One Canadian Agency Closing; One Has Major Financial Problems UPDATED

We discussed the debacle of Imagine Adoption agency  here. Now the agency that took on some of their cases, Hope Adoption Services, is closing.

Hope Adoption Services Closure

“When Barry Penner heard Abbotsford-based Hope Adoption Services was closing its doors, he heard it with the sinking feeling of someone who has their hopes pinned on adopting a child.

Since early 2009, Mr. Penner, the former four-term Liberal MLA and attorney-general, and his wife have been trying to adopt a child from Thailand, first through Hope Adoption and then, after the agency’s connections in Thailand appeared to founder in late 2009, through the provincial Ministry of Children and Family Development, with support from the agency.

Provincial governments regulate adoption but private agencies often co-ordinate approvals and paperwork, as well as deal with officials and agencies abroad.

“Although our file was officially sent on by MCFD, the ministry keeps looking to the agency for advice,” Mr. Penner said late Monday, his last day of work as a MLA. “Now that they are gone, we don’t have them as an advocate any more.”

Hope Adoption announced its closing early this month, saying in a Jan. 5 letter to clients that it was “unable to meet our financial obligations” and was working with the province to ensure files would be transferred in an orderly fashion.

That provides limited reassurance to people such as Claire Apostolopoulos, an Abbotsford teacher who, with her husband, has been trying to adopt a child from Ethiopia since 2008.

“I just felt my heart sink,” Ms. Apostolopoulos said.

In 2009, Ms. Apostolopoulos was among dozens of clients affected when Ontario-based Imagine Adoption declared bankruptcy. She and her husband had been pursuing an adoption from Ethiopia through the Ontario firm, with B.C.-based Hope providing a home study and other services as part of the process. After Imagine filed for bankruptcy, the founder and manager of the company were charged with fraud for using money paid for adoption services for personal expenses. Another Ontario agency has since taken on Imagine’s files.

Ms. Apostolopoulos is encouraged that Hope Adoption has promised an orderly transition, but worries she may run into delays and additional fees. International adoptions can cost $30,000 or more, depending on the country involved.

Developments abroad, including poor countries clamping down on what can be problematic adoptions, can affect the cost and time for would-be adoptive parents. Such developments can also affect the finances of adoption agencies, which typically run as non-profits and rely on client fees to break even.”

“B.C. Child Minister Mary McNeil was not available to comment on Hope Adoption. In an e-mailed statement, her office said the provincial director of adoption is working with the agency to ensure that all active files are transferred to other agencies in an orderly fashion.

“We want to stress that Hope is not in this situation due to bad management. B.C.’s licensed adoption agencies can be negatively affected by occurrences in foreign countries and decisions by other jurisdictional authorities,” the statement said.

Mr. Penner, meanwhile, hopes his file will make its way through the system. Since starting the process, he and his wife have had a child of their own, a daughter who is now 10 months old. He first visited Thailand as a student and has returned several times since, including shortly after 2004’s devastating tsunami, when he visited an orphanage.

“That experience underscored to me the importance of finding a good home for these children,” Mr. Penner said. He’d announced plans to step down in August and will join a law firm in Vancouver.
“What I expected was that the children would cry when a stranger picked them up. It was the opposite – they cried when you tried to put them down. I wasn’t ready for that.”
Adoption agency’s closing a blow to prospective parents
[The Globe and Mail 1/10/12 by Wendy Stueck]

CAFAC in Financial Trouble

The Globe and Mail also says “In a Jan. 9 letter to clients, Manitoba-based CAFAC, which got its start co-ordinating adoptions from Ethiopia, said is facing “significant financial challenges” and would be introducing a $1,000 annual file maintenance fee to help offset a drop in referrals – children to match with prospective parents.

Client fees are in a designated trust account, the agency said.”

CAFAC’s actual statement to clients can be read at this pdf.

Former Alliances

A trip down memory lane…fellow reformers can fill in SO many more stories than this…

CAFAC partnered with Children’s Bridge in Ethiopia placements. Children’s Bridge worked with Amerasian Network, which is facilitator Mary Payne-Nguyen . Forty-five babies were placed to Canada. A 2001 article about baby-buying is still available at Family Helper  that says “According to a Aug. 26, 2001 article in the /Toronto Star,/ “Adoption agency acts on baby-buying claims”, reports in a Vietnamese newspaper in April 2001 alleged that babies were being bought by local adoption facilitators, then placed for adoption with foreigners. One of the facilitators named was Mary Payne-Nguyen of Amerasian Network, an American who arranged adoptions of at least 45 Vietnamese children for Canadians.”

CAFAC worked with Cherie Clark and International Mission of Hope for Canada. Cherie Clark also worked in the US with Plan Loving Adoptions Now, who was denied Hague accreditation.

Oh, what a tangled web they weave…

REFORM Puzzle Pieces

When countries shut down, it is due to corruption and trafficking. One of the fallouts is financial stress in adoption agencies that continue to work in those countries. Prospective parents need to understand this before entering into contracts.

International adoption is a dirty business…

Update:  From Family Helper, www.familyhelper.net, Regarding Hope, “The Abbotsford News quoted Hope co-founder Lorne Welwood as saying that the agency needed $40,000 to $45,000 a month to break even. November brought in only $17,000. Welwood said that over the course of an adoption, a couple would pay the agency $5,000 to $7,000, as part of overall costs of about $30,000 for an international adoption.

After Hope told the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) that it couldn’t keep operating, the ministry offered to help in winding up or transferring to other agencies about 180 adoption files. MCFD’s Director of Adoption Anne Clayton noted that the closing did not result from bad management. “Adoption agencies are being impacted by global economic factors, decisions by foreign jurisdictions to limit and/or cease international adoptions and other occurrences, for example, the earthquake in Haiti,” she said. (See “Earthquake halts new adoptions in Haiti“.)

Ann and Lorne Welwood opened Hope Adoption Services in 1986. In 2006 they were honoured for their work in adoption, receiving the Helen Mark Excellence in Adoption Award from the Adoptive Families Association of B.C. ”

Regarding CAFAC, “The letter explained that CAFAC had long operated on about five referrals a month, but from July to December 2011 the agency received only seven referrals in all, two of which were from outside Ethiopia.”

Adoption agencies hit rough patch in Canada; no Hope in B.C.
[Family Helper 1/27/12 by Robin Hillborn]

Update 2: CAFAC closes on Friday February 3, 2012. Clients left in the lurch again.

“The Canadian Advocate for the Adoption of Children or CAFAC, says it can no longer afford to maintain its overseas operations and closed its doors on Friday.

The agency held one of the few licences in Canada that allows people to legally and ethically adopt children from Ethiopia. [licensed to ethically place? I don’t think so…there is no such thing.]

In a statement CAFAC says because of funding issues with the Manitoba government it will be unable to “continue provision of services beyond February 3rd.”

CAFAC wants the Manitoba government to allow it to charge clients higher fees.

Costs for international adoptions are regulated, but the fee structure varies widely between provinces.
In 2010, the Manitoba government increased fees by $3,000, which made it more difficult for organizations like CAFAC to stay in business.

Ben and Ruth Veurink are just weeks away from completing the adoption process.

They are scheduled to fly to Africa in three weeks to file adoption papers with the court.

The couple has been working for nearly two years to adopt Tessama, a seven-year-old Ethiopian boy.

The Veurink’s hope that the adoption won’t go off the rails and say they are not getting any help from CAFAC.

“I’ve tried to talk to CAFAC, they’re not responding to any questions so I’m just dealing now with the people in Africa that have our seven-year-old child,” said Ruth Veurink.

The Manitoba government says it is working with the defunct adoption agency to get things back on track.

The money paid by families affected by the closure is currently being held in trust. “
Agency closure puts prospective parents on hold
[CTV 2/3/12]

“In a note posted on its website, the agency said it was going to end its services on Feb. 3 but decided to hold an emergency meeting Saturday in an attempt to keep the agency running.

“We want to assure you that our operations in Ethiopia are continuing, the children are being cared for, the files continue to proceed, your funds remain in trust accounts,” reads the CAFAC letter.

The agency says in recent months there has been a drastic decrease in the amount of referrals coming from Ethiopia to the agency. Whereas they used to receive five per month, there have been only seven referrals since July.

With fewer possible adoptions and lengthier wait times, the agency found itself tight on cash.

Ruth Veurink says her two-year adoption process is almost done and she has a court date in Ethiopia in the next two weeks to begin the adoption process for the boy, Tessema.

If approved in court, the next step is to await all official paperwork.

“These kids are in the foster home awaiting the adoptions. CAFAC has indicated that they will only be cared for until the end of February financially,” she said on Saturday from her Medicine Hat home.

If needed, she says she will stay in Ethiopia and care for the boy until she can legally bring him home and said that wait time could be two months long.

“CAFAC has been very supportive throughout the whole process but now we’re left in the dark. We can’t get hold of anyone. We e-mail them and we don’t hear back,” she said.

On Saturday, she anxiously awaited news about the fate of the organization.

Evan Dewald also expressed concern about losing the agency over the weekend.

A father of two Ethiopian children adopted through CAFAC, Dewald said he feels for families currently trying to adopt from Ethiopia.

“We would be devastated,” said Dewald, adding overseas adoptions take years and thousands of dollars.

“You can imagine being three years into the process . . . Emotionally, for a lot of people it’s like having a miscarriage,” he said. [NO! A child did not die here.]

Dewald, a Chestermere resident, is one of many Canadians circulating a petition through social media. He hopes the agency gets additional funding.

“There are people here dying to adopt a child,” he said.

In January, CAFAC trimmed its staff from eight to three to save money. It also added a file maintenance fee of $1,000 per year.

However, on Feb. 1 the agency said it could not get sufficient financial help from the Manitoba government and started a last-ditch letter writing campaign to convince officials to help.

Since 1997, CAFAC has completed over 700 adoptions.”

Anxious families watch as adoption agency struggles to keep operating
[Calgary Herald 2/5/12 by Stephane Massinon And Bryan Weismiller]

Update 3: CAFAC still in operation pending discussions. This article follows one PAP’s story and clarifies the operating situation at the end of the article.

“Marrier said because the province regulates adoption costs and won’t allow CAFAC to up its fees, the agency has stopped taking new applications and can’t afford to continue processing those already in the system.

The family worries about what will happen to Kebebush, who is currently being cared for in a CAFAC-funded foster facility in Ethiopia.

Marrier didn’t get the answer to his questions Monday, but says he did receive an email from the province confirming CAFAC was able to remain operational past the Feb. 3 deadline, and is still in negotiations with the provincial government. ”

Families left in adoption limbo by fee regulations
[Metro News 2/7/12 by Shane Gibson]

Update 4: CAFAC now publicly states that they will remain open.

“Families waiting to find out whether the agency in charge of bringing their adopted Ethiopian children to Canada can remain operational have gotten good news.

The Canadian Advocate of the Adoption of Children released a statement on their website Tuesday announcing an “emerging opportunity” that will allow them to continue ongoing operations.

“At this time, we have not ceased operations and continue to provide essential services,” stated the letter addressed to families and friends of the agency. “CAFAC client files and trust funds have not been transferred to the province and remain in our care.”

The Manitoba-based agency, which specializes in international adoptions, had earlier said they’d have to close their doors and transfer all files to the Government of Manitoba unless the province loosened regulations and allowed them to charge more for their services.

While the province initially denied the agency’s request, Tuesday’s letter says CAFAC met with the province Monday and discussions about their “long-term viability” continue.

“We are currently performing our due diligence on this new opportunity and negotiating with Family Services and Labour with a view of continuing services under an enhanced regulatory program,” said the letter.”

Adoption agency to stay open
[Metro News 2/8/12 by Shane Gibson]

Update 5: ” On Thursday [February 16, 2012], the province agreed to open up a fee-consultation process and consider raising the cap once again. CAFAC’s retired founders also offered interim financial and personal assistance to keep the agency running. ”

This article mentions that CAFAC has 800 clients!

The painful new realities of international adoption [Globe and Mail 2/17/12 by Tralee Pierce]