1. A child can be referred to Make-A-Wish by parents/guardians, medical team or the child him/herself once they are 2 ½ years old and before they turn 18 years old.
2. The child must reside within our coverage area in order to proceed with the wish process.  Our coverage area includes New York City, Nassau County, Suffolk County and 17 counties from Buffalo to Rochester.   
3. If a child’s diagnosis meets our eligibility criteria, we will schedule a "Getting to Know You" call through a video platform or over the phone.
4. Volunteer Wish Granters are assigned as a pair to meet with you and your child to discover their wish ideas. This meeting can take place in-person or virtually on a video call. There are also times where you may meet with a staff member to discover your child’s wish.
5. The wish idea and paperwork collected during the wish discovery process are reviewed for approval by Make-A-Wish staff and also by the child’s medical team to ensure the wish is within our guidelines and medically safe for the child. Each wish may have specific forms and ID requirements that will be collected by a staff member.
6. Once the specific wish is approved, Make-A-Wish staff will coordinate with you to plan the details and grant the wish.

The average length of the wish process is 12 months from the time the child is referred until the wish is granted. You are welcome to check in on the status of your child’s wish at any time. Different wish types may take longer to grant. Wishes may also be expedited due to a child’s medical status, treatment plan or other situations.

Wish Granters are the volunteers who will meet with you and your child to discover their wish. During the wish discovery, your child will have opportunity to share their wish ideas and narrow down a first and second choice if there are multiple ideas. Wish Granters will complete necessary forms to begin planning the wish. Make-A-Wish staff will then follow up with the family for additional paperwork and information. Volunteers will support throughout the wish journey.

All Wish Granters go through a screening and vetting process. They must pass a background check, complete a conflict of interest form and attend Wish Granting training. Once they meet these requirements they are assigned to your child as a pair, taking into consideration language, geography and experience.

A Wish Discovery Guide is sent to kids when they are found eligible for a wish. This allows them to begin thinking of wish ideas and writing them down. When the Wish Granters meet you for wish discovery, they will ask your child about their ideas as well as what they imagine as details for the wish. Different discovery tools may be sent to your child in advance. If the wish child is struggling to determine their wish, staff and wish granters will help brainstorm wish ideas.

Wishes tend to fall into four categories: Wish to Have, Wish to Be, Wish to Meet, Wish to Go. We have also seen ideas around Wish to Give. If your child’s wish doesn’t fall into any of these categories, please still share it, and we will discuss options. It is always best to share several wish ideas in case one particular idea is not possible. The Wishes Can Continue to Come True Guide (English), Wishes Can Continue to Come True Guide (Spanish) and the Wish Idea Tool can help guide your conversation with your child about wish ideas.

Each wish is reviewed individually and is as unique as each child. We cannot grant wishes for vehicles as a primary mode of transportation (cars, motorcycles, RVs, etc.), homes, firearms, a wish for more wishes or cash. There are age restrictions for certain wish types. There are also restrictions on travel to countries with U.S. State Department travel advisories, based on our national medical advisory review and travel risk management company review. We review based on travel, medical, and security risk. Wish restrictions will be communicated to you as they become relevant. Wishes will need to be reviewed and approved by your child’s medical team, Make-A-Wish leadership and our Medical Advisory Council. The wish idea will be reviewed multiple times throughout the journey to confirm travel safety.

The wish process can be delayed on a case-by-case basis if you are not yet ready to move forward with the wish process due to your child’s current medical treatments or other family situations that need priority attention.  This is essentially a pause in the process and will be for a specified time period upon review by Make-A-Wish staff. You can discuss this option with our team at any point in the process.

Families do not have to contribute financially in any way in order to receive a wish. All wish-related expenses will be covered by Make-A-Wish, including per-diem expense money if needed on the wish experience. Once the wish is approved, this will all be detailed to your family.

We do not ask for any proof of income or immigration status as part of our criteria. However, immigration status may impact your ability to travel so please keep that in consideration when discussing wish ideas with your child. We follow all federal guidelines for travel and identification requirements, including REAL ID for domestic travel and passports for international travel.

There are several layers of approval required for a wish to take place:  

• Both biological parents of the child must provide a signature allowing a wish to be granted.  Exceptions are made when one parent is deceased or whereabouts are unknown as well as if the child is in foster care or under legal guardianship of another adult. We will review all situations on a case-by-case basis.
• Make-A-Wish staff reviews every wish request and will approve a wish that is within our guidelines.
• All required signed forms and/or ID requirements must be completed.
• The child’s medical team will also review the wish and must approve that it is medically safe for the child. The medical team does not provide final wish approval. Make-A-Wish has additional internal reviews to determine if we can safely grant your child’s wish.

If a particular wish cannot be granted due to guidelines or medical concerns, your child will be given opportunity to select a new wish.  Please note that guidelines vary among the many chapters of Make-A-Wish and can change at any time. Approval guidelines will be communicated to you as they become relevant.

Generally, the wish child can include 2 adults and siblings that live in the wish child’s home under the age of 18 to be part of the wish experience. Any other requests are considered on a case-by-case basis.

If you share that your child does not communicate verbally, we will send you a Communication Profile for you to complete and send back to us.  This will allow us to better understand how your child communicates and some of their interests.  We will also send a Communication Profile to be completed by a professional who is familiar with how your child communicates.  This can be a doctor, teacher or social worker.  We ask for the child to still be present during the wish interview, and we understand that you will likely be speaking on behalf of your child in determining a wish.