The Frontier Horizon Hosting Program brings orphan children from Ukraine to stay with host families in America for a 2-3 week holiday trip. The children live with families in various states throughout the United States. Children and host families visit museums, amusement parks, and go on field trips together.  However, the children also get firsthand, personal contact with people who support them and our organization. Through increased financial support of the basic needs of the children living in the orphanages, the program benefits the orphanages as a whole in addition to the children actually traveling to the United States.

Can I adopt the child I host?
Many families are interested in adopting the children they host or meet through the Frontier Horizon travel program. There is a large number of children who are already adopted and living in the United States as a direct result of the program. You may want to experience having an older child in your house before you adopt, or you may simply want to give a child a vacation away from the orphanage for a few weeks. The advantage of the program is that it affords a number of life-changing opportunities for both your family and the child. Regardless of your reason to host, please be aware that Frontier Horizon is a humanitarian aid organization and not an adoption agency. The main goals of this program are ultimately to improve the health, education, and general welfare of orphan children in Ukraine. While we are excited about the potential of adoption for these children, Frontier Horizon is not an adoption agency. If you choose to adopt please be aware the process is handled separately from our organization, and we do not have any control or influence over the adoption process..

Are all the children that come on the program available for adoption?
This Frontier Horizon Program is primarily a Hosting program, therefore, we cannot choose all adoptable children.  Many children are available or are in the process of becoming available for adoption, but we cannot guarantee the availability of every child.

Can I host a child even if I do not want to adopt?
Yes, we welcome individuals and families to host children even if they are not interested in adoption.  Our primary goal of the travel program is the improvement of the health, education, and general welfare of all orphan children in Ukraine. Therefore, the travel program itself raises funds for that purpose.  You help us achieve such goals by hosting a child.

Is it unfair to host a child that you are not going to adopt?
The Hosting Program has a 50-60% adoption rate, so there are many children who participate in the program and are not adopted.  We strive to help as many children as possible, and there are numerous ways in which Frontier Horizon tries to help the children.  Donations for basic needs such as food, clothing, medicine, and education as well as short-term humanitarian aid trips and grants for self-sufficiency projects or building repair all help to meet such needs.  This program is just one more resource to improve the lives of the children with whom we work.  Often, families who do not adopt still take a vested interest in their child’s future by funding that child’s basic needs and/or future education.

Can we buy the child gifts while he or she is in the US?
Oftentimes, the children come with just the clothes on their back and a small plastic bag of personal items.  Any gift giving is optional, but our advice is to moderate your giving over the three weeks that the children are in the United States. Families often make the mistake of giving their child anything they want during the first week of their stay, and this leads the child to believe you have an endless source of income in addition to creating a spoiled and confused child for the remainder of the child’s stay.

What are the ages of the children traveling?
The ages of the children traveling to the United States are between the ages of 6 and 17.

Can the child stay longer than the prescribed time of the program?
No.  This is a strict rule that we cannot change.  It is the requirement of the Ukrainian government and the US Embassy that the children return to Ukraine at the prescribed time.  Any violation of this rule endangers the future of the whole program as well as the future of the child you are hosting.

If I host a child that I want to adopt, can I reserve that child for my family alone?
No. Having a child in your house as part of the Hosting program does not mean the child will be reserved for you to adopt.  Older children are not adopted as frequently as younger children, but there is still a possibility that your hosted child may be adopted by another family. There have been occasions in which the hosted child was adopted by another family . While this does not happen often it is a possibility and we want you to be aware of it.

Can I find out personal details about the child I host?
The children involved with the Frontier Horizon Hosting Program come from different orphanages within Ukraine. The orphanage director usually chooses the children on the basis of good behavior and good grades. We do not have any family or medical history on the children.  However, we do know that any children with serious diseases are housed in separate orphanages.  Among the children that do travel, the orphanage director cancels the trip for a child who has any minor illnesses.  If you do decide to adopt the child you are hosting, you will receive all of the child’s family and medical background information from the National Adoption Center.

Is it possible to obtain a student visa for the child I host?
Some families who do not want to adopt want to bring their child to the United State to go to school or college. This option is possible, but extremely difficult.  As with adoptions, this process must be handled apart from Frontier Horizon.  You may contact a local lawyer in your city who specializes in student visas. You may also refer the lawyer to Frontier Horizon if he has questions you cannot answer.

Do you send children to anywhere in the US?
We will send children to any state within the United States, but we request that interested families try to bring at least five children to each host city.  We require a minimum of two children per each translator/guardian.  If there are one or two families interested in hosting children, we suggest they try to find a few more families to host children as well, in order to bring at least five children into your area.  Families must pay the airfare from Washington, D.C. to their local airport.  If you have fewer than five children in your area, you must also pay the translator/guardian’s airfare.  (Note:  The cost of the translator/guardian’s airfare can be split among host families.)  With five or more children hosted, the translator/guardian’s airfare is waived.

Can I keep in contact and/or financially support the child I hosted if they remain in Ukraine?
Many host families want to keep in contact with the children they host in order to help them with basic needs and/or their education. This is one of the main goals of the program and it is strongly encouraged. You may keep in contact with the child you hosted through e-mail, and you may send money and/or packages to the child as often as you please.  You will receive the e-mail of a translator, upon request, who will translate letters and ensure that your gifts get to your child for a nominal, monthly fee.  Several translators that we recommend are:

Larisa Papay: larisa@frontierhorizon.org
Oksana Tishchenko: oksana32t@te.net.ua

Can I visit the child I hosted in Ukraine?
Yes, Frontier Horizon runs three or four short-term service trips each year that you may join. See Ukraine Trips for more information.

I am a single woman, can I host a child?
As long as all of the application materials are included, single women can host children as well.  We do not restrict our hosts to married couples or families.

Are the children insured during their stay in America?
All of the children who travel to the United States are insured through Global Underwriters, Inc.  Please visit their website for more information: http://www.globalunderwriters.com/.

Can we contact families who have hosted in the past for program references and advice on adoption?
We have a section on our website that lists families who have hosted and/or adopted, and who are willing and interested to share their experiences with potential host families and potentially adoptive families.  Please see Contact Families for more information..

What are the requirements to host?
The Hosting Program Check-List includes:

• Frontier Horizon-specific Background Information (These requirements will be detailed in the Travel Program Handbook.)
• Preliminary Application Form and $150.00 processing fee.
• Completed Full Travel Program Application form.
• $ 3,500.00 program fee which pays for the child’s airfare from Ukraine to JFK, the child’s visa and passport, the orphanage’s paperwork, and the child’s travel expenses and insurance.
• Cost of airfare from JFK to your home city.
• Guardian’s airfare if less than 5 children will be traveling to your area.
• Background Checks ( a site we recommend is ferretbackgroundcheck.com as they work closely with our families)