August Through December 2006 from the JCICS Files
August 2006
The 3 Trip Guatemala Plan
A tremendous amount of time, money and energy was spent on one of the most lucrative adoption programs. Again Hannah Wallace of Focus on Adoption (FOA), Chris Huber of FTIA and Rudy Rivera of Children of the World, Inc. were key players. See http://www.frontiernet.net/~dancase/Guatemala.htm for more of Rudy Rivera’s connections.
Engage the key players in the Guatemalan adoption community (DOS, attorneys, Hogars, PGN, UNICEF, HLS, Berger et al)
Present to the Guatemalan adoption community, the revised Smith/Orr Proposal as a template for the changes needed re Hague compliance and standards of practice
Facilitate consensus building
Gain support of DOS and leverage such support in consensus building
Support final efforts to implement the required changes
Tactics
Three (more if necessary) trips to Guatemala “
“Trip 1 – End of August 2006
T. DiFilipo, H. Wallace, C. Huber and R. Rivera will represent JCICS during meetings with key attorneys, legislators and U.S. officials. The broad goals of the meetings are;
1. To present the consequences of current Guatemalan adoption practices and U.S. Hague ratification. In short, change or end.
2. Position JCICS as a positive agent of change
3. Initiate dialogue and consensus building via the Smith/Orr Proposal
4. Present the position of JCICS on current and future practices while demonstrating support for the children of Guatemala
5. Strengthen JCICS’s relationship with key U.S. officials “
The JCICS’ real goal was to keep Guatemala open, not be some positive agent of change.
The additional information given is about the Guatemlan attorneys and officials. They include “Enrique Urizar Maldonado, Susana Luarca,(President and Vice President of the ADA) Roberto Echevarria, Dina Castro, Jorge Carillo (past presidents of the Instituto), Olga Pons (current president of the Instituto), Jose Luis Dubon, Julio Batres (Constitutional lawyer)”
It is important to read information about Susana Luarca here: http://poundpuplegacy.org/node/9310 . Roberto died in 2010.
Trip 2 was to help write legislation that favors their business. “T. DiFilipo, C. Huber, R. Rivera and C. Orr will represent JCICS during a JCICS sponsored stakeholders meeting to include representatives of DOS, HLS, Hogars, UNICEF, the Guatemalan government, legislators and attorneys. “
Trip 3 was “Undetermined at this time.”
The JCICS additionally wanted client information in their database. Clients had not given their consent to give their information to this third party. Instead, they were given a choice to “include language in their client contracts that clients waive confidentiality on this issue to avoid lawsuits.” The JCICS was not even considering requiring language in contracts showing a lack of standards and indifference to prospective parents’ rights to privacy. It is important to point out that clients did not sign contracts with the JCICS. The JCICS was not (and still is not) party to any part of the adoption process.
Bad agency removed
After Adoption Placement, Inc (an AMREX-related agency) lost its Florida license, JCICS did remove them from membership.
“Vietnam Situation”
Again, it is amazing how the JCICS meeting notes downplayed the criminals that their agencies worked with in Vietnam.
“Meghan emailed the Vietnam caucus a few weeks ago in regards to concerns around two facilitators working there, My Linh Soland and Mai Ly LaTrace. Meghan also spoke with DOS who had shared concerns. One JCICS member contacted Meghan and shared that they are working with My Linh Soland and they intend to continue.”
See http://www.independent.ie/opinion/editorial/silence-greets-exposure-of-corrupt-adoption-practices-90289.html and http://poundpuplegacy.org/node/26728 for more about My Linh Soland. For more about Mai Ly LaTrace, see http://poundpuplegacy.org/node/10561
The JCICS had such low standards that member agencies working with known traffickers did not automatically gain the agencies a reprimand, suspension or removal. Instead, “Richard will work with Meghan to draft a letter and post to board for review. The letter will be from the board to the agency asking them to reconsider given the potential ramifications for future adoptions between the US and Vietnam.” Wow! “Reconsider” ! That ‘s showing these people (and their employers, who just happened to be JCICS members) who’s boss! This lack of policing their own will be even more apparent as the situation in Ethiopia worsened.
October 2006
· Umbrella agency AMREX went out of business. Many member agencies were involved with this group. It took a few months for the JCICS to do address this formally. (See December 2006 notes). See the agencies involved with AMREX here: http://amrex.blogspot.com/ and http://poundpuplegacy.org/amrex .
· Despite the JCICS’s previous claim in the Board meeting notes that they did not want a seat on the COA Board, the JCICS did formally request a seat on COA Board. To this day, the president of JCICS sits on the COA board.
December 2006
This section about Guatemala needs to be read in total.
“ Guatemala
The trip to Guatemala in early November was exceptional. It was extended by one day and culminated in a joint meeting including the JCICS delegation, John Lowell & Kathryn Cabral from DOS, UNICEF’s Manuel Manrique, as well as attorneys Roberto Echeverria and Gorge Castillo. One of the attorneys (who had helped write the constitutional challenge to the Hague in 2003) presented 16 points that represented areas that all present could agree upon. The delegation had opportunity to visit a Hogar and also met with the First Lady’s Office, UNICEF, DOS, Homeland Security, two Attorney Groups (Association in Defense of Adoption & Instituto de Derechos de la Nino e Familia), the Ministry of Foreign Relations and Secretaria de Bienestar Social de la Presidencia de la Republica.
At the end of November a one day meeting on Guatemala-related issues was held in Washington DC to gather together the caucus chairs, Hannah Wallace (FOA), Bruce Mossberg (Bethany) Traci Orr (Hope Int’l) and other key players, including Chris Huber (FTIA) and Chip Orr (For This Child).
Tom testified on behalf of JCICS before the House Subcommittee on International Relations during their Intercountry Adoption Hearing. Much of the conversation and question/answer period focused on Guatemala.
On December 4th a Congressional briefing regarding Guatemala was held. It was hosted by CCAI and at least 21 staffers were in attendance. JCICS, CIS, DOS, and Roberto Echeverria all participated in the meeting.
A few days later CCAI hosted eight members of the Guatemalan Congress for a series of approximately eleven meetings with various Senators and Congressmen. Together they represent a voting majority that committed to passing Hague legislation in Guatemala as soon as possible. The visit ended with a reception held at the Ethiopian Embassy and dinner with various JCICS members. They were also put in touch with Richard Klarberg of COA who will provide them with the current standards and who may assist with the crafting of the regulations once the law passes in Guatemala. “
This shows the vast network of US lawmakers and decision-makers that the JCICS had (and still has) access to. Curiously after all of the Guatemala meetings, they have a reception at the ETHIOPIAN embassy.
Complaints and AMREX
This board meeting had 2 sections of information about AMREX.
“ Further discussion was held that JCICS received a formal complaint against 23 member agencies involved with AMREX and a second complaint was rejected because it was improperly submitted.”
“AMREX & Membership Issues: T. DiFilipo
JCICS is working with NCFA to approach accredited or previously accredited agencies to assist/partner with individual families that have referrals and/or agencies that have been impacted by the AMREX bankruptcy. These agencies will be requested to assist with reduced or waived fees. The AMREX affiliated agencies will be asked to provide a clear option plan for all 198 families that have been impacted, not just the 82 with referrals. The options should include an offer to transfer to another program or to another agency. The upside for the adoption community as a whole is limitless, but for the individual agency is limited. JCICS and NCFA are approaching this from the viewpoint of helping children be placed in permanent homes by advocating for sound policies for families. “
It is disappointing, but not surprising, that the JCICS needed to ask member agencies to do the right thing about the fees that adoptive families had already paid for these defunct agency programs. Equally sad is that the JCICS felt that the “upside” for the individual agency was “limited.”
August 2006 full notes: http://poundpuplegacy.org/files/jcics/August%209%202006%20Minutes.pdf .
October 2006 full notes: http://poundpuplegacy.org/files/jcics/October%2011%202006%20Minutes.pdf.
December 2006 full notes: http://poundpuplegacy.org/files/jcics/December%2013,%202006%20Minutes.pdf.
For all 2005-2009 meeting minutes, see http://poundpuplegacy.org/node/46329.
REFORM Puzzle Piece
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