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       #Post#: 38--------------------------------------------------
       Adoption agencies under fire
       By: Montraviatommygun Date: March 10, 2011, 6:44 am
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       Adoption agencies under fire
       Amid financial ills and gripes, the state has proposed rules to
       shield prospective parents.
       By Karen Auge
       The Denver Post
       Article Last Updated: 05/06/2008 01:56:36 AM MDT
       Nearly half the international adoption agencies in Colorado are
       losing money, five are at risk due to debt and one has generated
       so many complaints that state officials warned potential clients
       that they might want to look elsewhere for help with a foreign
       adoption.
       Those findings, contained in a state audit of 22 licensed
       international adoption agencies, have prompted Human Services
       Department officials to propose new rules and policies they say
       are designed to protect prospective parents.
       The recommendations come as the state attorney general's office
       is investigating five unidentified international adoption
       agencies.
       Among the changes the department seeks are:
       • Requiring licensed agencies to be bonded and carry appropriate
       liability insurance.
       • Requiring agencies to provide full disclosure statements
       describing fees to prospective adoptive parents.
       • Requiring the agencies to keep a certain amount of cash
       available.
       In addition, the department wants to expand its oversight so it
       can monitor the business practices and financial health of
       adoption agencies operating here.
       The changes "will benefit the children adopted internationally
       as well as prospective adoptive families," said Karen Beye, the
       department's executive director.
       Liz McDonough, spokeswoman for the Human Services Department,
       said the changes do not require legislative approval but that
       many must be voted on by the State Board of Human Services.
       Currently, the department doesn't expect that it will need more
       money or employees to implement the changes, McDonough said.
       The department initiated the review after it received complaints
       about agencies that arrange international adoptions and after
       the arrest of Lisa Novak, director of the Claar Foundation,
       based in Boulder County.
       Since June 2006, four international adoption agencies have
       closed in the state. In addition, the state temporarily
       suspended the license of one agency, Charitable St. Philomena,
       in March because it improperly completed adoptions, didn't have
       a qualified director and refused to allow the state to conduct
       inspections of its business operations. That agency has since
       corrected the problems and is again licensed, according to the
       audit.
       McDonough said she did not know the exact number of complaints
       that sparked the investigation.
       "It was not massive, but it was large enough to be concerning"
       and involved multiple agencies, she said.
       Complaints against one agency were serious enough that in
       February, the state sent letters to five families it knew to be
       working with that agency.
       The state wrote, in part: "This letter is to advise you that
       this department has received several complaints concerning Adopt
       a Miracle."
       The letter, signed by Beye, included a list of other licensed
       international adoption agencies.
       Adopt A Miracle, based in Lakewood, did not respond to a request
       for comment Monday.
       Several other agencies likewise did not return calls seeking
       comment.
       The state had hoped to include a review of agency salaries in
       the audit, but eight of the 22 agencies did not disclose salary
       information.
       Of the 14 agencies that did, the Claar Foundation reported
       paying the highest annual salary: $169,350.
       Claar's director, Novak, has been charged with two counts of
       theft and one count of fraud, and the agency has closed. She was
       accused of taking thousands of dollars from prospective parents
       but never completing adoptions. A preliminary hearing is
       scheduled May 19 in Boulder.
  HTML http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_9163644
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