CCI Agency Information, Practices and Disclosures

Information provided on this page is for you, the prospective adoptive parent, to learn about and understand various aspects of CCI and its operating practices. This information is also presented to fulfill various Hague Convention Standards.

 

Prohibition on Child Buying

Relative to Hague Standard 96.36

Before embarking on an international adoption, prospective adoptives parents need to understand that fees paid during an adoption are not for the purchase of a child, nor for the guarantee that an adoption will take place. Fees are for services rendered by the adoption agency, and foreign officials and entities, including but not limited to childcare, legal fees, processing fees, etc. For more information regarding the usage of fees, please view the "Usage of Fees" section on this webpage.

CCI does not and will not take part in the abduction, explotation, sale, or trafficking of children.

To review CCI's Prohibition on Child Buying policy, click here.

 

Policies and Procedures

Relative to Hague Standard 96.39a(1)

Clients may request to review CCI's Policies and Procedures that relate directly to the delivery of international adoption. Copies of the current policies and procedures are available upon request.

 

General Eligibility and Costs

Relative to Hague Standard 96.39a(1)

To review general eligibility and costs for each program, click here to visit the Program Comparison Page. You may also visit each individual program page under the main menu item "Programs."

 

Supervised Providers

Relative to Hague Standard 96.39a(2)

Currently, CCI does not work with any Supervised Providers in the U.S. or outside the U.S. CCI considers all Home Study Agencies to be Exempt Providers per the Hague Convention definition of an Exempt Provider. Should CCI start working with any Supervised Providers, CCI will publish this information on this section of our website. As a matter of full disclosure, CCI does partner with other adoption agencies for our China, Vietnam and Kazakhstan programs. For more information, please contact the CCI Program Coordinators of these programs.

CCI also does not work with any foreign supervised providers. Should CCI start working with any foreign supervised providers, CCI will publish this information on this section of our website.

 

Sample Contracts

Relative to Hague Standard 96.39a(3)

Every client must sign an Adoption Agreement, otherwise commonly referred to as the "contract," as a condition of adopting through CCI. With the exception of clients adopting from Ukraine, the Adoption Agreement is general to all clients, regardless of the country from which they are adopting. Because of the unique nature of Ukrainian adoptions, CCI has a seperate Ukraine Adoption Agreement for those clients adopting from Ukraine.

Sample Adoption Agreement: Sample CCI Adoption Agreement

Disclaimer: CCI changes its Adoption Agreement as needed. While CCI will attempt to always upload a new sample adoption agreement upon changes made, CCI does not guarantee that the sample adoption agreement provided will be the actual adoption agreement used at the time a prospective adoptive parent's adoption application is processed. The date on the document indicates the last date changes were made to the Adoption Agreement.

 

Agency Placement Information

Relative to Hague Standard 96.39b

CCI is proud to report the following information:

        Number of Adoption Applications:

2007: 238

2006: 234

2005: 225

        Number of Adoptions Complete:

2007: 220

2006: 169

2005: 149

It is important to remember when considering the above information that adoptions can span multiple calendar years, that adoptive clients can discontinue their adoption proceedings, and that country program conditions/adoption environment can affect the number of adoptions completed in any given year.

Information regarding the number of dissolutions per calendar year is available upon request.

Information regarding the number of children available through CCI from any given country is available upon request. Depending on a country's adoption practices, CCI may or may not have specific children available through CCI from the given country.

 

Expected Total Fees

Relative to Hague Standard 96.40

CCI will not intentionally charge prospecitve adoptive parents fees above and beyond quoted fees unless it is outside CCI's control. Prospective Adoptive Parents understand that quoted fees are only estimates and can change with or without notice.

Every client must sign an Adoption Agreement: Attachment A, otherwise commonly referred to as the "fee contract" for the country from the client is adopting. Items listed on the adoption agreement include at least the following fee amounts: application fee, agency fee, home study review fee (if applicable), humanitrian aid fee/donation, country/program fee, change of country fee and any other fees specific to the individual program. Examples of individual program fees would include document translation expenese, fees paid while actually in-country associated with the adoption, etc.

Sample Fee Contracts may be downloaded from the individual country program page. Click here to access program pages.

Miscellaneous fees generally not paid to or through CCI include, but are not limited to:

Home Study: Paid directly to home study agency. CCI can conduct home studies for Florida clients and the home study fee is paid seperately from adoption expenses. Estimated costs vary per geographical area, but are generally $800-3,000 plus mileage, if applicable.

Dossier Documentation and Authentication: Fees are associated with gathering documents, notarization of documents, county verification forms (if applicable in client's state), obtaining the Secretary of State seal/apostille, and Embassy authentication. Fees vary depending on each entity involved's fees. However, the estimated cost for gathering a dossier, including steps of authentication: $300-500. This estimate does not include dossier prepartion services or dossier courier fees, as these services are optional and not generally necesary to complete a dossier.

Translation Fees: Translation fees may or may not be included in the country/program fees depending on the country from which one is adopting. For countries where the translation is not part of the country/program fee, costs vary depending on the number of documents to be translated, translator fees, any stamps/seals involved, etc. Estimated Cost for the typical dossier to be translated: $300-500.

USCIS Fees: Prospective Adoptive Parents must obtain clearance from USCIS to adopt internationally. An application must be submitted to USCIS along with the application fee of $670 (current as of February 15, 2008), plus $80 per adult over the age of 18 in the home for biometrics fees. In addition, if a family adopts more than one child, and the subsequent children are not the biological sibling to the first child or a biological sibling is adopted in a seperate adoption proceeding, prospective adoptive parents must pay $670 per subsequent child/sibling set to the U.S. Embassy at the time they appear at the U.S. Embassy in the foreign country to bring their child home.

U.S. Entry Visa: Prospective Adoptive Parents must pay for the U.S. Entry Visa for each child. This fee is generally paid to the U.S. Embassy in the foreign country at the time the child is brought to the U.S. As of February 15, 2008, the Visa fee for each child is $400.

Travel Expenses: Travel expenses include hotel accomodations, food/dining, necessary travel guides/facilitators, airfare/transportation, and other necessary services. Travel expenses are estimated on each country program's page. Estimates do not include optional expenses such as shopping, unnecessary travel guides/facilitators, above-average hotel accomodations, etc.

Post-Adoption/Post-Placement Reports: Post-Placement reports are conducted on families adopting internationally whose adoption is not finalized in the foreign country, but rather the child is brought into the United States under the legal guardianship of the prospective adoptive parents, but the adoption is not yet finalized. The post-placement period is the period between the time the parents gain legal and physical custody of the child and the time the adoption is finalized in the United States. Post-Adoption reports are conducted on families who have finalized their adoption, regardless if the adoption was finalized prior to the child exiting their country of origin or if the adoption was finalized in the United States. These terms do not relate to re-adoption of internationally adopted children in the United States. Reports for either circumstance must be conducted according to the requirements set forth by the Country of Origin, State of U.S. Residence, Child-Placing Agency and/or Home Study Agency. Fees associated with these reports are paid directly to the Home Study Agency or other qualified agency conducting the report. Fees associated with such reports vary per agency, but are generally $200-500 per report. Prospective Adoptive Parents should contact their home study/other qualified agency for specific fees.

For information regarding how many post-adoption/post-placement reports are required for a particular country, please visit the country's individual program page by clicking here.

Re-Adoption/Domestication of Adoption: Prospective Adoptive Parents who did not physically see their child prior to the finalization of the adoption must re-adopt (in some areas, domesticate) their adoption in the United States. Parents who did see their child prior to finalization do not have to re-adopt their child, but may have the option to do so based on their state laws. Regardless of if a parent must re-adopt, CCI urges all adoptive parents to re-adopt if possible. Re-adoption expenses vary greatly based on the client's state laws and fees associated with such services as an adoption attorney, application filing fees, etc. CCI cannot estimate the expenses related to this process as they vary and depend on numerous factors.

 

Usage of Fees

Relative to Hague Standard 96.40

Agency Fees are used for general overhead of the agency. Overhead expenses include, but are not limited to, staff salaries, office rent/mortgage, utilities, office equipment, maintenance, office supplies and other everyday expenses necessary to run the office and agency.

Agency Fees may also be used for Special Services such as informational meetings, support groups, adoptive family reunions, and other like events. For the 2007 Special Services report, click here.

Humanitarian Aid Donations are used to support CCI’s many ongoing and special humanitarian aid projects in various countries. Humanitarian Aid projects benefit both children who are and are not eligible for adoption. Most, but not all, Humanitarian Aid projects benefit children in orphanages.

Country/Program Fees are generally used by in-country facilitators/government officials for various purposes. Purposes can include, but are not limited to, child care, legal fees, general operating expenses for the facilitator/official, support of the orphanage and/or foster home, medical expenses and translation fees.

 

Refund of Fees

Relative to Hague Standard 96.40

Adoption-related fees are for services rendered, and not for the purchase of a child or for a guarantee of the ability to adopt a child. In general, adoption-related fees are non-refundable. However, in the event a refund of fees paid may be warranted, the prospective adoptive parent has the right to request a refund application from CCI. CCI will process the application and report its decision to the prospective adoptive parent. Any refund due will be mailed to the client within 10 business days, inasmuch as it is within CCI's control to do so.