• Avoid searching the Web blindly. The Internet is replete with agencies that lack a physical location, which should be a major red flag.
• Instead, check out the National Foster Care & Adoption Directory, a database funded by the Department of Health and Human Services that lists licensed agencies by state.
• When agencies estimate time frames, they typically don’t include the duration of a home study in their estimates, so be sure to factor in the four months it often takes.
• Ask prospective agencies for an itemized list of charges, and consider dropping any firm that won’t cooperate
• To weed out the lesser agencies, ask for the names and phone numbers of three clients whose adoptions were completed at least three years ago. Contact those adoptive parents and inquire about how the agency handled both post-adoption services and the adoption process itself.

Labels: agencies, tips

Before, family preservation workers had to split their time between trying to help families stay together and working with courts to ensure foster care and adoptive families followed judges’ orders, officials said. ...

Tom Buell, direction of addiction services for DCCCA, said the change allows his agency to concentrate on what it’s good at. "I like holding families together rather than working the aftermath of the trauma of kids going out of their homes," Buell said.

Labels: agencies

"But nearly a year later, through a combination of insurance money and donations... the venerable adoption agency has 'stabilized'... The agency is still in business, but now she has a staff of one..."

Labels: accreditation, agencies

"The organization has arranged more than 10,000 adoptions over the years, [Executive Director Bill] Baccaglini estimates, while undertaking new ventures ranging from a Bronx charter school aimed at foster children to a Head Start program in Puerto Rico."

Labels: agencies, reunions, school

"The agency learned in July that it had been denied accreditation required by the Hague convention - a treaty that governs international adoption, signed by the United States and nearly 75 other countries."

Labels: accreditation, agencies, inter-country_adoption

"China has two routes you can go... the more popular one is what they call the regular referral route, which means adopting a newborn. The other one is what they call a 'Special Needs' match. Either the child is older... or they have medical needs."

Labels: agencies, China, workshop

"The winning students carefully tackled the issue of how to handle custody of a child born through embryo adoption after discovering that the egg donor never intended for any resulting embryos to be donated."

Labels: agencies, custody, embryo_adoption

"It all started with a 12-year dream of Antioch's pastor, Dr. Ken Hutcherson. He desired to see all children from the foster care system adopted into loving homes. He also desired for more families to be able to afford infant adoptions. The services offered by Antioch Adoptions are free of charge."

Labels: adoption_costs, agencies, foster_care

"Police spokeswoman Sarah Huntley on Friday said investigators are still looking into allegations that Claar officials, including former Erie Trustee Lisa Novak and her husband, Martin Claar, defrauded and stole money from hopeful parents."

Labels: agencies, fraud, licensing

"'We are not sure where our money (has gone) and how much of it has been used,' David Daynes said. 'When we call the agency and say we want to find out when you paid the people in Guatemala and how much you paid them, they don't answer our questions.'"

Labels: agencies, awareness, legitimacy

"The regulations also try to ensure adopted children are not exploited. It's a process [Jamie] Chmielewski says will give comfort to parents like [Stefanie] Leist who is now looking to adopt her fourth child from China... With the regulations ensuring consistency, Chmielewski says she expects the numbers of people adopting from countries like China to only grow from here."

Labels: agencies, inter-country_adoption, rules

"Gladney [Center adoption agency] regained its accreditation this month, and officials say they hope that local adoptions of Russian children will soon resume."

Labels: adoption_process, agencies, Russia

"'Without adoption or sponsorship, Africa's children face a grim future,' said Dr. Tsegaye Berhe, WHFC's Director for African Programs. 'Being able to give hundreds of Ethiopian children a hopeful future makes me truly happy, but the need extends beyond Ethiopia. I am hopeful we can soon make an impact on the lives of many needy children throughout Africa.'"

Labels: Africa, agencies, non-profit

"Read directions carefully, and whenever possible, use example letters. Some agencies send you example letters or specific recommended wordings for your documents. If your agency does this, use the examples they give. This will help get things right the first time."

Labels: agencies, paperwork, references