Issued notice, Preet Mandir says it was following old norms

Nisha Nambiar : Wed Jun 06 2012, 01:31 hrs

Express impact Following Indian Express report, Women & Child Welfare dept demands answers

The state Women and Child Welfare Commissionerate has issued a showcause notice to the city-based adoption agency Preet Mandir following reports in The Indian Express that it was accepting ‘donations’ from parents. In its notice, the department has sought answers from the agency. The adoption agency, however, maintains that it was following old guidelines that allowed it to accept donations to raise funds.

The showcause notice, issued on May 29, states, “In respect of The Indian Express report which appeared on May 8, the Women and Child Welfare Comissionerate, Maharashtra state has issued a showcause notice to the agency. The agency on receipt of the notice should respond within four days. If it is not done, then it would be understood that as an agency you have nothing to say and we would be free to cancel your licence to operate as an adoption agency.’’

Deputy commissioner, women and child welfare (adoptions), Rahul More said no adoption agency should be accepting donations. “We issued the notice after its records were checked by the district women and child welfare officers. We have received the agency’s response and are yet to take a decision,’’ said More. The Central Adoption Resource Agency (CARA) does not permit any kind of donation.

Managing trustee of Preet Mandir D P Bhatia said they have replied to the notice. “We have received no notification from CARA on new guidelines. I have written to the district women and child welfare officer, commissionerate and to the minister that we were following the old guidelines, whereby we are allowed to raise funds considering our situation. We as an agency are surviving only on donations. We have a three-shift system to support the 40 children. We do not force any parent to donate money; it is by their own free will to support our endeavour. As we have the infrastructure, I have been requesting the government to allow us to re-start admissions so that we can keep the activity going. At present, we are also going to have new trustees as the old ones have resigned.’’

He added that the agency had 33 years of experience and needed to pay its staff up to Rs 2.5 lakh as salaries, which was raised through donations not only from adoptive parents but others as well. Asked whether they would give up the children to other agencies, he said that they have not yet thought about it.

The adoption agency, which had gained notoriety over alleged malpractices last year, was once again in the news for accepting donations. A CBI chargesheet notwithstanding, the agency, that has permission to give away only 40 children remaining at its Kalyaninagar unit for “in-country adoption”, was allegedly accepting donations from parents.

As per details available with The Indian Express, for 12 children who were to be placed under foster care, the agency charged the parents adoption cost as well as “donations”. CARA guidelines state that for in-country adoption, there is a Rs 1,000 registration fee, home study report and post-adoption follow-up charges of Rs 5,000, and Rs 40,000 as Child Care Corpus. The total payment to be made to the agency is Rs 46,000. Preet Mandir, however, charged donations (as the agency has labeled the entries in its books) ranging from Rs 17,000 to Rs 1 lakh apart from the adoption cost.

Minister of Women and Child Welfare, Varsha Gaikwad, had recently ordered that all divisions and district-level officers must check the functioning of adoption agencies.

Organizations: ACT CASE Preet Mandir

EU told to do more to end child institutionalisation

Video

Though no reliable data exists, UNICEF estimates some 1.3 million orphaned or abandoned children in central and eastern Europe still live in institutions.

For the most part, childcare remains the domain of national governments. Activists and MEPs say more EU funds and guidance from Brussels would go a long way to ending the inhumane conditions.

Irish MEP Mairead McGuinness said: “Together, the member states, the European Parliament and the Commission can make a difference to people who are currently locked up behind the walls you see at this exhibition. We do have a lot of work to do. It is ambitious, but it is not an option. We have to do it.”

Persons: John Mulligan, Mairead McGuinness

Organizations: European Parliament, Absolute Return for Kids (ARK)

Presentation of the project: manager - Gabriela Coman

Prezentarea proiectului MMFPS „Îmbun?t??irea eficacit??ii organiza?ionale a sistemului de protec?ie a copilului” –

Gabriela Coman

, manager proiect, Funda?ia SERA Vizualizati prezentarea

Organizations: SERA Audit Project EU Social Fund

Child removal results in violence accusations against council

Ray Weaver

June 5, 2012 - 15:21

Child advocates say the council went too far when it forcibly removed a girl from a foster home

In a screen grab from a video the Keller family provided to Politiken, 'Amy' is shown being forced into a vehicle against her will by council employees (Screenshot: Politiken)

The video is tough to look at.

A young girl fights and kicks while two adults, a man and a woman, forcibly remove her from a home while she screams and cries in fear. Two police officers stand and watch as the drama unfolds. The video (see it here) and a series of articles in Politiken newspaper have exposed the plight of 'Amy', who was forcibly removed from the foster home where she had been living and sent to an institutional home in Næstved. Many are saying that the child’s civil rights have been violated.

Børns Vilkår, a child service organisation, has reported the Næstved Council to the police, charging them with violence against Amy.

"We do not believe that the council has the legal right to forcibly remove Amy," Børns Vilkår's chairperson Peter Albæk told Politiken. “She had already been forcibly removed from one home, and now they have taken her from another.”

In 2009, Amy was adopted by a Danish family from her birthplace in Ethiopia. She was nine years old at the time - on paper, at least, though later physical exams indicated her real age might be a few years older. After the situation with Amy’s adoptive family went bad when she was eleven, including allegations of physical abuse, Amy was removed from the adoptive family's home and placed in a temporary foster home with Hanne and Ole Keller. The Kellers act as a so-called “acute family”, taking in children that are in critical situations.

Albæk said that decision to remove Amy from the Keller home has left the child isolated from the few adults that she trusts.

Although Amy had said numerous times that she wanted to stay with the Kellers, the council decided that she should be placed in an institutional residence with professional educators.

The video shows what happened when representatives from Næstved came to remove Amy from the foster home.

The Kellers told Politiken that they had repeatedly called the council asking for help in explaining to Amy why she would have to live elsewhere when she wanted to stay with them.

“I had to tell her I did not know why she had to leave because no one ever gave me an explanation,” Hanne Keller told Politiken. Keller said that Amy had endured traumatic events while in an Ethiopian orphanage and had become attached to the foster family.

The council says that it acted properly and in turn reported the Kellers to the police, saying that their behaviour was at least in part responsible for any trauma Amy experienced. The family may also face legal trouble for filming the removal and providing it to the media.

“We are obviously concerned that Børns Vilkår has reported us to the police," Næstved Council's child and culture director Per B Christensen told Politiken. “The police were present when the child was removed and I believe that the council was within its rights and used only the amount of force that was necessary.”

Christensen said that if the Kellers had worked with the council, it would not have been necessary to use force to remove Amy.

“We regret that the situation around Amy’s moving was so unpleasant, but there were adults, including the foster family, who should have taken more responsibility,” Christensen told Politiken.

Lisbeth Zornig, the head of Børnerådet, a children’s rights group, said that the type of action taken with Amy should only be used in the most serious situations.

Law professor Kirsten Ketscher from the University of Copenhagen told Politiken – without knowing the details of the case – that Næstved Council may have over stepped its bounds.

“You must not use physical violence against children. You must have a legal basis to exercise force against other people - including children," said Ketscher.

The social and integration minister, Karen Haekkerup (Socialdemokraterne), told Politiken that she wants an investigation into the actions taken by Næstved Council.

Organizations: ACT Case Amy, Danadopt (Danish Society for International child care)

Countries: Denmark, Ethiopia

Ghana To Streamline Inter-Country Adoption

Ghana To Streamline Inter-Country Adoption

Date: 04-Jun-2012

Ghana is to reform its adoption system with the establishment of a Central Authority (CA)at the Department of Social Welfare (DSW) to receive a list of all adoptable children to be entered into a national database.

The CA as part of its mandate would receive all applications for inter-country adoption, enter all eligible applicants for adoption into a register as well as other functions necessary to ensure that the adoption process is carried out in a truthful and transparent manner.

To give impetus to the reforms the DSW has submitted a memorandum to the Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare for onward submission to the Cabinet for approval of the creation of the CA, which would serve as a launch pad for Ghana to sign on to the Hague Convention of Inter-Country Adoption.

Ghana, together with Nigeria, DR Congo, South Africa, Mali, Cote d’ Ivoire, Morocco, Uganda and Burkina Faso are countries in Africa that have high international adoption rates.

Reforming the adoption procedures in the country would ensure a tight up of the eligibility rules to minimise over-seas adoption as pertains in China, South Korea, Russia, Ukraine and Guatemala.

The Director of the DSW, Mr Stephen Adongo, told graphic.com.gh that only 13 African countries had so far ratified the Hague Convention which ratification he explained, provided a safeguard to put an end to the illegal adoption of children.

“In the mean tim,e efforts have been made to clean up the system and maintain standards that would create trust and transparency in the adoption process in Ghana,” he said.

He indicated that the DSW has so far approved the licenses of only three international adoption agencies which he named as Adoption Centrum of Sweden, Bethany Christian Services of the USA and Amici Bambini from Italy.

Those agencies, Mr Adongo said, were successfully selected because they had gone through the required procedure including having a track record in foster care and family re-unification.

He acknowledged with concern the springing up of many illegal adoption agencies in the country since they do not go through any form of licensing, a development which he stressed, would be halted when the new reforms came into effect.

“Some of these illegal agencies do not even have NGO certificates. It has also come to our attention that some of these agencies have been banned from other countries,” Mr Adongo added.

The director cautioned all directors of the DSW nationwide to be cautious with any agency that approached them about issues of adoption, cautioning further that any official of the department who failed to do due diligence on such agencies would be held responsible for any lapse.

A guideline for DSW directors on rules of adoption, according Mr Adongo, were being developed to serve as a guide in the discharge of their duties.

But the Director of Child Rights International, a child-centred organisation based in Ghana, Mr Bright Appiah, in a separate interview expressed his opposition to the idea of Ghana ratifying the Hague Convention of Inter-Country Adoption.

For him, ratifying the convention would be in violation of the Children’s Act of Ghana which clearly provides for the welfare and protection of children.

In his view, there were no mechanisms to monitor the welfare of adopted children locally let alone adopting them internationally which was a more difficult task.

Mr Appiah advised that rather than signing on to the Convention, the government should consider whether or not such a policy was in the interest of Ghana and its children for that matter.

For him developing a local support system to improve the welfare of children was the best way forward “and not joining the league of countries that have ratified the Hague Convention which is not in our children’s interest.”

Reports indicate that international adoptions rose by 400 per cent with Africa being the new frontier for international country adoption.

More than 41,000 African children since 2004 were said to be adopted and taken out of their home countries. More than two-thirds of the number in 2009 and 2010 were adopted from Ethiopia which now sends more children abroad for adoption than any other country.

Source: Sebastian Syme/Daily Graphic

Countries: Ghana

Organizations: Amici dei Bambini, Bethany Christian Services, Adoptionscentrum

Celebrating Kathy Sreedhar

Kathy Sreedhar, a champion of social justice in India for five decades, is retiring from the Unitarian Universalist Holdeen India Program (UUHIP) at the end of June. For the last 28 years she has built the program into a major force for grassroots social change in India.

She has identified transformational leaders and organizations who are now at the forefront of India’s struggles to build a more just and equitable society. She has also raised wide awareness in the United States about poverty and social justice in India.

Her achievements are a testament to the strength of UUHIP’s vision for international grant-making—a vision she was central in creating. Before serving with UUHIP, Sreedhar was renowned in the adoption community.

She facilitated the placement of 1,000 children in the United States from Mother Teresa’s orphanages in India, all the while working as a volunteer. She herself adopted two children from these orphanages and raised them as a single mother.

Prior to this she worked as an administrator with the Peace Corps in India and Afghanistan, as well as serving at non-profit organizations in Washington, D.C. She has long been known in Washington as the go-to person for all things Indian.

Countries: India

Struggle to adopt girl suddenly eases

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Struggle to adopt girl suddenly eases

BY WAYNE GREENE - Tulsa World

TULSA — In Christian theology, Grace is the unearned assistance of God — the divine reaching into the human world to set things right.

In Nancy Baney’s house, Grace is the skinny little brown-eyed toddler — fast approaching her third birthday, eating cereal with her big plastic spoon and drinking milk from a sippy cup.

Countries: Pakistan, United States of America

Dorrit Saietz om det 11-årige adoptivbarn

Organizations: ACT Case Amy

Børns vilkår om den voldsomme tvangsflytning af 11-årige Amy

Organizations: ACT Case Amy

International case of missing orphan has local ties

Author: Jaccii Farris, Reporter, jaccii.farris@wfmz.com

Published On: Jun 02 2012 03:17:23 PM EDT Updated On: Jun 02 2012 03:18:44

Local officials investigating taking of girl from orphanage — Is it a case of kidnapping or an international custody dispute?

Is it a case of kidnapping or an international custody dispute?

In 2011, 69 News was there as a group of Lehigh Valley residents arrived in earthquake ravaged Haiti to help rebuild an orphanage. Now one of the orphans is missing, and a battle to get her back is beginning right here.

Where is 6 year old July Angela?

It's a question Mercy Village Home officials in Port-au-Prince Haiti and its board members here in the Lehigh Valley have been asking for a week.

Last Friday, Mercy Village says July was forcibly taken from this home in Port-au-Prince.

To give you a little background..

Mercy Village, formerly Rescue Children Orphanage, was founded in 2005 by a woman named Lynda Morrison of South Carolina.

In 2009, Morrison gave the orphange to Ramon Crespo.

The orphanage was featured in two documentaries and several 69 News reports following the 2010 earthquake.

In recent months, Lynda Morrison has contacted 69 News with concerns about Mercy Village, saying "These kids need help, they need to be rescued."

Fast forward to last Friday.

Mercy Village officials say Morrison showed up with several men. One claiming to be a judge and another claiming to be a police officer. Morrison produced what Mercy Village officials say were false documents and forcibly removed July.

Congressman Charlie Dent's office confirms it worked to prevent Morrison from taking July out of the country.

Morrison referred 69 News to her attorney in Haiti, but would not comment further. Her attorney could not be reached for comment.

"We really want to know where July is, we want to bring July back to her home. And then from there whatever the discussion can be done, it should be done from there," said Board member Dr. Iqbal Sorathia.

Sorathia says Mercy Village has filed charges in Port-au-Prince and the United Nations could file charges against Lynda Morrison.

But all Mercy Village really wants is for July to come home.

(The original version of this story contained an error pertaining to the ownership of Mercy Village Orphanage. The orphanage is directly owned by Ramon Crespo. LifeChurch of Allentown has provided funding for the orphanage in the past, but has never been the owner or operator.)

Countries: United States of America, Haiti

Persons: Lynda Morrison