European Adoption Consultants, Inc. Temporarily Debarred UPDATED

European Adoption Consultants, Inc. Temporarily Debarred.

The Department of State temporarily debarred adoption service provider, European Adoption Consultants, Inc. (EAC) from accreditation on December 16, 2016, for a period of three years.

As a result of this temporary debarment, EAC’s accreditation has been cancelled and it must immediately cease to provide all adoption services in connection with intercountry adoptions. The Department’s decision was made pursuant to the debarment authority in the adoption accreditation regulations (22 CFR Part 96), which implement the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 and the Universal Accreditation Act of 2012. The Department found substantial evidence that the agency is out of compliance with the standards in subpart F of the accreditation regulations, and evidence of a pattern of serious, willful, or grossly negligent failure to comply with the standards and of aggravating circumstances indicating that continued accreditation of EAC would not be in the best interests of the children and families concerned.

According to its website, EAC operates intercountry adoption programs in Bulgaria, China, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Honduras, India, Panama, Poland, Tanzania, Uganda, and Ukraine. Please note that this temporary debarment prohibits EAC from providing intercountry adoption services in both Hague Convention and non-Convention countries. Families working with EAC who have intercountry adoption cases in progress may wish to contact the Council on Accreditation (COA) for information about case transfer and information about other accredited adoption service providers who may be able to assume handling of adoption cases. Updated information will be posted to this web site as it becomes available. Questions may be submitted to Jayne Schmidt at COA at haguesupport@coanet.org (subject line: EAC) and to the Office of Children’s Issues at adoption@state.gov.”

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According to EAC website:

“Dear EAC Family, 

First, we wanted to thank you for your patience and understanding during this unexpected and sudden situation. This is the first time that a debarment has been issued by the US Department of State. Despite the fact that we disagree with many, if not most, of the statement and are considering the option of appeal, we still have to make a plan of transfer of all cases by end of this month.

Therefore, our Executive Director is constantly speaking with various agencies’ directors to initiate the process and we are currently working to implement the following transfer procedure:

1. EAC is required to develop a finalized case transfer plan by December 30th. Every case in which the adoption has not been finalized (and in some cases where the adoption is finalized but the child has not yet immigrated) needs an accredited adoption service provider (ASP) acting as the Primary Provider for their case.

2. As part of the case transfer negotiations and process, EAC will be reviewing fees paid that can be transferred to the new agency. EAC will work with the new agency to apply fees and transfer as much as possible.

3. The new agency will most likely ask you to review and sign documentation, similar to when you began working with EAC. For example, you will likely need to sign a contract, fee schedule, complaint policy and procedures, and service plan. You may need to complete a new application or complete any additional training the new agency deems necessary.

4. EAC is trying to make arrangements for the transferring agencies to work with EAC’s foreign facilitator or attorney, or a facilitator with whom they have an established relationship. The goal is to complete your adoption with the least extra cost to you and the same providers in country plus the same EAC Staff members (Kim, Karla, Nury, Sara) who would work for your new agency.

5. EAC is required by the regulations to implement a case transfer plan. Many of the foreign adoption central authorities have requested that all current and post families transfer to the same agency. Once you have been notified of the transfer plan. If you do not want your case to be transferred to the agency EAC has identified, you should communicate that to EAC and the receiving agency to request an alternative or request they close your case. Please be advised that EAC may not be able to assist with transfer to an alternate provider and an alternative plan may take longer to implement or may not be accepted by a foreign authority. Also the fees of an independent agency can vary widely.

6. If your adoption is final, post-adoption reporting services are not necessarily required to be performed by an accredited or approved adoption service provider. Depending on our plans to structure your case transfer process, you may be able to continue to work with EAC on post-adoption reporting. This would depend on postadoption reporting requirements of the state in which you live as well as the country from which you have adopted, in order to ensure that any reports are appropriately translated and authenticated (if necessary) and forwarded to the appropriate parties abroad.

7. The transfer plan will be complete during the last week of December. We will be arranging conference calls in January to explain the transfer plan. After the conference call, your country consultant will be contacting each one of you individually accordingly to the stage of your adoption process to notify you of the transferee agency and with further instructions.

The EAC Staff is heartbroken over these events. We are dedicated to help all families to complete their adoption process. We are still asking for your continuous patience. We will notify all families of the proposed service plan including estimated cost and procedures for each case that accurately reflects the family’s current situation.

Sincerely,

EAC STAFF

Last Updated : 12-23-2016

Dear EAC Family, 

EAC received notice last Friday that the U.S. Department of State has taken adverse action against us. We do not feel the action is warranted and we are evaluating our appeal and the other options available to us. 

In the meantime, your case is more important than whether or not we contest the action by the State Department and our efforts are focused on taking care of you and our international programs. We are trying to maintain some consistency in our cases with minimum difficulty and expense. As a part of that, we are making arrangements to facilitate the transfer our families to another accredited agency. Decisions on your case must be made quickly in order to keep your adoption process moving, so hopefully, within the next few days, we will be able to give you our agency’s recommended transfer plan.

Please know that our Executive Director is working on the transfer arrangements both in the U.S. and with the central authority in the foreign country. Your country consultant will be contacting you individually accordingly to the stage of your process to notify you of the transferee agency and with further instructions.

EAC was given no prior information about the investigation conducted by the Department of State and no opportunity before the adverse action was taken to address the issues raised or the facts alleged. We dispute the accuracy of many of the facts reported, and the statements made by the Department of State in its notice to EAC and we do not agree with the decision of the Department or the basis upon which the decision was made.

We hope to resolve this situation very soon and we are determined to help all families in any way we can to successfully complete their adoption process.

Sincerely,

EAC STAFF

Last Updated : 12-19-2016″

REFORM Puzzle Piece

Following the temporary debarment of EAC on December 16, 2016, some of EAC’s adoption cases have not yet been transferred to new adoption service providers (ASPs). Pursuant to 22 CFR 96.87, the Department of State, with the assistance of the Council on Accreditation (COA), will coordinate efforts to identify other accredited ASPs to assume responsibility for former EAC cases not yet transferred and, where possible, to transfer available records to other ASPs or to public domestic authorities. EAC is directly responsible for communicating to families what refunds they may be entitled to. Please be aware that the Department of State does not have a role in facilitating the refund of fees.

Why did the Department temporarily debar EAC?

The Department of State’s action to temporarily debar EAC was based on “substantial evidence that the agency…is out of compliance with the standards of subpart F” of 22 CFR 96, as well as a finding of “a pattern of serious, willful, or grossly negligent failures to comply, or other aggravating circumstances indicating that continued accreditation or approval would not be in the best interests of the children and families involved.” The Department of State found evidence of violation of accreditation standards relating to the agency’s activities in several countries. The summary of standards EAC violated is posted to the Office of Children’s Issues’ website.

Could the public have known sooner that there were concerns about EAC?

Information about adverse actions against accredited ASPs is not published until a decision to take such action has been made. Consistent with 22 CFR 96.91 and 92, COA reports information about substantiated complaints and adverse action on its website. The Department also provides information about adverse action initiated by an accrediting entity or by the Department on its website.

COA renewed EAC’s accreditation in April 2016 for a period of four years.  The initial complaint that eventually led to EAC’s debarment was submitted to the Complaint Registry several months after the date of EAC’s accreditation renewal. The Department made the decision to temporarily debar EAC for a period of three years on December 15, 2016, and posted a notice regarding the decision on the next business day, December 16, 2016.

How can former EAC clients find a new ASP for an adoption in process?

To assist families needing to transfer an adoption case to a new accredited ASP, the Office of Children’s Issues posted Notices regarding Case Transfer Responsibilities of Intercountry Adoption Service Providers. Former EAC clients should review the EAC Case Transfer Approval Information for information about which accredited ASPs have agreed to accept EAC cases for each country program.

Families are under no obligation to work with the ASP that EAC has identified, but should be aware that some foreign governments have stated preferences in this regard. The government of China has informed the Department that all EAC cases should be transferred to International Adoption Net (IAN). Other countries may also have specific restrictions regarding the ASP that families may work with. Families should therefore verify that the ASP that they select to take over their case is authorized to work in the relevant country and that the transfer of the case complies with any restrictions that the country may have. Information on accredited ASPs and guidance on how to select an ASP is available on COA’s website, which has a search function to assist families to identify accredited ASPs by country program. Type the name of the country in the top field and check the box for “Hague adoption service provider” to search. Please note that agencies provide information to COA for this purpose on a voluntary basis.

Any former EAC client who is not able to identify a new ASP to complete an adoption in process should email Adoption@state.gov with information about where they are in the adoption process, which country they are adopting from, and the status of any efforts they have made to locate a new ASP.

How can I seek the return of documents in my EAC file?

On February 14, 2017, the Department of State learned that that Department of Justice (DOJ) seized files from EAC’s Ohio office. The Department of State does not have a comprehensive list of files seized or families impacted, but is in contact with DOJ regarding these records and their significance to adoptions in progress.

On February 17, 2017, the Department of State disseminated a survey to former EAC clients for whom the Department had email contact information.  The purpose of the survey was to gather information from families seeking the return of original documents necessary to complete an adoption and that may have been seized by DOJ. The survey also included questions about fees that families paid to EAC but which EAC had not transferred to a new ASP or refunded to the family. The purpose of the survey was to help assess whether EAC is meeting its refund obligations under federal accreditation regulations and to share any relevant information with other government offices, as appropriate.

The survey is now closed.  DOJ has informed the Department that it has completed its review of seized files, and we are unable to process additional requests for documents. The Department is in the process of facilitating the return of files that DOJ was able to locate to families who needed original documents to complete adoptions in process. Families may wish to consult an attorney regarding their circumstances and what additional remedies may be available to them.

How can I seek a refund or transfer of fees already paid to EAC?

Please be aware that the Department of State does not have a role in facilitating the transfer or refund of fees; however, any failure by EAC to do so in accordance with federal regulations may be taken into account if EAC applies for accreditation in the future. Although EAC is directly responsible for communicating to families what refunds they may be entitled to, the Office of Children’s Issues has heard from many families that EAC has not been responsive to email communication about these important matters.

The regulations governing fee policies and procedures for accredited adoption service providers, found at 22 CFR 96.40, mandate that ASPs are required to return any funds to which clients are entitled within 60 days of the completion of the delivery of services (see 22 CFR 96.40(h)). The Department of State considers that this 60-day timeframe began for EAC on the date of its debarment on December 16, 2016.

Under 96.40(a), EAC is required to provide “a written schedule of expected total fees and estimated expenses and an explanation of the conditions under which fees or expenses may be charged, waived, reduced, or refunded and of when and how the fees and expenses must be paid.” The Department of State’s understanding is that EAC stipulated in its written contracts with prospective adoptive parents that refunds must be requested in writing to the EAC Board and that the specific amount of refund expected must be stated.  We encourage families to review any signed contract with EAC and the fee schedule that was provided at the time they entered into an agreement with EAC.

The Department of State understands that EAC is advising families seeking a refund to send a written letter to the EAC review board stating the specific amount of the refund they are requesting. EAC provided the following address for refund requests: 12608 Alameda Dr., Strongsville, OH 44149.  Families may wish to also send a scanned copy of that correspondence to EAC by email.  The email addresses we have on file for EAC at this time are margaretcole@margaretcole.com; eacitransfer@gmail.com; adopt@eaci.com; and eacadopt@aol.com.

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) is aware of families expressing concerns about EAC’s non-responsiveness and failure to refund fees to those impacted by EAC’s debarment. When contacting EAC about fees or any other matter pertaining to your case transfer, families may wish to copy the Department of Job and Family Services in Ohio, FOSTERCARE_LICENSING@jfs.ohio.gov. Families who submit concerns in writing should include “EAC” in the subject line.

ODJFS has informed the Department of State that families with concerns about fees or any other matter pertaining to EAC may wish to submit a statement to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, or call the hotline at 800-282-0515 or 614-466-4986.The hotline takes complaint calls Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. EST. Families who submit concerns in writing should include “EAC” in the subject line.

What should I do about post-placement or post-adoption reports that are due?

Post-adoption reporting takes place after an adoption has been finalized and is not an adoption service as defined by U.S. regulations governing intercountry adoption. It is our understanding that EAC plans to continue offering post-adoption services and reporting. Please be aware, however, that foreign governments may choose not to accept post-adoption reports from a debarred ASP. If families wish, they may continue post-adoption reporting with EAC; however, we encourage families to request that EAC confirm the foreign government’s requirements before proceeding.

If your child’s adoption is not yet finalized and you are still in the post-placement period and are required to submit post-placement reports to a foreign government, EAC will not be able to perform this adoption service for your family. Families in this situation may wish to contact the ASP that has been identified to accept EAC case transfers to determine if post-placement reporting is included in the agreement.

The governments of Colombia, India, and Poland have informed us that they will not accept post-adoption or post-placement reporting from EAC. The government of China has informed us that all EAC cases should to be transferred to IAN, including cases that are in the post-adoption reporting period, rather than to an ASP of the adoptive parents’ choosing.

We appreciate former EAC families’ understanding of the importance of post-placement and post-adoption reporting and their commitment to submitting reports on time. If you believe your post-placement or post-adoption report will be delayed as a result of EAC’s debarment and your need to identify a new ASP, please email Adoption@state.gov  with information about the country from which you adopted, when your report(s) are due, which ASP you are currently working with, and the reasons you cannot meet the due date.

How can I file a statement about my experience with EAC?

We welcome information about your experience working with EAC.  Should you have concerns to share, we encourage you to submit a statement of your experience and concerns to the Complaint Registry. Please also send a copy of your complaint, including documentation and copies of emails, to this office by email at Adoption@state.gov. Both steps are critical to ensuring we have relevant information about any concerns you may have regarding EAC.

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services in Ohio informed us that families experiencing difficulties having their case information released to another agency, or experiencing any other issues, may wish to submit a statement about their experiences and concerns to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office or call their hotline at 800-282-0515 or 614-466-4986. The hotline takes complaint calls, Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. eastern time.  If you submit concerns in writing, you should include “EAC” in the subject line.

Families may also wish to consult an attorney to understand what remedies you may have specific to their specific circumstances.”

The Office of Children’s Issues is aware that some former EAC clients who followed the instructions in the April 6 Notice have had their correspondence to EAC returned with no forwarding address identified.  The Ohio Attorney General’s Office confirmed to the Office of Children’s Issues on May 1, 2017, that individuals whose letters to EAC are returned may wish to submit the correspondence to the agency’s registered agent:  John A. Carbone Co. LPA, 614 West Superior Avenue, Suite 800, Cleveland OH 44113.  This information is publicly available on the Ohio Secretary of State’s website”

Update 2:“Soliciting bribes, falsifying documents and adopting trafficked children, the accusations against European Adoption consultants keep piling up.

Now News 5 has uncovered a disturbing case of child abuse that is not only connected to the agency, but police say involves one of the agency’s top employees.

Office raided

It’s been three months since FBI streamed into the European Adoption Consultants headquarters in Strongsville, walking out with box loads of evidence. Our cameras were rolling as agents also searched the founder Margaret Cole’s Strongsville home.

Clients are now accusing Cole of leaving them in the dark.

“I’ll send them an email or I’ll try to call. One of the numbers I have for them has been disconnected,” one client told News 5.

Lawsuit filed

And as the lawsuits against Cole begin to mount, so too do the accusations. One suit was filed in Greenville, South Carolina. It claims Cole and EAC Africa director Debra Parris failed to ensure the orphan status of Ugandan children they placed with couples here in the U.S. They were children, the suit claims, who were classified by U.S. and Ugandan officials as trafficked.

And as we pulled back the curtain on the decades-old agency, we found a connection to a case out of Texas so disturbing, it even affected officers.

A disturbing case

“This is a little higher up the ladder trying to control our emotions,” said Denton police officer Shane Kizer

In October of 2016, Denton police arrested John Tufts for using a Barbie doll to cause severe trauma to the private parts of his 5-year-old adopted daughter.

“It did require surgery.  There will be long term, last effects and require surgeries in the future,” said Kizer.

According to the warrant, the child told a therapist that daddy was a “bad guy” and “mean.” However, the Tufts were not this child’s original adoptive parent. News 5 has learned that in 2015 another family adopted the girl and her then 2-year-old sister from Poland.

“That adoption process didn’t work out… They decided they didn’t want to children anymore they were turned over to this family, the Tufts family” said Kizer.

It was EAC that processed the adoption. And when the original family no longer wanted the girl, Denton police say it took just days for Debra Parris to place the 5-year-old in John Tufts’ care. That’s because Tufts is Parris’ son.

“This type is a pretty strange case…Strange type of injury case” said Kizer.”

Strongsville-based European Adoption Consultants connected to disturbing child abuse case in Texas

[News 5 Cleveland 5/10/17 by Mona Kosar Abdi]

Update 3:“The Ohio Attorney General’s Office is seeking to have a Strongsville-based international adoption agency dissolved and banned from doing business in the state.

European Adoption Consultants and its owner, Margaret Cole, took up to tens of thousands of dollars from clients and did not follow through with the services it promised, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court.

The agency is under investigation by the FBI.

The U.S. State Department in December barred the agency from conducting international adoption services for three years. After that, the agency was to issue refunds and transfer its cases to other groups. However, Cole and the agency have not done so, even though they posted notices on the agency’s website that they would, the lawsuit says.

The attorney general’s office has received complaints from more than 70 of European Adoption Consultant’s clients since January, according to a news release. The attorney general’s office is asking a judge to bar Cole from operating or working for a charitable organization in Ohio and to dissolve European Adoption Consultants under Ohio law. It is also asking for restitution for those who gave the agency money.

The lawsuit says Cole and her company violated Ohio’s consumer and charitable laws.

“As a result of Defendants’ misrepresentations, consumers have spent significant time and expense and have not been provided the contracted for adoption services,” the lawsuit says.

(You can read the full lawsuit here or at the bottom of this story.)

The case is assigned to Common Pleas Judge Joan Synenberg.

The FBI raided the agency’s Strongsville offices in February. The FBI has not revealed any details about its investigation, though a spokeswoman said Friday that the probe is still under way.

Attempts to reach the adoption agency and Cole were not successful.

The State Department says European Adoption Consultants operates adoption programs in Bulgaria, China, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Honduras, India, Panama, Poland, Tanzania, Uganda and Ukraine. The Attorney General’s Office’s lawsuit says the company had 300 clients at various stages of the adoption process when it was barred by the State Department.

The State Department’s investigation found the company and its providers overseas committed several violations, including soliciting bribes and lying to officials to affect adoption eligibility, according to a report posted on its website. In some instances, the agencies’ decisions or actions led to children being harmed, the report says.

The Attorney General’s Office says in its suit that the agency lied to clients when employees told them they met the requirements to participate in adoption programs. Cole and the agency also lied to clients about being enrolled in adoption programs and misrepresenting the waiting period to adopt a child, the suit says.

They also told clients that the fees they gave to the company were sent to the country, when that was not the case, according to the suit. They also did not set aside money clients paid them for adoption fees and did not keep clients appraised of the status of their paperwork, the Attorney General’s Office said.

In one case, the company “solicited donations to support Defendants’ mission trip to Guatemala and represented that money … could lead to the re-opening of the country for intercountry adoption when Defendants had no ability to produce such a result,” according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit says Cole lied about the amount and type of assets the company had to both the company’s board members and adoption licensing agencies.”

Ohio Attorney General’s Office seeks to dissolve Strongsville-based adoption agency under federal investigation

[Cleveland 6/2/17 by Eric Heiseig]

Update 4:US DOS has released a statement on December 15, 2017. You can find it here and is as follows:

“European Adoption Consultants (EAC) Temporary Debarment Upheld