RESOURCE: Video of “Stolen Children: Illegal Practices in International Adoption and the Need for Reform”

Erin Siegal of Finding Fernanda, has posted a link to the video from the “Stolen Children: Illegal Practices in International Adoption and the Need for Reform” conference at American University’s Washington College of Law.


http://findingfernanda.com/2011/06/video-from-stolen-children-conference/

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Ethics, Transparency, Support
~ What All Adoptions Deserve.
http://www.pear-now.org/

Advocacy Alert: Adoptive Parent Petition to the Joint Council on International Child Services

An adoptive mother of a child from Ethiopia has started a petition to the JCICS to reconsider their "Emergency Campaign" to the slowdown in adoption processing in Ethiopia.

The preamble for the petition states:

This is a response of adoptive parents, prospective adoptive parents, adoptees, and others with an interest and concern in the international adoption programs with Ethiopia to the formal statement issued by the Joint Council on International Children's Services (JCICS) on their web site on March 7, 2011 and their launch of a "Emergency Campaign" on their blog on March 8, 2011.

Adoptive and prospective adoptive parents who support ethical and transparent adoptions that are in the best interests of children may wish to read and sign the petition.

http://www.gopetition.com/petition/43835.html

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Ethics, Transparency, Support
~ What All Adoptions Deserve.
http://www.pear-now.org/

PEAR Questions to US Department of State

PEAR has asked the following questions to Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs, Janice L. Jacobs during the Ask the State Department Celebrate National Adoption Month open questioning period that ends November 30. The State Department will be selecting questions and answering them on their website in December.

1. How can China be considered "Hague-compliant" with open trafficking rampant enough for their government to set up a website to find the parents for trafficked children who have been recovered amid reports that the CW Centers themselves routinely offer hundreds of dollars to Mother's willing to sell their children?

2. How can India be considered “Hague-compliant” when their own laws state CARA may charge ONLY $3000 total in foreign adoption fees yet there is not a single agency in the world that pays them that? In reality no agency can get Cara approval to operate in India without agreeing to donate thousands of dollars for both services and "humanitarian aid” programs.

3. Given the facts that JCICS is a financial supporter of COA, adoption service providers sit on COA's board of directors, and the accreditation process and review is not transparent, how can we have confidence in COA's ability to make unbiased decisions to accredit agencies? Despite numerous promises to do so, neither COA nor DOS have provided publicly accessible disclosure of agencies with pending applications. Why is this?

4. To date, adoptive parents, adoption service providers and adoption advocacy and reform groups have filed numerous complaints against Hague accredited agencies, some dating back over a year yet, according to a recent quote by Richard Klarberg, none of the complaints leading to investigations have been resolved. Is DOS planning on providing assistance to COA in completing these investigations in a timely manner and disclosing the outcomes to the public? What about cases where COA is unable to investigate allegations of Hague violations in foreign countries? Will DOS be providing assistance?

5. Why is the US continuing to allow adoptions from non-Hague countries and are there any plans to demand Hague compliance in the foreseeable future?

6. Will the US be one of the four pilot countries when Guatemala re-opens?









Ethics, Transparency, Support
~ What All Adoptions Deserve.
http://www.pear-now.org/

Where is the JCICS Ethiopia Report?

According to information posted on the JCICS website, a team undertook a fact-finding mission to Ethiopia from October 2-October 9, 2009.


This mission was partly in response to allegations made by an investigative television show in Australia called “Fly Away Children” about improprieties, trafficking, and "harvesting" of non-orphans from Ethiopia to the US. http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/content/2009/s2686908.htm . One JCICS member agency, Christian World Adoptions (CWA), bore the brunt of the allegations in this program. It is worth noting that the CEO of CWA, Tomilee Harding, lists herself as a current board member of the JCICS, http://www.cwa.org/staff.htm . However, the JCICS website does not include Ms. Harding in its current list of board members. http://www.jcics.org/Board_Directors.htm

On October 12, 2009 , the JCICS claimed that a report on their activities would be published soon. See http://www.JCICS.org/Ethiopia.htm . This report, however, has not been published as of today, November 11, 2009.

PEAR respectfully asks why there has been such a long delay in posting a response to this mission, particularly as the JCICS said they would “collaboratively identify all abuses, take action consummate with our mandate and policies, and, as appropriate, to demand a thorough investigation by the appropriate authorities.”

Prospective adoptive parents considering Ethiopia as a viable and ethical country from which to adopt need to have this information in order to make informed choices about both the country program as a whole and individual agencies working there. Adoptive parents and adoptees concerned about unethical practices surrounding their adoptions are also awaiting this report. We hope the JCICS will release the report in a timely fashion, as their delay poses many questions and answers none.









Ethics, Transparency, Support
~ What All Adoptions Deserve.
http://www.pear-now.org/

UPDATE: China

According to the JCICS, the China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) will require all adoptive families to register with a Hague Accredited ASP as of December 1, 2009. This applies to all waiting parents who filed a dossier with China prior to the Hague coming into full force in the US on April 1, 2009. Please note that this information has not been confirmed by the US Department of State, nor does it appear on the DOS Adoption Website, UCSIS, and the US Embassy websites.

Thank you to Linh Song of Ethica for getting permission from JCICS to pass this news along to prospective adoptive parents:

Dear Colleagues,

During a meeting with the China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) on Tuesday
September 15 2009, Director General Lu announced that beginning December 1
2009; all adoptive families must be registered with a Hague Accredited
Adoption Service Provider (ASP). If an adoptive family is currently
registered with a non-Accredited ASP, they are required to transfer their
adoption to a Hague Accredited ASP no later than December 1, 2009.

Director General Lu also clarified; families currently using the I-600A and
I-600 process (non-Hague) may continue with this process. Families are not
required to transfer to the I-800A and I-800 process, unless deemed
necessary by the United State Government.

The specifics of this new policy can be found on the CCAA website for ASPs
only.

Best wishes,

Tom

PEAR hopes that the JCICS will encourage member agencies to cooperate in planning and transfer of cases in way that does not overly burden waiting families.

~PEAR Board
Ethics, Transparency, Support
~ What All Adoptions Deserve.
http://www.pear-now.org/

Kazakhstan Adoptions Update

Yesterday the JCICS released this statement on Kazakhstan:

"Joint Council confirms the suspension of dossier processing by the Kazakhstan Embassy and Consulates pending the finalization of a review of adoption cases by the Kazakhstan government. The following represents our understanding of the suspension.

*The suspension of dossier processing by the Kazakhstan Embassy/Consulate is effective immediately.
*Dossiers which have been processed and forwarded to Almaty will be permitted to continue through to finalization.
*Dossiers which have not yet been processed by the Embassy/Consulate will not be forwarded to Almaty and will remain at the Kazakhstan Embassy/Consulate pending the completion of the review noted above.
*The Kazakhstan Embassy/Consulate will not accept new dossiers pending the completion of the review noted above.

Joint Council hopes to meet with Kazakhstan officials soon and will continue to provide updates and information."

http://www.jcics.org/Kazakhstan.htm

Quite a few agencies put out letters to families yesterday denying the JCICS statement. However, this morning, in response to an inquiry from PEAR, the DOS Intercountry Adoption Unit confirmed the JCICS statement. DOS will be issuing a formal statement on their website later today or tomorrow. Hopefully this statement will give further information and guidance for families in process.

PEAR will continue to monitor the situation and status of adoption from Kazakhstan.

Gina Pollock

PEAR Supports Ethica's Letter to the VN Adoption Community

Below is a letter from Linh Song, Executive Director of Ethica. PEAR supports Ethica's call for input from the VN adoption community and encourages all those interested in VN adoption and adoption reform to participate by writing your comments to Ethica. PEAR's Comments on the JCICS Proposed Standards of Practice were submitted to JCICS on December 10, 2007. Copies of our comments are available on our website, in the Files section of our Newsletter Group, or by contacting PEAR at reform@pear-now.org.

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Dear Vietnam Adoption Community Members,

In November I attended the Joint Council on International Children's Services' Vietnam Summit. JCICS is the umbrella organization for many, but not all, adoption agencies facilitating international adoptions. Ethica is also a member as an adoption advocacy organization.

The Summit was convened in order to address the increasingly problematic situation in Vietnam, which included:

- Over 20 NOIDS (notice of intent to deny a child's visa) were issued in October-November 2007; 3 JCICS member agencies accounted for the majority of the NOIDs. Currently there are 26 NOIDs.
- The new I600 procedure that was proposed and implemented in order to verify true orphan status of Vietnamese children.
- The MOU between the U.S. and Vietnam that will be renegotiated in March with renewal in September 2008. However Vietnam has not fulfilled its promise of releasing a fee schedule, a key factor for successful renegotiation.

It was also mentioned that there was evidence of:
- Moving children from unlicensed child welfare institutions into licensed orphanages in order to qualify for international adoption.
- Adoption agencies contracting directly with maternity hospitals and matching children before they are relinquished to the orphanage.
- Paying orphanage and provincial officials large sums of cash in order to secure referrals (children eligible for adoption).
- Paying for travel junkets for orphanage and provincial authorities to tour the U.S.

The theme of the meeting was for agencies to stop illegal activity in-country, stop paying facilitators contingency or finding fees, and to co-operate in creating an agency fee schedule to submit to the U.S. Department of State.

It was obvious to me during the discussion that unethical and illegal activity either paid for or promoted by American adoption agencies, and bidding wars between agencies for young children, were key factors leading to the current climate. Cash donations directly to orphanages were also an issue as more seasoned and reputable agency representatives reminded attendees that one of the MOU's goals was to have agency funding be directed to humanitarian projects and not unaccountable cash gifts.

Some agencies continue to insist that they are not responsible to verify orphan status and that receipts alone are adequate tracking methods. Ethica believes that
this attitude is an indication that adoptive families need to be vocal about putting the responsibility on their agencies to fulfill their obligations in facilitating ethical and transparent adoptions.

Proposed JCICS standards were issued that agencies are currently commenting on. The timeline presented at the Summit has been changed to accommodate a delay due to staff changes at JCICS. The hope is for agencies to submit their fees to the organization and comments on the Vietnamese standards of practice by January 21.

Ethica is preparing our comments on the standards to submit at the end of Friday, January 18th. We would like to hear from parents any thoughts they have on what agencies should currently be doing in Vietnam, but are not currently doing. We will consider adding them to our comments. This is your chance for input on keeping Vietnamese adoptions open and continuing in an ethical and transparent manner.

Please email us at info@ethicanet.org by January 17th. Thank you.


Linh Song, MSW
Executive Director
Ethica, Inc.

Update on PEAR's Call to Action: Vietnam

In early December, JCICS requested that PEAR put together a list of organizations and individuals we felt JCICS should contact for input on their proposed Standards of Practice for Vietnam Adoptions. We submitted the following list to JCICS on December 6:

Vietnam AP groups:
APV (Adoptive Parents Vietnam Yahoo group) and owners
RateYourVietnamAdoptionAgency Yahoo Group and owners
FCVN (Families with Children from Vietnam)
Nicki & Chris from the Voices for Vietnam Adoption Integrity blog

Adoptee Groups:
VAN-Online
adopted vietnamese international
InterAdopt Alliance

Adoptee Groups for APs too:
International-Adopt-Talk Yahoo Group and owners
Global-Adoption-Triad Yahoo Group and owners

Despite their interest in participating in the process, none of the organizations or individuals representative of adoptive parents have been contacted by JCICS for input. PEAR has not received feedback from the adoptee groups and individuals.

PEAR is now highly encouraging all organizations and individuals with an interest in Vietnam adoptions, or international adoption in general, to contact JCICS individually or to offer their input on comments to Ethica www.ethica.net.org. Please let your voice be heard!

Gina Pollock
Interim President
PEAR
www.pear-now.org
reform@pear-now.com