TAAP - May 2001 - Print Edition

Free Web Hosting Provider - Web Hosting - E-commerce - High Speed Internet - Free Web Page

The Adoption Activism Press
Timely news and information for the Adoption Activism Community
A Non-Profit Publication of ABORN.Org

NEWS:
Census Bureau reports number of adopted children
around 1.5 million in 1996
by Michelle Konieczny

In a report titled, "Living Arrangements of Children: Fall 1996", which was released last month, the US Census Bureau stated that the number of adopted children in the US rose from 1.1 million in 1991 to over 1.5 million in 1996. However, they are quick to point out that this number might not truely reflect the number of adopted children as many parents may not be forthcoming about their children's adoptive status. Due to these difficulties the results of the study in regards to adopted children brought only basic information.

The study, written by Jason Fields, cites that currently White non-Hispanic children make up the majority or 77% of adopted children. This percentage of adopted children is larger than the same racial classification figure among all children taken together.

The study also points out that only 16% of adopted children are being raised in 2-parent families, as compared to 25% of all children being in 2 parent homes.

A note is given reminding the public that these figures are not the resultants from the 2000 Census, of which information will be made available during the next 3 years.

More information and an online version of this study can be found at: http://www.census.gov

Parents seeking stolen children after
huge Baby-Selling Racket is busted in India
by Michelle Konieczny

The parents of some of the 188 children rescued by Indian officials during the last few weeks found out the other day they must wait for DNA testing results before being allowed to take their children back home. The children, rescued during an investigation into an apparent baby-selling ring in the Andrha Prakesh province of India, remain in the custody of the state. 150 of the children are being held at the child welfare departments' Sishu Vihar Block in Vengalraonagar and 32 were admitted to hospitals, mostly for under- and malnoutrition.

The Indian Government has issued appeals to all biological parents of the rescued children asking them to come forward within 30 days or the department would make way for in-country adoption for them.

Investigators from various Police, Social Services, and Detective Departments in India have now raided 8 unlicensed Orphanages and Adoption Homes in response to allegations of baby-selling. Some arrests have been made and a man-hunt is still on for directors of two of the raided homes.

Anita Sen, proprietor of the "Precious Moments" adoption center and wife of a prominent police official is rumored to have gone underground. A Nationwide alert was issued for airports just the other day in case she decided to flee the country. Anita faces charges of illegal procurement, confinement, and sale of infants in children. A complaint was filed it Kukatpally police station after 6 children were rescued from her "unrecognized" (unlicensed?) adoption home.

Officials are also still on the lookout for Savithriamm, director of the John Abraham Memorial Bethany Home, aliases for this woman also include the names; Savithiri Devi and Savithri Samson. Police have taken into custody her foster son. 2 cases have been booked against Savithriamm by Kanartka's Corps of Detectives (CoD) alleging child trafficking and procurement of children from tribal-dominated villages in Kanartaka. Tandur Police and the CID have also booked her on similar charges.

The CID also arrested N Sanjeeva Rao, executive director for the Action for Social Development organization in Hyderabad on April 22nd. His active associate, A Pandu a 26 year old autodriver was arrested an accused of helping Rao in the illegal sale of infants under the guise of adoption for pecundiary gain. Pandu was linked to the procurement of two infants from a tribal village.

In a neighboring district of Orissa another child adoption racket has also been unearthed. State officials raided an orphanage Vikash Parishad Sishu Ashram (VPSA) which was run by Sukhdev Swain in Cuttack, and rescued 7 children out of a recorded 11 that were supposed to be at the home according to records kept by the agency. An official involved in the raid and speaking on condition of anonymity to a reporter from the India Times said that the orphanage claimed that 2 of the missing children had died of sun stroke the week before and that the other two were given back to their parents. However, there was no proof of the deaths and officials state giving back a child to his biological parents after 60 days in an orphanage is illegal under Indian adoption law.

In the midst of the investigations things are heating up politically in India. Andhra Pradesh's Congress Committee president Satyanarayana Rao admitted a writ petition to the High Court related to the sale of infants. The writ was to seek direction to the government to firmly punish those involved with the baby-selling racket. A party spokesperson, K Rosaiah speaking to the writ unleashed a barrage of charges against the state government and the Chief Minister, saying, "Naidu is indulging in tough talk as he had done when a similar racket was busted in 1998. He had then said a committee would be set up to put an end to such activities but nothing was done. Had effective steps been taken the situation would not have arisen."

Rosaiah also claimed that as many as 156 children were "sold" for adoption to foreigners in the year 2000, while in 1999 the figure was around 112. Australis appears to be one of the countries these babies were "sold" into as Child Advocates there claim.

Some India and Australian-based women's and children's campaigners were quoted in the Sydney Herald as saying that Australians were buying Indian babies, especially girls. One case in particular was cited where a Melbournian couple had paid $30,000 (Australian) to the agency where the child's biological mother ended up receiving just $25 (Australian) of that sum.

Shobna Phanshikar, who runs the Gramya Resource Center for Women near Hyderabad alleged that the five adoption agencies in Hyderabad are involved in the racket, and that two of those agencies hold government licenses.

In a stunning twist one agency, which does hold a governmental license for inter-country adoption has decided to disengage itself from the adoption community. The Indian Council of Social Welfare (ICSW) has surrendered their right to adoption work. The agency run by Ms. Roda Mistry said in a letter sent to the state that she 'did not like the current trend of affairs and would be pulling out'. This is in spite of being issued a license extending for 3 more years just recently.

AGENCIES "BUSTED"
1. John Abraham Memorial Bethany Home (one center in Tandur, another in nearby city) - run by Savithramm; AKA Savithri Devi and Savithri Samson
2. Precious Moments - Kukatpally - run by Anita Sen. wife of an IPS officer
3. Bal Rakshana Smithi - Habshiguda - run by Vijaya Lalitha
4. Action for Social Development - Hyderabad - run by N Sanjeeva Rao
5. Radhakishan Home - Toli Chowki (Near Medhipatnam)
6. Vikash Parishad Sishu Ashram (VPSA) - Kadampada,Cuttack - run by Sukhdev Swain
note: several homes that were raided were indeed residential homes. One such home was of a Bethany House worker who had "stashed" the children there presumably around the time of the raids.

TAAP urges all adoptive parents of Indian Children here in the US to contact and assist investigators if they are aware of any irregularities in their cases, especially if the agency they worked with was not in posession of a license issued by CARA - the Indian Adoption Licensing Body.

Also, we remind readers of the case of the adoptee who recently faced deportation due to her illegal adoption status after writing a bad check. Not addressing this possible issue now may result in serious threats to your child's liberty in the future.

Information for this article was taken over the past few weeks from stories available at: http://www.theindiatimes.com

LEGAL:
Governor Jeb Bush to remain defendant in Social Services Lawsuit
by Michelle Konieczny

Federal US Magistrate, Judge Robert Dube denied a dismissal motion filed by the Florida state Department of Children and Families on Tuesday, April 24th, 2001. The case, filed by Children's Advocacy groups, charges the State of Florida's Foster Care System is broken, thus warranting an intrusion by the Federal Government to guarantee action to fix said system, as promised by Florida Governor Jeb Bush last year.

The Advocacy Groups contend that children in Florida's Foster Care System are often abused and neglected while wards of the state, and are left in state custody an average of 3 years, triple the state's placement goal. A story filed by the Associated Press states that the average stay has increased since the suit was originally filed in July of 2000.

The Judge also narrowed the scope of the lawsuit by dropping four of the 22 named plaintiffs in one claim, meanwhile saying that Bush should stay on as a defendant.

Karen Gievers,and attorney for the children stated that she expects the State Dept. of Children and Families to ask Trial Judge Federico Moreno to reverse Dube's findings. The court date for this case is unknown at time of printing.

FEATURES:
Too many children in Foster Care needlessly
by Michelle Konieczny

According to Richard Wexler, executive director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform (NCCPR), the primary cause for the national "foster care crises" is not inadequate numbers of foster parents, nor inadequate numbers of adoptive parents for these children. Instead Wexler cites the needless removal of children from homes that are safe or could be made safe with the right kind of services as the root problem.

"Wrongful removal drives everything else." Wexler was quoted as saying in a May 1 News Release. "Wrongful removal overburdens the system, causing agencies to overcrowd foster homes and lower standards. And wrongful removal so overloads the system with children who don't need to be taken from their parents that workers have even less time to find chidlren in real danger. Wrongful removal makes all children less safe."

Wexler also said that Foster Care Awareness Month was an excellent time to become more aware of the many proven programs that keep families together. He also states that these programs have a better track record for keeping children safe than foster care itself. Another plus of these programs is that they are a far better investment of time and money than "another tired recruiting campaign for foster parents".

"We can't recruit our way out of the foster care crises and we can't adopt our way out," Wexler said. "The only way to fix foster care is to have less of it."

More information on family preservation programs can be found by contacting NCCPR online at: http://www.nccpr.org

SEARCHING:
DNA Testing to reunite Adoptees and Birth Parents
by Michelle Konieczny

The advancement of technology has led to a new method of searching for families affected by adoption that are looking to reunite. A new program is being launched by Linda Hammer in cooperation with DNA Testing.com to develop a new DNA database to assist Adoptees and their Birth Parents with their reunification goals. The testing Hammer says will preclude the need for parties to have an original birth certificate, a name, date or even place of birth. This is welcome news for many adoptees and birth parents who have found they were involved in a "Black Market Adoption", or that crucial information had been changed by the state on their Amended Birth Certificates or the information they received from their agency or County of Adoption.

The testing would be done by interested participants swabbing the interior of their cheek which would pick up cells containing their DNA. The swab would then be placed in an envelope containing contact information for the participant. The samples would then be stored till there were enough samples to begin the matching process. Response to the program has been tremendous as Hammer and co-host Simone Keevert have already been receiving thousands of requests to participate.

Hammer cites the need for a program of this sort has arisen out of the erroneous decision by US states to seal adoptees' personal records. Since these records are sealed the adoptees are often denied of having a complete medical history to work with when they see their doctor. This has resulted in the needless deaths of many who might otherwise have been able to take precautions related to various hereditary ailments they were unaware of prior to the illness and death of themselves and those in descendant generations.

Hammer also lists a warning to unscrupulous adoption agencies to get "malpractice insurance, now". Most Open Records Advocates recognize that the current state of adoption records laws protects those involved in Black Market Adoptions. Hammer contends that with this new program even familial connections once obliterated by changing of documents can be exposed and the families finally reunited. "This is a very exciting project that would certainly put a light at the end of a very dark tunnell for adoptees and birth parents", states Ed Gaulin, President of the Manasota Genealogical Society in Brandenton, FL.

While most discussions of reuniting adoptees and birthparents bring discussion of privacy issues, this is not the case with this program as all participants would be willing.

Linda Hammer is no stranger to the Adoption Community. She is the founder and publisher of a website called The Seeker - Reuniting the World! (http://www.the-seeker.com) and is also the host of a daily call-in radio show heard on WTMY 1280AM in Sarasota Florida, which can also be heard live on the internet.

To participate in this program or to obtain more information please write to:

__________________________________________________________________

For More Information on Adoption Activism or to join ABORN
please visit us online at: http://www.aborn.org
For the online edition of TAAP please visit:
http://taap.8k.com
Or you can write to us at:
ABORN Organization
Route 4 Box 361
Adrian, MO 64720

WARNING: This Website, design and content copyright 2001 by the owner and developer. All Rights Reserved. For Information on how to obtain a print version for Distribution go here: Print Version.
For Permission to republish any article appearing in the Adoption Activism Press please send inquiry to:
permission@taap.8k.com