Morris Elected Vice-President of Philippine Board
The Association of Child Caring Agencies of the Philippines (ACCAP), the lead network of accredited residential care agencies, is pleased to announce the recent election of Marc A. Morris as vice president for internal affairs.
Morris, the founder and president of Samaritan’s Place Homes for Children and Church of God missionary, received the second highest vote tally from the membership and shall serve for the next two years on the board of directors of the association.
On March 12, 2009, Morris and his wife, Marilen, a former member of the ACCAP Board, attended a special legislation signing of bill RA 9523 and luncheon at Malacanang Palace with Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Having actively advocated for RA 9523, known as the “Declaration of a Child Legally Available for Adoption,” ACCAP was very instrumental in seeing this new legislation ratified.
“All of us at ACCAP are so pleased and proud to witness this new legislation being enacted. It will make a huge difference in the lives of children waiting in the system for their chance to be adopted by a loving family. And no child should have to wait for a family,” Morris remarked after the palace signing.
RA 9523 specifically reduces the waiting time for children to be legally cleared for adoption by relocating the declaration of abandonment from the judicial courts to the Department of Social Welfare and reducing the waiting period from six months to three months. Hundreds of Filipino children will no longer have to wait such a long time for an adoption placement.
Marc and Marilen Morris
Samaritan’s Place, Philippines
Project Number 0600048
© 2009 Church of God World Missions
