Yesterday and today I made few calls to couple of accredited agencies to get an idea of their referral times and how easy or hard would be if we decided to change agencies. The issue is that our agency is not accredited yet and the uncertainty of when it will happen it is kind of driving me crazy.
So, yesterday I called Children's Home Society & Family Services (CHSFS) out of St. Paul, MN. They had already sent me some info via email, such as costs, process timeline, etc. Pricewise, it is really similar to our current agency, but if we switch to them we would have to pay again the agency fee that is even higher to what we paid to our agency (UGH!). The referral time they estimated for a healthy boy, 8 to 18 months was 2 to 4 months!!??!! (YEAH!)
Today I called Catholic Social Services in the Diocese of Charlotte (CSS), NC. They told me the referral time they estimate is 1 to 2 months from the time of the dossier submittal. (WHAT!!) I asked and asked several times how come it would be so quick, and she kept responding that they have very good relationships with the orphanages and that some regions are still providing them photos and medical information for the referrals. Apparently, they only do about 80 to 90 adoptions per year, and they feel their associates in Russia are well informed about children available for referrals. Another positive thing about CSS is that their fee schedule is different; there is a $200 application fee (pretty similar to a looooooot of other agencies), there is no agency fee due when you sign the contract (Yeahhh!), and the bulk of the fees happen after trip #1 when you have accepted your referral. I don't know, I am still kind of in shock... Also, before I was able to bombard them with questions, they bombarded me with a questionnaire, which kind of shows that they are really looking for the kids and not for business.
I am even a little scared of how soon things may happen if we get our homestudy done and we decide to swith to any of these or any of the other accredited agencies... I was emaling today with another couple that just switched from their agency and got a referral right away... It is just crazy how "inconsistent" and surprising things seem to be in the international adoption world...
Well, hopefully I will receive the application package for these agencies, and get a chance to contact some references... Hopefully, within couple of weeks we can figure out what our next course of action will be...
1 comment:
Definitely keep me posted about your research. I seem to be patient one month and then researching the next and then patient and then ready to switch. It amazes me how different the time frames are! I'm sure whatever decision you make will be the best one for you both.
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