COA's Latest Substantiated Complaint and Adverse Action Report

COA released an updated Substantiated Complaints and Adverse Action Report today, September 28, 2012. One agency, Vista Del Mar is listed as having an additional Substantiated Complaint since the publication of the last report in August 2012. No other new complaints appear in the report.

COA's Substantiated Complaint and Adverse Action Reports can be found on the COA website: http://coanet.org/programs/hague-accreditation-and-approval/monitoring-and-oversight/
Scroll down the page and click on the red highlighted link: "Substantiated Complaints and Adverse Actions"

PEAR's previous post, listing all agencies with Substantiated Complaints
http://pear-now.blogspot.com/2012/09/september-2012-update-to-coa.html

As we have previously stated, being that COA can take 12-23 months to investigate complaints and that the specifics of corrective actions and complaint facts are not published, we do not believe the information provided through COA is sufficient to provide protection to potential adoptive parents, families of origin, or children. We suggest that families looking to use the services of a Hague accredited agency thoroughly research every agency and use the COA reports only as a starting point.

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

Upcoming Adoption Forum in NYC: The Impact of Chinese and other International Adoption Practices in relation to Birth Families, Abandonment and Searches

Upcoming Adoption Forum in NYC: The Impact of Chinese and other International Adoption Practices in relation to Birth Families, Abandonment and Searches


The Board of Directors of FCC of Greater NY and the Asian/Pacific/ American Institute at New York University are honored to present An Adoption Forum featuring David Smolin, Brian Stuy and Longlan Stuy who will speak about their work and experiences concerning
The Impact of Chinese and other International Adoption Practices in relation to
Birth Families, Abandonment and Searches
Saturday, October 20, 12PM-6PM
19 University Place, (near E 8th St.), NYU, NY

REGISTER online at www.fccny.org
$15 per person for FCCNY members, $20 for non-members
FREE students (16yrs+) and NYU student registration. Students should rsvp to Kathy at fccnybrooklyn@ aol.com

Brian H. Stuy is the owner and founder of Research-China. org, an organization that obtains information about a China adoptee's history and birthplace. He has visited and researched orphanages throughout China, seeking answers for adoptive parents about their children's beginnings. Brian has been actively involved in FCC -Utah for a number of years, including as president of the chapter. He has had numerous articles regarding adoption research appear in Adoption Today Magazine and various FCC publications.
Brian speaks about the adoption program in China and discusses various issues that confront adoptive parents when contemplating or performing a search, and how individual orphanage programs can impact the success of a search.

Longlan Stuy is Research-China. Org's in-country researcher and translator. She has worked with Brian since the inception of Research-China. She owned "Longlan's Place" on Shamian Island from 1996 until her marriage to Brian in 2004. She shares her vast knowledge and love of her home country with the adoptive community, and is passionate about assisting the children who remain in China's orphanages. Brian and Longlan have three daughters from China: Meikina from DianBai, Meigon from Guangzhou, and Meilan from Luoyang.
Longlan speaks about her first hand experiences with the different orphanages in China in relation to various patterns and issues, finding and talking with birth families, and how and why birth families in China have come to relinquish their children.

Professor David Smolin, Harwell G. Davis Professor of Constitutional Law and Director, Center for Biotechnology, Law, and Ethics, at Cumberland Law School, Samford University, is a noted scholar on the effect of population policies on international adoption and related issues. He has made presentations to the Hague Special Commission on the Practical Operation of the Hague Adoption Treaty, to the Central Authorities over Adoption of the Canadian government, at the Sao Paulo, Brazil, State Supreme Court, at the Korean Women's Development Institute and the Second International Symposium on Korean Adoption Studies in Seoul, S. Korea, to the Joint Council on International Children's Services annual symposium, and to many academic adoption conferences. David and his wife Desiree have 2 daughters who were adopted from India.
David provides some information for better understanding China's adoption practices in the context of the broader world of intercountry adoption and what has happened in adoptions from other nations. He will discuss the issue of the increasing significance of adult adoptee participation in intercountry adoption discourse and how that might impact the Chinese adoption community in the future. He will also be looking at the aftermath of abusive adoption practices and at some of the difficulties that arise, for families, with those practices, including issues relevant to special needs and older child adoption. He will also discuss competing narratives regarding intercountry adoption from China, and how such narratives can impact adoption triad members.

Questions? Contact Linda Mancini, linda.mancini@ hotmail.com
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Schedule
12:00pm - Arrival/Registration
12:15pm - Opening Remarks
12:30pm - Brian Stuy speaks about the adoption program in China and discusses various issues that confront adoptive parents when contemplating or performing a search, or when presenting a child's pre-adoption history, and how individual orphanage programs can impact our child's understanding of their origins, and the the success of a search.
1:30pm - Longlon Stuy speaks about her first hand experiences with the different orphanages in China in relation to different patterns and issues, finding and talking with birth families, and how and why birth families in China have come to relinquish their children.
2:00pm - Audience Questions/discussion with Brian, Longlan, Adoption Psychologist
2:45pm - Break
3:00pm - David Smolin provides some information for better understanding China's adoption practices in the context of the broader world of intercountry adoption and what has happened in adoptions from other nations. He will discuss the issue of the increasing significance of adult adoptee participation in intercountry adoption discourse and how that might impact the Chinese adoption community in the future. He will also be looking at the aftermath of abusive adoption practices and at some of the difficulties that arise, for families, with those practices, including issues relevant to special needs and older child adoption.
4:00pm - Audience Questions/discussion with David Smolin, Adoption Psych
4:30pm - Wrap-up,concluding remarks with David, Brian and Longlan
5:00pm - Wine & Cheese reception 

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

Update to Haiti's New Adoption Procedures

On September 14, we published the US DOS Office of Children's Issues latest Adoption Notice concerning changes to Haiti's adoption laws and processes. That Notice can be found here: http://pear-now.blogspot.com/2012/09/dos-adoption-notice-haiti-announces-new.html

Today, we were informed that God's Littlest Angels, a children's home in Haiti that facilitates adoptions, has published the following IBESR timeline for adoption processing in Haiti. The timeline was published on GLA's blog in mid-August and gives more detailed information than that provided by DOS:

TIMEFRAME	DISPOSITIONS
From August 16 till September 30, 2012	Delivery or renewal of agreement to orphanages       (children’s homes) for the year 2011-2012
From August 16 till September 15, 2012	Reception and proceeding of files of petition to adopt prepared between May and July 2012
From 1st of September, 2012	Reception and proceeding of requirement to operate of the Licensed Adoption Agencies for fiscal years 2012-2014
From 1st of October, 2012	1. Beginning of the new adoption process 2. Application of new fees for the files treatment 3. Delivery or renewal of agreement to orphanages for fiscal years 2012-2014 4. Agreement to proceed to adoptions for orphanages for fiscal year 2012-2013

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*source:  IBESR has reopened, And Life Goes On Blog by GLA director, Dixie Bickel, 8/19/2012: http://godslittlestangelsinhaiti.org/andlifegoeson/2012/08/19/ibesr-has-reopened/

UPDATE 9/28/12: On Tuesday, September 25, IBESR held a meeting with children's home directors to explain and clarify the new procedures. All Blessings International posted a translation of some of the discussions on their blog: All Blessings International in Haiti, IBESR Meeting, 9/25/2012, http://kashaiti.blogspot.com/2012/09/ibesr-meeting.html. The post by ABI states that IBESR will accept new dossiers up until October 31, 2012 and that the new procedures will be enforced starting November 1, 2012.

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

DOS Adoption Notice: Haiti Announces New Adoption Procedures

Haiti

September 14, 2012 

Notice: Haiti Announces New Adoption Procedures

 

Haiti’s adoption authority, Institut du Bien-Être Sociale et de Recherches (IBESR), announced new administrative adoption procedures, which will take effect on October 1, 2012.  Although these new procedures are part of the Government of Haiti’s efforts to become a Hague Adoption Convention partner with the United States, at this time Haiti is not party to the Convention, and the U.S. government will continue to process adoptions under the non-Hague system until the Convention enters into force for Haiti.

The Department of State’s understanding of the new adoption procedures is as follows:  IBESR plans to regulate orphanages, crèches, and children’s homes in Haiti through an authorization process.  In addition, IBESR plans to implement an authorization process for certified adoption service providers (ASPs) or their agents to facilitate adoptions and to begin requiring families to use the services of an authorized ASP.  Children will be eligible for adoption only if they reside in an authorized facility. We continue to seek further clarification and will update this notice as information becomes available.

IBESR informed the U.S. government that beginning September 2012, they will accept applications from ASPs wishing to facilitate adoptions in Haiti under the new procedures.

New procedures may prohibit prospective adoptive parents from establishing contact with the child they are seeking to adopt before they are officially matched to that child by IBESR in coordination with the ASP and orphanage, crèche, or children’s home.  Some exceptions, such as intra-family adoptions may be allowed, even with prior contact.  IBESR may consider exceptions to this policy for new cases in which prospective adoptive parents have already had contact with the child on a case-by-case basis.

IBESR has informed the U.S. government that it will process adoption cases submitted prior to May 7, 2012 under pre-existing adoption procedures.  IBESR has also informed the U.S. government that they will review new cases submitted up to and including September 15, 2012 to determine if they can be processed under the old procedures.

If you have questions about the status of your adoption case, please work closely with your adoption agency or facilitator.  The U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince is continuing to seek clarification on the new procedures.  Please continue to refer to our website at www.adoption.state.gov for updates on adoptions in Haiti.

http://adoption.state.gov/country_information/country_specific_alerts_notices.php?alert_notice_type=notices&alert_notice_file=haiti_3

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

ISS Report: INVESTIGATING THE GREY ZONES OF INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTION

The ISS (International Social Services) has released its report entitled: INVESTIGATING THE GREY ZONES OF INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTION. Anyone involved in or considering intercountry adoption should read this detailed report and its suggestions for improving  intercountry adoption practices.

PEAR Members and Newsletter Members can access the 142 page report on PEAR's Yahoo Groups.  The full  ISS Report is also available for download on the ISS USA webpage: http://iss-usa.org/pressdetails.asp?IdPress=59

Excerpt from the Foreword, written by David Smolin:

INVESTIGATING THE GREY ZONES OF INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTION illuminates thecontemporary paradoxes of intercountry adoption (ICA). While theoretically regulated by the 1993 Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption (THC-93), in fact almost two-thirds of contemporary intercountry adoptions are not legally governed by the treaty. While purportedly addressed at least in broad terms by the fundamental 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), a large proportion of intercountry adoptions in fact arise in circumstances where there have been severe violations of the rights of both children and adults, due to poverty and/or discrimination based on disability, gender, race, or ethnic group. Thus, where children’s rights and human rights are respected and successfully implemented, there are very few children legitimately in need of adoption. Further, while adoption is theoretically a means to ameliorate rights deprivations and to implement the best interests of the child, as actually practiced it easily becomes driven by the desire of adults for children, and by financial incentives. Thus, there is a severe temptation to create systems which use ICA to address problems such as poverty and discrimination, when from a child rights and human rights perspective it should be mandatory instead to remedy the underlying rights and equality violations. At the same time, vulnerable children clearly cannot wait for poverty, discrimination and underlying structural problems to be alleviated in their societies before receiving appropriate interventions, providing some ambiguity in practical terms as to the proper implementation of the subsidiarity principle. These paradoxes indeed create “grey zones.”

The Report goes beyond addressing “grey zones” to describe the zones of clearly illicit and illegal activity: children kidnapped and sold for ICA; fraud and money being used as inducements to obtain relinquishments; false documentation being supplied to cover up these means of illicitly obtaining children.    Concern with such illegal conduct was a precipitating concern of the THC-93 as reflected by the text and work of preparation; that these abusive practices remain persistent and widespread is demonstrated by the fact that the HCCH Special Commission of 2010 devoted the first day to “the abduction, the sale of, or traffic in children” in the context of intercountry adoption. Unfortunately the most powerful actors in ICA, including governments, adoption agencies, and adoptive parents, have powerful incentives to deny or minimize the extent of these illicit practices. Thus, it is extremely welcome that such an internationally significant organization as ISS has in this Report provided such a detailed documentation and analysis of these illicit practices. Hopefully, all involved in ICA will carefully consider the facts, analysis, and recommendations contained in this report.

David M. SMOLIN
Professor of Law Cumberland Law School
Samford University 
Birmingham, Alabama USA

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