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Joint Council on InternationalChildren’s Services Convenes Coalition on Intercountry Adoption
to Discuss Guidelines and Response to RussianTragedies

Alexandria,VA – September 1, 2005 – In response to the recent alleged incidentsof abuse involving Russian adopted children, Joint Council on InternationalChildren’s Services (JCICS) convened a meeting on August 24^th inWashington DC to discuss the matter with other experts in the child welfarefield.

Nearlythirty licensed, non-profit U.S. adoption agencies were in attendance as wellas representatives from the National Council For Adoption (NCFA), Families forRussian and Ukrainian Adoptions (FRUA), and AdoptUSKids. The Child Welfare League of Americawill also be involved in this effort going forward. Guest speakers at the meeting included representatives from ChildhelpUSA (Virginia) and the National Council on Child Abuse and Family Violence.

The intentof the meeting was to collaborate with other NGOs and adoption agencies tocreate a coalition task force to examine cases of abuse and determine whatadditional safe guards can be put into effect to maximize the protection ofchildren. “We are starting adialog to proactively examine how we can best continue to serve the needs of adoptedchildren” states Meghan Hendy, Executive Director of JCICS. “This will be anon-going effort where we study what we are doing well and what could be improvedon. Many agencies are doingexcellent work preparing and supporting families, but we need to share thoseresources and tools so everyone can benefit. There are other aspects, such as anger management trainingfor families, which may be lacking and need to be strengthened.”

Topics that will continue to be addressedinclude prospective adoptive parent screening, pre-placement education andpreparation, and post-adoption support. The coalition recommends that adoptionagencies examine their post-placement reporting schedule and if necessary,reinforce contact with adoptive families especially within the first threemonths of arrival into the United States. Adoptive families should beencouraged to join support groups with other adoptive families and contacttheir agencies at the first sign of difficulty. Adoption agencies employtrained social workers to assist families in the transition process andfamilies need to be encouraged to utilize this expertise.

While asingular death is unacceptable, the estimated number of Russian adoptedchildren who have died as a result of physical abuse in the U.S. represents.03% of the Russian adopted population. The majority of adoptive children are thriving in permanent, loving andsafe homes and their heritage and country of birth are celebrated throughoutthe year.

JCICS stronglycautions the Russian Duma against passing legislation eliminating intercountryadoptions or calling for a bilateral agreement, as proposed by Duma memberYekaterina Lakhova and Federation Council committee member ValentinaPetrenko. We are concerned for theestimated 700,000 orphaned children in Russia. Many studies have shown thatchildren growing up in institutional settings in any country face a higheroccurrence of poverty, prostitution, drugs and crime.

TheCoalition shares the commitment of the Russian government to strive for best practicesin child welfare and offers our assistance to the Ministry of Education. Hendy also stated, “It is our hope thatinternational adoption will continue to be a positive option for children inneed of permanent families.”

AboutJCICS

JointCouncil on International Children's Services (JCICS) is one of the oldest andlargest membership associations of licensed, non-profit international adoptionagencies, child advocacy groups, parent support groups and medical clinics inthe world. JCICS advocates on behalf of children in need of permanency andpromotes ethical practices in intercountry adoption. For more informationplease visit www.jcics.org.

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