Under the program, which also exists in some other countries, Chinese orphanages identify children with special needs. Many of these children are being adopted by Western families.
Chuck Johnson, president of the National Council for Adoption, based in Virginia, U.S., said: "China has been very innovative in identifying children with special needs. In other countries, you really don't know where kids are and you don't know their status.
"China systematically identifies special needs children faster than it did previously, and they become available for adoption. It has also allowed U.S. agencies to partner with orphanages to find families with special needs children.
"I can talk to a family today, they can pick out their child and they will be home this time next year with the child," Phillips said.
Johnson also said the number of foreign adoptions by U.S. families has continued to fall because some countries have been told by the U.S. government that they must improve child welfare to meet the standards for adoption. The U.S. has halted adoptions from Cambodia and Guatemala because of fraud.
"China has the strongest oversight for all orphans. There is a very strong authority that monitors it. Such oversight and protection ... aren't always in place in other countries," Johnson said.
He hopes the U.S. government can do more to help developing countries that don't meet the standards to develop such safeguards.
Phillips said more U.S. families have become open to adopting children on the waiting list.
Three years ago, it would have been something of a shock if they had matched a child over 7 years old, "but now we do that on a regular basis," she said.
