Special Appeal: Sponsorship of Panel Speaker at Pepperdine

Pepperdine University School of Law is holding a conference February 8 - 9, 2013 entitled "Intercountry Adoption: Orphan Rescue or Child Trafficking?" One of the invited panel speakers is Mark Riley, Alternative Care Consultant and Child Advocate at The Alternative Care Initiative. Mark is an international adoptive parent who has been an outspoken critic of unethical international adoption practices. He is working with the Ugandan government to address the current issues within the Ugandan system and has been actively involved in Alternative Care for children, encouraging changes to institutional care, since he first visited Uganda in 2001.  Mark is currently supporting the Ugandan Government on Alternative Care and has developed a number of toolkits to assess and monitor child care institutions. 

Mark, along with his wife Keren, has provided  insight, inspiration, and support to PEAR over the last two years and our board believes that Mark's contributions at this conference are much needed. The effect of the pressures of current intercountry adoption "programs" on alternative care options for children in Uganda and elsewhere is an issue that needs to be discussed. Mark's perspective as both an adoptive father and consultant in alternative care is unique and reflects PEAR's perspective on these topics.

PEAR's board has pledged $500 to Mark's expenses, but we would like to open up a brief fundraising campaign through our membership and readership to add to that amount.

If you would like to support Mark's participation in the conference, please visit our website to for information on how to make a donation either by check or via PayPal. http://pear-reform.org/donate.htm

Please send an email to our board designating  that the donation is for sponsoring Mark Riley as a speaker at the Pepperdine Conference. reform@pear-reform.org,  place "Conference Sponsorship" in the "to" field, and let us know whether you contributed via PayPal or will be forwarding a check to Margaret Weeks.

For information on the Conference, please visit:
http://law.pepperdine.edu/nootbaar/annual-conference/

For information on the Rileys and their work in Uganda, please visit:
http://www.alternative-care-uganda.org/
http://rileysinuganda.blogspot.com/

PEAR is a 501c3 nonprofit.

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

PEAR Ethics Alert on Adoption from Uganda

PEAR Ethics Alert on Adoption from Uganda

PEAR has received numerous reports from adopting families and NGOs on the ground in Uganda regarding unethical conduct by adoption agencies, adopting families, and local facilitators and officials in Uganda. Due to the seriousness of these reports, the rapid increase in interest in adoption from this country, and the continued abuses of the adoption process in Uganda, it is PEAR’s recommendation that families looking to adopt ethically do not initiate adoption from Uganda at this time.

We also call on the governments of Uganda and the United States to investigate allegations of corruption thoroughly and take any and all measures necessary to address these issues with honesty and transparency in order to protect Ugandan children and families as well as US citizen prospective adoptive families.

Ethical concerns include:

1. Reports that US adoption agencies are making donations to existing orphanages to thwart efforts at family reunification;
2. Reports of harvesting of children from intact families in order to provide more “adoptable” children for intercountry adoption (children screened for suitable health, gender, and age);
3. Reports of extensive bribes paid to local officials by US adoption agencies and/or their local facilitators;
4. Reports of bribes paid to local officials by US adopting families;
5. Failure of the Ugandan government and US government to demonstrate a commitment to transparency and honesty in addressing concerns over the slowing of the process for approving Ugandan passports for adopted children;
6. Recent reports that US adopting families are being advised to take children into Kenya for processing Ugandan passport applications. We are concerned about this practice and the possible repercussions of US citizens flying undocumented children across international borders.

PEAR continues to monitor adoption from Uganda and will update our recommendations when believe adequate controls have been put into place to ensure ethical adoptions.

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

DOS Adoption Notice - Uganda

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Bureau of Consular Affairs
Office of Children’s Issues

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Status of Adoptions from Uganda
April 15, 2010

United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) regulations in 8 CFR 204.3(d) require that, in order for Petition to Classify an Orphan as an Immediate Relative (Form I-600) filed by prospective adoptive parent(s) to be approved, the prospective adoptive parent(s) must provide proof of a full and final adoption or custody of the child for emigration and adoption abroad in accordance with the laws of the foreign-sending country.

The Government of Uganda advised the U.S. Embassy in Kampala on March 16, 2010 that legal orders for guardianship issued by Ugandan courts that do not contain specific language authorizing emigration and overseas adoption should not be construed as sufficient to allow Ugandan children to depart Uganda to be adopted abroad. In the past, the U.S. Government has treated Ugandan guardianship orders that did not contain such language as sufficient to underpin the approval of the I-600 petition and immigrant visa, but based upon this clarification from the Government of Uganda, explicit language authorizing emigration and adoption abroad must now be included. Effective immediately, if an I-600 is filed with a guardianship order that does not include authorization for emigration and adoption abroad, the petition will not be approvable unless or until the petitioners are able to provide a corrected guardianship document.

http://adoption.state.gov/news/uganda.html

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

UPDATE: DOS Notice - Uganda

Uganda

Adoption Notice

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Bureau of Consular Affairs
Office of Children’s Issues

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Status of Adoptions from Uganda

February 17, 2010

Contrary to rumors that have been circulating, the U.S. Embassy in Kampala has NOT ceased processing adoption cases, but legal complications in Uganda have arisen that are likely to cause significant delays in the processing of most adoption cases.

On February 2, 2010 The Honorable Lady Justice Margaret C. Oguli Oumo, Family Court Judge, informed the U.S. Embassy in Kampala that legal guardianship orders issued by the High Court of Uganda are issued with the understanding that United States citizens will not adopt Ugandan children in the United States and that the Ugandan children will not change their citizenship.

A key requirement of IR-4 immigrant visa eligibility is that the prospective adoptive parent(s) (PAPs) obtain legal custody of the child for the purposes of emigration and adoption abroad. Guardianship orders that merely permit the guardians to travel with the child outside of Uganda and do not permit the guardians to fix the abode of the child may not meet the requirements of U.S. immigration law for the purpose of IR-4 visa issuance.

If there is a doubt as to the meaning of a custody order, consular officers must seek clarification from appropriate government authorities. If the consular officer ultimately determines the order to be sufficient to meet the requirements for IR-4 visa issuance, the case can be processed to conclusion. If the consular officer determines the order to be insufficient, the embassy is required to submit the I-600 petition to USCIS for review. (If the I-600 was locally filed it would go to the USCIS office with jurisdiction as not clearly approvable; if it was approved in the United States it would be returned through the National Visa Center to the USCIS office in the United States that originally approved the petition.)

http://adoption.state.gov/news/uganda.html

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