children adopted in the U.S. from poorer countries may need a repeat test for tuberculosis, even after initial testing indicates they're free of the disease, a study found.
Of 203 children who tested negative for the disease and came back for a second test, 38 were found to have a latent infection that wasn't contagious, according to research in the July issue of the journal Pediatrics.
More than 20,000 children are adopted into the U.S. each year, and many come from countries where the rates of tuberculosis are high, according to the study. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends these children be tested for the disease when they arrive. The findings from this study should make a second test standard, researchers said.
``If it's negative, it's very important that they go on and have a repeat tuberculosis skin test to be sure,'' said Mary Allen Staat, a doctor and director of the International Adoption Center at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center in Ohio, in a July 2 telephone interview. ``By identifying them and treating them, we're really hoping to prevent them from getting tuberculosis disease that could make them sick or make them contagious to others.''
More than 2 billion people, or one-third of the world's population, are infected with the bacteria that cause TB, according to the World Health Organization. In 2006, there were 9.2 million new cases of TB and 1.7 million people died from the disease.
Tuberculosis is caused by germs spread through the air. It generally affects the lungs, although it can attack the kidneys, spine or brain, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Test Results
Researchers in the study looked at 527 children who were tested for tuberculosis within two months of arriving in the U.S. Of those, 111, or 21 percent, tested positive for a latent form of the disease. Of the children who were negative, doctors retested 203 at least three months later.
The 38 children who had a positive second test were more likely to be malnourished at the initial visit than those who had a repeat negative test, according to researchers.
Children who are malnourished may not initially respond as well to the tuberculosis skin test, Staat said. With better nourishment, they tend to have a more accurate test result. Also, some children may become infected right before they leave their birth country, and it can take up to three months before that infection can be detected.
Missed Cases
``If we had not retested those children, we would've missed children that had a tuberculosis infection,'' she said. At the International Adoption Center, children are retested after six months.
Higher rates of TB were found in the study in children from Russia, China and Guatemala. While TB rates are also high in much of Africa, few children surveyed were from the continent.
People with a latent form of the disease aren't sick because the germs aren't active. They may develop TB in the future and are often prescribed medicine to stop that from happening.
Leonard Krilov, head of pediatric infectious diseases and the International Adoption Program at Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola, New York, on Long Island, said the program advises parents to have their children retested for TB within three to six months after the initial test.
A baby infected with the latent form of TB has a 10 to 20 percent lifetime risk of developing an active form of the disease, said Krilov, who wasn't involved in the study, in a July 3 telephone interview.
Sarah Long, a member of the committee on infectious diseases for the American Academy of Pediatrics and a doctor at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children in Philadelphia, said based on these findings, the committee will likely take a look at its guidelines for tuberculosis testing for internationally adopted children.
In addition to tuberculosis, children adopted from other countries may be tested for HIV, hepatitis A, B and C, parasites and syphilis, she said in a July 2 telephone interview.
To contact the reporter on this story: Nicole Ostrow in New York at nostrow1@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: July 7, 2008 06:00 EDT
By Nicole Ostrow
July 7 (Bloomberg) -- Children adopted in the U.S. from poorer countries may need a repeat test for tuberculosis, even after initial testing indicates they're free of the disease, a study found.
Of 203 children who tested negative for the disease and came back for a second test, 38 were found to have a latent infection that wasn't contagious, according to research in the July issue of the journal Pediatrics.
More than 20,000 children are adopted into the U.S. each year, and many come from countries where the rates of tuberculosis are high, according to the study. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends these children be tested for the disease when they arrive. The findings from this study should make a second test standard, researchers said.
``If it's negative, it's very important that they go on and have a repeat tuberculosis skin test to be sure,'' said Mary Allen Staat, a doctor and director of the International Adoption Center at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center in Ohio, in a July 2 telephone interview. ``By identifying them and treating them, we're really hoping to prevent them from getting tuberculosis disease that could make them sick or make them contagious to others.''
More than 2 billion people, or one-third of the world's population, are infected with the bacteria that cause TB, according to the World Health Organization. In 2006, there were 9.2 million new cases of TB and 1.7 million people died from the disease.
Tuberculosis is caused by germs spread through the air. It generally affects the lungs, although it can attack the kidneys, spine or brain, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Test Results
Researchers in the study looked at 527 children who were tested for tuberculosis within two months of arriving in the U.S. Of those, 111, or 21 percent, tested positive for a latent form of the disease. Of the children who were negative, doctors retested 203 at least three months later.
The 38 children who had a positive second test were more likely to be malnourished at the initial visit than those who had a repeat negative test, according to researchers.
Children who are malnourished may not initially respond as well to the tuberculosis skin test, Staat said. With better nourishment, they tend to have a more accurate test result. Also, some children may become infected right before they leave their birth country, and it can take up to three months before that infection can be detected.
Missed Cases
``If we had not retested those children, we would've missed children that had a tuberculosis infection,'' she said. At the International Adoption Center, children are retested after six months.
Higher rates of TB were found in the study in children from Russia, China and Guatemala. While TB rates are also high in much of Africa, few children surveyed were from the continent.
People with a latent form of the disease aren't sick because the germs aren't active. They may develop TB in the future and are often prescribed medicine to stop that from happening.
Leonard Krilov, head of pediatric infectious diseases and the International Adoption Program at Winthrop-University Hospital in Mineola, New York, on Long Island, said the program advises parents to have their children retested for TB within three to six months after the initial test.
A baby infected with the latent form of TB has a 10 to 20 percent lifetime risk of developing an active form of the disease, said Krilov, who wasn't involved in the study, in a July 3 telephone interview.
Sarah Long, a member of the committee on infectious diseases for the American Academy of Pediatrics and a doctor at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children in Philadelphia, said based on these findings, the committee will likely take a look at its guidelines for tuberculosis testing for internationally adopted children.
In addition to tuberculosis, children adopted from other countries may be tested for HIV, hepatitis A, B and C, parasites and syphilis, she said in a July 2 telephone interview.
To contact the reporter on this story: Nicole Ostrow in New York at nostrow1@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: July 7, 2008 06:00 EDT
BBC news
Talking Point
Adoption: Does race matter?
Race should not matter when adopting a child, according to new guidelines from the UK Government.
Aimed at helping children find stable, loving homes, the guidelines state that people should not be stopped from adopting just because they are a different colour from the child.
Professionals within the field, however, are reticent. They say that cross-racial adoption, no matter how well-intentioned, can cause more harm than good.
So does race matter? Can children really grow up stable, balanced and happy with parents with deep cultural differences? Or are loving parents of any colour and culture better than no parents at all?
The BBC's Alison Holt talks to children of a cross-racial adoption success story
The government believes the importance of family life to a child cannot be overstated. Health Minister Paul Boateng says "nothing is more important than a loving, caring environment".
Couples who have adopted, or want to, agree. They say no child should have to spend years in care while same race parents are found.
Others favour cross-racial adoption because, they say, it will help racial integration in society as a whole.
But the British Agencies for Adoption and Fostering say it is better for children to be brought up by parents who understand the pressures they face.
For a black child to have white parents only makes its adopted status stand out. They also find it hard to know where they belong and cannot integrate with either black or white, say the BAAF.
Felicity Colliers of the BAAF explains her reservations
"Our experience is that sometimes they do experience lifelong confusion," says a spokeswoman.
There can also be added problems for these children if and when they try to find their natural parents.
For cross-racial adoption to work, parents should be heavily committed to teaching their children about their cultural background. It is not however a luxury that all parents can, or are prepared to, afford.
What do you think?
Adoption: Does race matter?
Race should not matter when adopting a child, according to new guidelines from the UK Government.
Aimed at helping children find stable, loving homes, the guidelines state that people should not be stopped from adopting just because they are a different colour from the child.
Professionals within the field, however, are reticent. They say that cross-racial adoption, no matter how well-intentioned, can cause more harm than good.
So does race matter? Can children really grow up stable, balanced and happy with parents with deep cultural differences? Or are loving parents of any colour and culture better than no parents at all?
The BBC's Alison Holt talks to children of a cross-racial adoption success story
The government believes the importance of family life to a child cannot be overstated. Health Minister Paul Boateng says "nothing is more important than a loving, caring environment".
Couples who have adopted, or want to, agree. They say no child should have to spend years in care while same race parents are found.
Others favour cross-racial adoption because, they say, it will help racial integration in society as a whole.
But the British Agencies for Adoption and Fostering say it is better for children to be brought up by parents who understand the pressures they face.
For a black child to have white parents only makes its adopted status stand out. They also find it hard to know where they belong and cannot integrate with either black or white, say the BAAF.
Felicity Colliers of the BAAF explains her reservations
"Our experience is that sometimes they do experience lifelong confusion," says a spokeswoman.
There can also be added problems for these children if and when they try to find their natural parents.
For cross-racial adoption to work, parents should be heavily committed to teaching their children about their cultural background. It is not however a luxury that all parents can, or are prepared to, afford.
What do you think?
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