Holt Suspended for “Negligence ” in India Adoptions UPDATED

“The Centre has suspended an American adoption agency for “negligence” in its assessment of adoptive parents of three-year-old India-born Sherin Mathews who died in the U.S., government sources said.

Sherin Mathews, who was adopted by an Indian-American couple in 2016, died in October 2017 allegedly from choking after her adoptive father “physically assisted” her with drinking milk.

Both the adoptive parents are in jail. An autopsy report recently ruled that Sherin Mathews died because of “homicidal violence”.

Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi took the decision to suspend the authorised foreign adoption agency (AFAA), Holt International, government sources said.

They added, that the government has written to the Indian Embassy in the U.S., the Central Authority, which is the nodal body for adoptions in the U.S., and Holt International, informing them about the decision.

“We have suspended the operations of Holt International because we found it negligent in the assessment of the adoptive parents and also in the post placement assessment of the family,” CEO, CARA (Child Adoption Resource Authority), Lt. Col. Deepak Kumar, said. He added that a decision on cancelling the AFAA’s authorisation will be taken after detailed reports from the Indian Embassy as well as the CA. CARA is India’s nodal body for adoption.

While the death of Sherin Mathews came to light in October, the government delayed acting against the AFAA due to Ivanka Trump’s visit to India in November, it is reliably learnt from different government officials. A top government official said that India was treading cautiously because it did not want the ties between the two countries to be impacted. Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj had also sought a probe into the “adoption process” of Sherin Mathews in October.

A grand jury this month is expected to review charges filed against the girl’s adoptive parents. The adoptive father, Wesley Mathews, is under arrest on the charge of injury to a child, punishable up to life in prison. The adoptive mother, Sini Mathews, has been charged with child endangerment or abandonment relating to the death punishable by up to two years in jail.

Following the incident, CARA has made mental well-being of overseas applicants seeking to adopt a child an important criterion for determining their eligibility.”

Sherin Mathews death: India suspends U.S. adoption agency

[The Hindu 1/7/18 by PTI]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

Update: “A non-profit US agency involved in placing Sherin Mathews with an Indian-American family has said it followed all national and international laws and best practices during the adoption process of the three-year-old Indian-born girl. [Uh huh]

The Holt International, now barred from operating in India in the wake of the death of Sherin–whose body was found in a culvert near her parents’ suburban Dallas home in October–less than a year after she was adopted from an Indian orphanage, also said it is working towards ensuring safe adoption practices.

“During the Mathews’ adoption process, Holt International as well as our partner agency in Texas followed all national and international adoption policies, procedures, laws and best practices,” Susan Soonkeum Cox, vice president of policy and external affairs at Holt International, said. “We are profoundly saddened by her tragic death,” Cox told PTI in an interview.

She said that for more than 40 years, the agency’s adoption programmes in India had been child-centred, focused on child safety and had upheld the highest ethical standards for children and families. “Despite our strong belief that we were in proper compliance with all national and international procedures, in response to Sherin’s death we are reviewing each step of our adoption process and working with all relevant government authorities to determine how we can do even more to protect adopted children,” she said.

The Holt International was recently suspended for “negligence” in its assessment of adoptive parents of Sherin Mathews. Sherin, adopted by an Indian-American couple in 2016, died in October last year allegedly from choking after her adoptive father “physically assisted” her with drinking milk.

Her autopsy report revealed that she died because of “homicidal violence”. India’s Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi made the decision to suspend Holt International from operating in India. According to the agency’s website, it has placed more than 1,480 Indian children in adoptive homes since 1979.

However, after India’s recent decision, the organisation’s website says applications for adoptions from India are no longer being accepted. As several adoptions will be impacted by the decision, the agency said that for the adoptions from India in process, “We’ve contacted our families in the adoption process from India, and we are working to smoothly transfer each family to another reputable agency.”

Following the incident, India’s nodal body for adoption Child Adoption Resource Authority (CARA), has made mental well-being of overseas applicants seeking to adopt a child an important criterion for determining their eligibility. “We are not accepting new applications to adopt from India until the temporary suspension is lifted following CARA’s investigation,” it said. Sherin’s adoptive parents are in jail. Sherin’s adoptive father, 37-year-old Wesley Mathews, was on Friday indicted on a capital murder charge by a grand jury and faces life in prison or the death penalty.

He also faces charges of abandoning a child and tampering with evidence. Sherin’s foster mother, Sini Mathews, was indicted on a charge of abandoning a child.

The punishment for that ranges from two to 20 years in prison with a fine of up to USD 10,000. Wesley originally told police that Sherin had disappeared after he put her outside as a punishment for not drinking her milk. Police said he changed his story after her body was found on October 24, saying he removed her body from their home after she choked on her milk.

He told authorities that he had put Sherin’s body in his car with a bag of trash. Her body was later found in a culvert just miles from her home.

Sini was arrested on a charge of child abandonment or endangerment based on her husband’s admission to police that they both took Sherin’s sister out to dinner and left the toddler home alone the night before she died. The couple’s biological daughter remains in CPS custody.

Their parental rights will be determined in a civil trial scheduled for the end of this month. They can either forfeit their parental rights, or the court will decide to schedule a civil trial to possibly terminate their rights.”

US agency says it followed all laws, best practices in Sherin adoption

[The Tribune 1/13/18  y PTI]
Update 2:“Sherin Mathews would have turned four this July. Instead, next month will mark her first death anniversary.

The three-year-old with learning problems died after an alleged assault by her adoptive father last October in the US.

A year later, the government is yet to act on plans to revoke the authorisation of Holt International, the American agency that facilitated her adoption in July 2016 and reportedly failed in its duty to keep tabs on her upkeep.

Abandoned at birth by her parents in Bihar, Sherin was one of hundreds of Indian children adopted by overseas families every year through the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA), India’s central agency for adoptions.

Sherin’s decomposed body was found in a culvert near her house, days after she was reported missing by her adoptive parents. After her body was discovered, the father said she had choked on milk and he removed her body from the house to avoid suspicions.

Also read: US adoption agency could be punished for Sherin Mathews death

An autopsy subsequently concluded the child had died of “homicidal violence”, but the nature of the assault could not be determined since the body was decomposed.

Her adoptive parents, Indian-American couple Wesley and Sini Mathews, are both on trial in Texas in connection with her death. Earlier this month, India decided to revoke the Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) cards of the Mathews, as well as some of their relatives and friends.
An old partner

CARA has been in regular touch with its counterpart in the US, the US Central Authority for the Hague Adoption Convention, over the past year, but little has come of it.

In a letter dated 5 January, 2018, CARA chief executive officer Deepak Kumar said Holt International had been suspended from facilitating adoptions between India and the US.

“Further decision on the revocation of its authorisation shall be taken on getting a detailed report from the US Central Authority and the Indian embassy in the USA,” he added.

Holt International had been facilitating India-US adoptions since 1979 before its suspension.

The decision to revoke the authorisation of Holt International has to be taken jointly by the ministry of women and child development and the ministry of external affairs.

However, the latter is learnt to have cancelled at least two meetings in which the issue had to be discussed, including one this month.
‘Misleading’

In Sherin’s case, Holt International was the Authorised Foreign Adoption Agency (AFAA) tasked with the adoptive family’s background check, as well as visits to keep a watch on her life with them.

After it was concluded that the child had died of “homicidal violence”, the Indian government flagged reports furnished as “misleading”.

However, the US Central Authority told the Indian authorities that Holt International was not the agency that carried out the home and follow-up studies before and after the toddler was adopted.

In a letter to the Indian authorities in April, the US Central Authority said it was actually the Lutheran Adoption Service, an agency that provides a range of child welfare services, which conducted the studies.

The US authorities could start an investigative assessment of the Lutheran Service if the CARA deemed it necessary, the letter added.

However, an internal brief prepared by the Government of India in the case states that, according to Indian rules, the AFAA is responsible for conducting the checks.

In this case, “the AFAA had a tie-up with them (Lutheran Service) without the concurrence or approval of CARA”, the brief says, adding that, therefore, the lapses can be attributed to Holt International.

Explaining this argument, a government official told ThePrint, “Tomorrow, they can get up and say that this xyz person in Lutheran Service was responsible, but as a country, we have to pin the responsibility on the agency with which we came into an agreement.”

According to sources in the WCD ministry, Holt International has been trying very hard to restart operations with India, but the Indian government has been unresponsive.

However, asked if the Indian government can push for legal action against the agency for negligence, sources in the government said that was the prerogative of the American legal system.”

Year since Indian child’s death in US, govt drags feet on punishing adoption agency

[The Print 9/29/18 by Sanya Dhingra]