How does one go about selecting an Agency?

Once we made the decision to adopt, I did two major searches. using these two tools. Yellow Pages and the Internet.

a. Get the yellow pages and looked under adoption. Start calling. Ask them if they are licensed in your state to do a homestudy and if they deal with Inter-country Adoption.

If the answer is yes, then ask them which countries they deal with. Are they an agency that deals with the country you are interested in. If they are not, ask them if they are working with a partner agency that deals with Indian Adoptions.

I live in chicago, IL. I interviewed with three Adoption agencies and met them in person. The cost of the homestudy was roughly the same which was around 2700 dollars + or – 200 dollars. The agency in mundelein told me that they no longer worked with India and did not really offer any support with any other agency that worked with India.

I spoke to another agency in chicago and didn’t really care for the response I received. Inter-country Adoption instigates the “fear of the unknown” and it is important for my agency to be there to hold my hand if there is trouble.

I personally chose “SUNNY RIDGE FAMILY CENTER” in bolingbrook, IL because

My social worker PAM is fantastic and explained the process to me patiently. SUNNY RIDGE does not have an india program, but does work with their partner agencies, CHSFS in Minneapolis and Wide Horizons in Boston.

2. Do a search on the internet about the different agencies and what they specialize in. Check out their website. Lot of them do give referral information about other families you can talk to. Pick up the phone and call them.

3.  So, what is a homestudy? This is an excerpt from the SUNNY RIDGE website which has been modified with additional information.. WATCH OUT! BE PREPARED TO FILL OUT FORMS, PAPERWORK AND MORE PAPERWORK…When I was done, I had to prepare 5 binders for my son alone. I had to do one for SUNNY RIDGE and one for CHSFS..It is so easy to get caught in the paperwork and forget that at the end of all this paperwork, there is a live kicking child who is reaching out to you.

The Process As you may know, the home study is a required document by state and foreign governments. Sunny Ridge will send you an application  that requests you for your name, relationship details and also has forms that includes documentation such as birth and marriage certificates, tax and income records, police and child protective services record clearance, your financial assets information, why you decided to adopt etc. During the home study process, Sunny Ridge will gather from you information about your background, parenting practices, and reasons for adopting. A professional social worker from Sunny Ridge will in most cases, meet with you at the agency, and will visit your home to interview you and all members of your household. The worker will also be sure your home has no safety hazards for a child, and will write a report based on all the information received. We had one joint interview at the sunny ridge office, we had individual interviews with the social work and also a psychological profile test for each of us and then a final session with PAM coming to our home to check the house. You might think, this process goes fairly quickly. This took us 3 and 1/2 months.  Usually you will be issued a foster care license as part of the home study process. In the meantime, your social worker will give you instructions to apply for I-600A ( Application for advance processing of Orphan petition ) with US immigration. Why do you need this? Refer to my page on I-600A for more details.

4. Cost is definitely a consideration. Take a realistic approach. Ask the agencies to give you a breakdown. In most cases, the split is as follows:

Initial Application fee: $300.00 ( which is invariably non-refundable ).

Homestudy: $2,800.00

For Inter-Country Adoption: Program Registration -$3,000-$4,000 ( which invariably helps pay the social workers, costs incurred by the US agency ).

India-CARA specified fees as allowed by the guidelines: $3,500 ( this most likely will go to the orphanage in India )

Humanitarian Aid fees: $3,000-$4,000 ( which goes to the different projects that the agency is involved with. You can find out details  about the various projects the agencies are involved in ). All these payments are done at various stages in the process.

5. Now to the crucial part, find out from the Agency, clearly which orphanages they work with. This was a biggie that I missed and paid a dear price. Write the names down and the cities they are in. Do a search on the net about them.

6. Ask the agency

• How many staff are a part of the India program? What would be a good time to get hold of them? You need someone who is responsive and more sensitive to your needs. 
• how many children have been placed in the last one year
• The approximate waiting time for a referral.
• How many families are there in the queue right now?
• Have they had any issues recently with any of the orphanages they work with?
• Any of the orphanages which is currently getting their license renewed or in the near future? BEWARE! RIGHT NOW, INTER-COUNTRY ADOPTION IS SUCH A HOT TOPIC IN INDIA THAT NOT ALL ORPHANAGES ARE HAVING THEIR LICENSE RENEWED.

6. Most importantly, with the new guidelines from CARA, the amount paid by the agency to the orphanage has to meet the amount set by CARA. I believe, it is around $3,500 per child. How clean are the agency’s records? This is extremely crucial. If your adoption hits a snag and you end up taking matters in your own hands, it is important for the agency to have clean books.

7. An excellent source of reference is ofcourse, the ICHILD mailing list. It is an mailinglist exclusively dedicated to adoption from India. A fantastic group where you can willingly participate and you do get some wonderful feedback or you can just sit on the side and do some quiet reading.  To subscribe, just go to http://www.ichild.org/ichildlist.htm ( To view all the groups for adoption from India, just go to http://www.ichild.org/lists.htm ).

8. Definitely, get a bunch of reference information from the agency about the families you can talk and who are willing to share their experiences.

I spoke to one family who had adopted twin girls. They gave me a bunch of tips that were very helpful. Better to be informed…Doesn’t hurt..

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