Pitfalls for Parents
International adoption has become big business, but regulation still lags
In 2002, West says, Latrace began soliciting funds to build an orphanage in Thuy's name. It was only a few months before this time, West says, that she found out that Thuy wasn't ill and had already been adopted by Mosley. West and Mosley then contacted Latrace to arrange another adoption for Mosley. Latrace, West says, offered Thuy. Latrace says that the Vietnamese social worker lied to her about Thuy's status and blames that for the mix-up.
Latrace has many happy and satisfied clients, she says, among them Bruce and Debbie Hofman in Florida, who used Latrace to facilitate the adoption of three babies and a toddler in Vietnam. "Mai-Ly made things happen that wouldn't have happened," Debbie Hofman says, adding that Latrace successfully shepherded them through a very complicated process.
Requirements. Whatever the outcome of the dispute, it appears to show how adoption agencies, and the facilitators they work with, can sometimes leave would-be adoptive parents in agonizing dilemmas. With so few rules and regulations, many have nowhere to turn. In Florida, full-time employees of adoption agencies must pass background checks and meet minimum degree and experience requirements. But that does not apply to those who call themselves "consultants," such as Latrace, who says that her only qualification is on-the-job training. Following calls by U.S. News , the Florida Department of Children and Families did an unannounced check of Little Pearls, the adoption agency Latrace has been working with in Tampa. Andy Ritter, a DCF spokesman, says investigators found evidence suggesting that Latrace should be deemed an employee of the agency for regulatory purposes, such as her use of a company cellphone. They also found that Latrace was telling prospective clients that she was Little Pearl's facilitator for Guatemalan adoptions and soliciting fees "in excess of $25,000" that could be paid either to Little Pearls or to her own consulting firm, HQ Online.
The DCF also found some licensing violations at Little Pearls, including evidence of employees working in the agency who had not been screened and approved by the department. Ritter said that the agency's paperwork was not in order, among other problems. Asked about further documentation, Ritter provided a follow-up letter stating that the agency's owner, a bankruptcy attorney named Richard Feinberg, told DCF investigators as far back as June 2004 that Latrace "was not involved as an employee or as an independent contractor facilitating or assisting in adoptions" and that her only work for Feinberg had consisted in her designing the website for another adoption agency he sought to license. "You stated that the website design was her only activity . . . and that she no longer had, nor would she have, any relationship with your practice and Little Pearls," the letter says.
But Feinberg told U.S. News that Latrace has worked directly with clients, answered their E-mails, and generally helped facilitate adoptions. Feinberg added that Latrace does an "excellent job" and is "the most devoted and dedicated adoption advocate" he has ever met. Feinberg says that he is currently restructuring the business and that the agency is not taking on any new adoptions at this time.
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