OK...for those that want to get in on this I have gotten some information from a lawyer in Michigan willing to take on our case. She says that it does not matter if the agency has filed or will file for bankruptcy...so here is the email she sent me. If you would like to join in all we need is 4 families to file a lawsuit. This lawyer is pretty reasonable as well....like only a couple thousand I believe. I'm sending ehr another email right now to find out.
Anyway, here's the email she just sent me! Thanks to Terri for pointing me in her direction!
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Hi Gina & Bill,
We have reviewed your contract with CAII to see if there were any legal prohibitions to bring a lawsuit (usually there are just some limitations). The contract does state that any legal action must be taken in AZ in a court of competent jurisdiction or arbitration. The way the contract is worded allows us to avoid the arbitration and to move forward with legal action. I have no problem bringing a RICO suit against CAII and its directors in AZ.
What we look for is a pattern of deceptive behavior by CAII experienced by 4 or more families and we are able to bring a RICO suit. The fact that they went out of business is of no consequence to us – the directors are still responsible.
I understand that there are probably more than 4 families who have been victimized by CAII. So yes, you can move forward with a lawsuit against CAII. The difference is whether you bring one alone against CAII or as a multi-plaintiff group.
**Moved by Jeff to correct agency** Original poster was Kevin.
I adopted 3 wonderful children from Brazil a year and 1/2 ago. I was Commonwealths first person in Brazil to complete an adoption. Commonwealth switched people on me about 1/2 through the process and I didn't hear from the for several weeks until I got rude and demanded to speak to Marina and find out what had happened. I was told that my case worker had quit and they hadn't found a replacement for her as of yet. Later came my replacement which was the most rude individual I have ever worked with. She made me feel like I was the biggest inconvenience when I called her to ask questions.
I was told by Commonwealth that there were several people in the Brazil program before me but I ended up being the first to go which still is puzzling to me.
I left on February 1st of 2007 after rushing to get all of my documents because my referral came and they wanted me in Brazil. My referal was for a boy and a girl ages 10 and 7. When I arrived in Brazil after flying for 10 hours I was greeted by the Brazilian case worker who told me immediately that my case had fallen apart days before and that the social worker on the case in Brazil was new and she was not co-operating at all. I was told that they made numerous calls to Commonwealth to try and prevent me from coming down until they could work through all of this but COmmonwelath told them they couldn't afford to do that because I was their first in the program. I was then rushed to a hotel where I took a shower and was told I was going to see my two children in an orphanage near by. Once there the social worker and the attorneys took me into a room where I met my new son and daughter or so I thought I the time. They didn't know who I was even though a month prior I had sent down a photo album filled with pictures of their new home and myself. I was told by Commonwealth prior to me leaving that the kids had looked at the album and were excited about having a family. The girl broke out into tears and ran and the boy was terrified. Then my attorney and the social worker got into a huge verbal battle in Portuguese while I sat there. After that I was told to visit with my son and daughter and let them show me their bedrooms and their school classes and maybe hand out the toys I had brought for the other kids. I did that and then was told it would be a good time to give the $1000.00 to the orphanage director. Then I left. After leaving the orphanage the attorney was taking me to my residence for what I though would be the next 30 days. He received a phone call telling him that the social worker says the kids are not ready for adoption. He then repeated see I knew you shouldn't have come down to Brazil right now. Basically within less than 24 hours my referral had fallen apart. I was then told to keep up appearances I would need to go back to the orphanage to spend time with the girl and the boy who I had grown fond of preparing for the adoption as we all do when we get those wonderful pictures. I spent another day with them and then I never saw them again. For the next week I stayed in Brazil hoping to get another referral. Many phone calls were made to Commonwealth by myself and my family members on the state side and they were told as I was you are in Brazil so we can't help you. It was then for the next week I waited to see if I was going to fly home and have to start all over or if Brazil would allow me another referral. I ended up staying 52 days in Brazil because of Commonwealths decision not to pull out at the last minute even though they were advised by their Brazilian Representatives. I did have a wonderful success in the fact I now have 3 wonderful children who I love dearly. There were many other hurdles thanks to Commonwealth and their lack of preparation. They had not given me all the documents I needed for the final adoption nor did they follow up on the change on my I-600 which thank goodness for the agency that did my homestudy Luther Social Services they helped me when Commonwealth left me with nothing.
My heart goes out to all the families who are in the middle of their adoptions and the mounds of paperwork. It is already enough of an emotional rollercoaster without having commonwealth their to make matters worse. My adoption is final so I know that being part of a law suit is impossible but I can testify as my family can as well the living nightmare Commonwealth caused in my life and the money I had to come up with while in country because they didn't want to jeopardize their new adoption program in Brazil.
I did not have a good experience with Commonwealth, though this was about five years ago so I cannot speak to whether changes have been made in the meantime. In my experience, my first child was lost. I do not hold Commonwealth responsible for this; however, I do hold their lack of communciation against them. They had not explained that there was any chance of the first adoption falling through (though of course, international adoption is always an iffy thing). But they had led me to believe that it was a done deal and we were just waiting on paperwork to be completed. I was very shocked when I was told - a few weeks before I was to get on a plane - that the adoption had fallen through for reasons never explained before as possibilities. I also feel - and of course, I could be wrong about this - that part of why it fell through was because they did not follow up on my paperwork in a timely manner. I was told that it would take about three months after I accepted the referral and yet six months into it, I could get no information from Commonwealth as to what was going on. I just kept getting a very patronizing, "Just relax - everything will be fine." But of course, it ended up that things were not fine. And I rarely heard from them unless I contacted them and even then it was like pulling teeth to get them to respond to me or my social worker. They seem to constantly confuse who I was and where I was adopting from. It was a lot, a lot of work on my part to get the caseworker to contact me, communicate with me or to communicate with my local social worker. (At one point, I got so frustrated with them, I just turned it over to my local social worker to work with them.) I realize I was not their only client but it was extremely frustrating to feel like no one is really there for you when one is hanging on, not understanding what is going on. Even a weekly check-in of "here is where we are stuck but we have not forgotten you" would have been appreciated. When my first child fell through, I was advised to move to Siberia, which I did. The only reason I can give Commonwealth a 2 instead of a 1 rating is because I loved the people in Siberia. I worked with a doctor named Eugene and I felt he went out of his way to make things happen. But back on the state side, I still could not get anyone to communicate very well with me or my social worker. And while I can never know if they sat on my paperwork for the first adoption causing it to fall through, I do know for a fact that they were slow with some crucial paperwork on the second adoption. Two days before I was to leave for my second trip to Siberia and the court date, I learned that Commonwealth had not followed up on my visa. Big, big dropping the ball on their part. I had to call San Francisco myself and begged to have the visa expidited - explained that I had waited five months for my court date and if it had to be rescheduled because of the visa issue, it might be another five months of my daughter sitting in a hospital instead of being home with me. I literally sat by my back door waiting for Fed-X, which delivered it only hours before I was to get on the plane. I got it - I DID IT - but it was very stressful and it was not something I should have had to do given that I was paying Commonwealth more than most other agencies I could have chosen. Paying more does not necessarily mean better service. I also ended up with a child with extreme mental health special needs - I had been clear that I was adopting as a single mom with limited resources and it would not be an advantage for me or the child to take on a child with a lot of special needs. Again, I can not blame Commonwealth for this piece of it as I do not know how much they knew or did not know about my daughter at the time. I do know that there were very detailed court papers that I never received until after the adoption was completed though I had asked for them to be translated and sent to me after my first visit. I also found it interesting that my local social worker, who has been doing this work for 25 years, had never had never seen a child so young with so many needs and no indication given to the parents beforehand. It was nothing that showed up in a picture or even a limited visit but I did learn later that no one representing Commonwealth with any training had met the child beforehand because their worker in Siberia was not allowed in the hospital where my daughter was at. (????? I never understood this but apparently Commonwealth was going entirely by paperwork supplied by a small village in northern Siberia.) Basically, however, I do not feel I received good service for all the extra money I paid and I watched friends bring home healthier, happier children in a much faster time. Of course, having said all of this, I love my child immensely and though it has been a long, long extremely difficult transition, she is turning into a wonderful child and I certainly realize that some of what I face is beyond anyone's control. So while I do not want to hold Commonwealth to an impossible standard, I will say that I never once felt that they really cared (on the state side at least. In Siberia, Eugene seemed genuinely invested in taking care of my daughter and keeping me informed. And there were no glitches in Siberia - I have heard horror stories about problems in country which I did not face.) Still, on the US side, it did feel like nothing more than a business deal and it was buyer beware!
Has anyone contacted a tv station's investigative reporter? I'm sure this is news worthy. We have a couple here in Denver but I think it would be best to contact someone in Tucson/AZ. Maybe they can get some answers and some results??? Just a thought. I cannot do it right now so someone else will have to take the lead.
Also, if you haven't contacted the State licensing office in the State where you were working with Commonwealth (ie. Colorado, Florida, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, etc. , that might also help to put some pressure on.
Hi All,
I just got a voice mail message from the Attorney General's office in AZ. They said they couldn't answer all our claims at this point but that "David Matthew(s?) may be able to help get a copy of your file. 602-347-6348". If we have any "further questions" we are supposed to talk to Karen Christenson at 520-628-6504. I think if I were all of you, I'd give either/both of them a call asap!!!
I started the process with Commonwealth in May 2008, and lost about $7000 in the process. They are dishonest and unethical thieves and we should all get together and sue. Please include me if you are getting a suit together! jenn_hayes@comcast.net
Today I received an e-mail that totally contradicted the first one that they sent about closing. The first e-mail said all families "in process" will be transitioned to new agencies. Today's e-mail said only families with referrals will be transitioned. I am in the Vietnam program, have an approval number, but no referral. If Sept 1st the countries get something in place, and no paperwork is returned , then what happens to my number? Why can't I be transitioned to an agency with Hague and referrals? I asked for a copy of my approval listing and was told NO! Don't we have rights to our paperwork?
How do I know I was really filed in Vietnam at all? I was called 3 weeks ago
with a referral and then it was cancelled. What's up with that? I can't believe there isn't an agency out there, who would want those of us who already have a approval and just need a match. All the initial work is done! Vietnam has a national orphanage with thousands of paper legitimate orphans. Why does no one care? Why is no one matching us? I can't believe this. We all get into this for the right reasons, we are good people, we sacrificed - and now nothing. No help to be found anywhere. Children continue to suffer for no reason at all! 4 out of 1700 cases were found to be problematic. The process in place caught it. All of this misery for 4 cases. How stupid !
I live in Colorado and the office here was the first to close. That was in February. Our homestudy was done but not yet back form the state and our USCiS application should have been sent out upon it's return. It wasn't. Only after we had waited the 6-8 weeks it takes for approval (We didn't know that we'd be sent notification in the mail and have to do fingerprints etc, we've never done this beforeh and no one told us about it!) Long story short they threatened us that they'd suspend our file if we didn't give them about $13,000 by a random date back in March/April, (don't remember when but I have it in email.) Needless to say I had already looked at their 2004 and 2005 tax returns (you can view other agencies too online at Guidestar.com) and saw that things weren't good and to boot, our case worker had been let go at the end of December. The writing was on the wall at this point. They prayed on desperation of many families. The sad part is that so many people did send them the money and now are SOL. One women even tried to stop her cashiers check but couldn't.
Meanwhile, we were advised to not switch from Commonwealth while our USCIS approval was pending so we didn't. We received it at the end of May. Supposedly they submitted their part on or about the 1st of March but i believe this is a lie. I have been told that USCIS has to deposit the $ within 24 hrs of receipt. Our money was not deposited until the middle of March. WE went on a long vacation in June so didn't do anything about changing agencies until we got back. I researched and found that they had made arrangements with 2 agencies here in Denver that could take over our State portion of things. One agency cannot help us as they can no longer work with families going to Russia. Now why would they tell me to go to this agency if they knew they couldn't hep us to begin with? Anyway, we are now waiting for Commonwealth to release our homestudy to our new agency. They have had the Release for 2 weeks and cannot give us a time frame for it's completion. They received it before they announced their closure and so when we got an email from Dawn Hill saying the agency was closing for good, she also said she'd get to us when she could but she had more important clients to deal with!!! They no longer respond to our emails. So we remain HOSTAGE to the whims of Dawn Hill and the incompetence of Commonwealth Adoptions.
BTW, if you'd like to discuss things or make a complaint with the Sate of Colorado, call Laurie Roxbury at the Dept of Human Services (or whatever it's officially titled- they are investigating the closure and continued problems with commonwealth in the State of Colorado). Her number is 303-866-5475. You can also call Marlene Romero at 303-866-5088 to request the most recent Report of Inspection and and pending legal action. I requested it today so I'll have to wait to fill you in on that...
Here are a few assurances from Dawn Hill, Executive Operations Director about the state of Commonwealth Adoptions as quoted from her emails to us. On March 12, 2008, she said "I completely understand why you are concerned about the abrupt closure but rest assured, it was based on circumstances outside of any stability of the agency. I'm not at liberty to discuss with you the reasons we closed the office and let go of the staff, but it was not motivated by financial considerations." and after more closures and "restructuring" on March 25, 2008, she said this, "We sent out a notification to all families explaining our need to shift our business plan and focus on what we do best - which is completing adoptions and being a placement agency. The decision to downsize all our offices was a strategic decision to ensure best service to families. Businesses change their models all the time and we have elected to change ours. This change does not impact your adoption at all."
What a joke, it doesn't "impact" our adoption at all!!! it's been a year since we stared with them and we currently don't even have a homestudy that anyone can see/access/use/verify/update, much less the two children we had hoped for!!! We are now looking to spend another $1000 dollars or so just to change to our new Colorado agency plus who knows how much for the new International Agency. And if this hadn't been a cruel enough joke already, we were offered to adopt an (emergency) private adoption of a healthy 2 day old Caucasian male baby on Friday evening. We had to have a valid homestudy and be able to be in Florida the following day at noon to get him before he had to be turned over to the Foster Care System!!!! I don't know how my family will come to be, but I do know that we missed a HUGE opportunity because of Commonwealth's ineptitude and their lack of responsibility to ALL their families. Not just the ones who have paid the most money! (No offense to anyone else but we've already been dealing with their problems since February so I'd have to say we have to have a place at the front of the line here... and how much time can it really take to put our file in an envelope and put it in the mail???) Oh and did I mention that our USCIS approval is only good for a short amount of time??? So tick-tock our time is expiring as we speak.
At this point my attorney husband is looking at the implications of her assurances and her failure to release our homestudy, not to mention recovering the costs incurred thus far and future costs associated with fixing their "closure" screw ups. And then there is the baby that might have been ours! the just keep digging the liability hole deeper and deeper.
As for in you in a lawsuit, we'd definitely be interested. I want to see Dawn Hill squirm on the stand and I want to see them all be sent to jail for their deceit. At the very lest, these people should NEVER be able to work in, around, near or have anything to do with social work, children or adoption!!! We've been contemplating a lawsuit since February but didn't really take it seriously because what kind of money are you going to get from a Non-profit? And then how many kids would suffer because of it? Not worth it until now. Now there are not any children that are going to suffer because we and the rest of you sue the sox off them.
If any of you from Colorado want to reach Vi Pearce, Anney Grossberg, Diane R or Ashley Hall, let me know and I can give you contact info. Feel free to contact me for anything further. tmahoneykneisel@gmail.com
OK, we were in a Russian program with Commonwealth. I got an e-mail from Marina this morning informing us that our file will be transferred to Adoption Center of Washington. I called them and spoke with Linda (I am not sure, but I think she is an Executive Director). When I told her about the e-mail, she said that e-mail went out very premature, because they just got the list of all the families and still reviewing it, but can not promise anything!!! And by the way, our name was not on the list!!???? When I asked about how they will be handling money and remaining fees issue, she said that will depends on how much funds are available on each particular case from Commonwealth. And families will have to come up with difference. But definitely it will cost more to everybody.
My husband and I are totally dazed. We can't believe an agency can take our life savings then close and actually get away with it. I wonder how many couples are in the same boat? It will take us years to replace the money lost. We worked so hard to save the money with hopes of adopting and starting a family. We are unsure where to go next. I look at all of these agencies posted on this site and all of them have many negative comments posted against them. How do you choose? Honestly, who do you trust again? We now know that adoptive parents have no protection under our laws. The contracts that we sign don't protect us. They are protection for the agencies. Does anyone know of a trustworthy agency that deals with domestic adoptions?
We just received an e-mail from Commonwealth suggesting a transfer to"ACW"-never heard of this agency-and also, they make no guarantee about this not costing us more. So, no clue about this agency's reputation or how much $$$ is involved in the end...right. And they sent this letter without addressing any of our other questions. I think we are better off switching on our own.
I gave birth to a beautiful little girl on July 1, '08, and placed her through Commonwealth with a fantastic family. Today, my amazing caseworker, Cheryl, picked me up to take me to a doctor's appointment, and she dropped the bomb on me that the agency was closing. I did not receive an email or a letter from the agency telling me this news. There are two days before this adoption is finalized, and I am absolutely terrified about what's going to happen with my photos, information, and how my daughter's family is going to keep the contact with me that was agreed upon. We've been communicating directly with one another via email, but what happens if we lose touch? What happens if, when our child is 20 years old, she decides she wants to find me? What happens to her great new family as far as their fees go?
I trust Cheryl, my adoption caseworker, very much. She emails me and calls me regularly still, and today, she gave me her personal email address so that I could always get in touch with her. My heart is breaking for her, as she just found out that she's out of a job. Up until today, I was 100% confident in Commonwealth's ability, as I couldn't think of a single thing that they did wrong on my end. However, now, I'm terrified of the future as far as updates on my child and her and her family's ability to contact me in the future.
I hate to say I am not surprised that CAI is once again trying to pull something shady.
We adopted a few years ago with Commonwealth and it was a nightmare. We went through 4 caseworkers, not by our choice but because they had quit, etc. The last caseworker we had was such a cold fish she should have never been in a position to deal with the public.
After we had so much time and money invested we felt like we just wanted to complete our adoption so we walked on eggshells for fear something else would happen after we had already gone through many delays. When we were on our 2nd trip the 4 other families we traveled with all started admitting what an awful experience they also had with CAI. I guess because we were so close to bringing home our children we were braver about speaking out.
I have tried to warn people about CAI on a few message boards but the rabid fans (CAI employees perhaps?) of theirs would discredit me, I truly feel terrible for people who had to go through the terrible experience we did.
I could not believe my eyes when we received a letter a few weeks ago from CAI telling us to give them good reviews and asking for donations. But once again, it shouldn't have surprised me because this agency will do anything for the almighty dollar.
In response to wattie21: Commonwealth was a "legitimate" agency in a business since 1991. And they still think that. Did you read their letter???? Adoption is a multi billion dollars industry in a US, surprisinly very poorly regulated. Very sadly, a lot of agencies in this for big bucks. If an agency is a "legitimate" they have nothing to worry about, right? But if they are crooks like Commonwealth, the sooner they go, the better. When things started getting really bad with Commonwealth, I called at least a dozen other agencies, who are processing adoptions in Russia and was begging them to step in and acept our case but reduce their fees. We were ready to pay, but not from the scratch. Our home study was finished, dossier was already registered with Ministry of Education in Russia. How many of them do you think were willing to do that? NO ONE!!!!!
These "legitimate agencies" denied me of service because I declared myself Catholic. These agencies are making a ton of money off of all of us. I am not against adoption. It needs to be regulated. These are "non-profit", but the owners are making 6 figure salaries. I work in education. We put together IEP's for students with special needs constantly. They are about the size of a home study. We don't get paid $2,000 per IEP to do it. There needs to be regulation. I understand you are worried for yourself, but you might find yourself in the exact same situation. I was told the following when I specifically asked about the state of Commonwealth: "Commonwealth's domestic program is thriving. It is the one program that is keeping things going. Commonwealth will not be shut down." This was told to me in May of 2008.
I am so sorry for what everyone is going through. We were fortunate enough to narrowly finish our adoption after 2.5 years of tears and frustration. My heart goes out to each of you. I wish there was something I could do. I do not understand how CAI could take so much money from so many people and not maintain open and honest communication. You are all in my thoughts.
As a side note: criminal complaints for this issue can be filed with the state attorney general in AZ and respective home states (as applicable) and they can be filed on-line-. The link for AZ is: http://www.azag.gov/consumer/complaintform.html
I just received e-mail from Marina in response to my request for an update. I asked her if any agency was selected for us to be transfered to. This is her response:
"We will be sending a second letter with more updates on the agency within next couple of days - we will identify the agency and transition update."
We paid $11,000 just to Commonwealth.
Another $4,000 for the Homestudy with post adoption visits fee.
Getting visas, booking, canceling, rebooking and canceling again tickets (always on a very short notice) for 3 times now cost us almost $9,000. Plus all kind of fees (USCIS, fingerprints, notary etc.) close to $2,000. Total of $26,000 and now THIS!!!!????????????
We are very interested as well - just got the news yesterday. We have been with Commonwealth for over 1.5 years. We have had to change country programs three times - we are now in the domestic program and thought it would be more streamlined and prone to less corruption. We switched from international after we were asked to pay to "retranslate" our adoption dossier, and then to pay $2000 in "humanitarian" fees - because we felt it was downright corrupt. We thought the corruption was purely on the Kazakhstan side, but now, it's obvious that CAI has played a role as well. We've invested $15-$20 in Commonwealth, between their fees, and international fees (translation, fingerprints) and that's everything we had saved for the adoption process. We were in the middle of redoing our home study update and now have to place that on hold. We would be very interested in a class action lawsuit as I think we need to be proactive rather than wait for CAI to decide how to to deal with the aftermath. Minor observation: Have you noticed that the Executive Director is a provisional PhD at the University of Arizona in conservation psychology? It's no wonder that the families haven't been a priority given that this discipline is so far removed from domestic and international adoption, not to mention the intensive nature of a Ph.D. program. I agree that we all need to stick together and develop a plan.
People, please, pray for hundreds of families, who are in this horrible mess right now.
We have no idea what are we going to do next. More then a year of hopes, broken dreams, tons of wasted money and time. Our son is still at that miserable orphanage – and now we do not even know if we ever will be able to bring him home. We are simply running out of money and will not be able to start with different agency. I am sure Marina and her husband will get their share.
Did I mention that Commonwealth was trying to get us to pay extra for our post placement reports just this week!!!!! We told them we weren't giving them another dime. They already owe us money. Raul is such a LIAR! He made promise after promise to us and didn't keep any of them. The more I read, the angrier I get. Thank God that our adoption is final. Even after it's all said and done, they still want your money.
That is really all I can think right now. We were just contacted on August 1 about a possible birthmother match and in the VERY SAME email, were asked for more MONEY!!!!! Just one day earlier they had had their meeting. My chest aches right now because we have lost so much. They say that they are going to try to place us with another agency. What about changing our homestudy, are they going to pay for that? What about when it expires in a few months after we've waited and waited. Now we have to start all over and wait more.
I also got caught in the Commonwealth "situation". I started my "journey" in early 2007 as a Guatemala hopeful. When those problems began, I was advised into Vietnam. We all know what happened with Vietnam...that program went south too. This, after I had talked to the agency numerous times over concerns with the fact that there didn't seem to be any referrals coming out of the program and definitely no one traveling to pick up their child. I also questioned the Hague situation and was told that they were being unfairly treated and it was under control. When Vietnam went under I tried to get my money back to head to a new agency, but I was told my money was gone, BUT if I stayed with CAII, my money would transfer to a new program. How can money that is gone go to a new program? They refused to provide a detailed bill of where all of my money went when I requested one. I was then told to go to either Russia or the domestic program and I opted for Domestic because of the Hague situation. I specifically asked if the state of CAII was ok or if they were in danger of shutting down (this was because my local agency that had piggy backed CAII had closed down for unknown reasons). I was told that the domestic program was the strongest and was the only successful program at that time and had no chance of closing. When I got my very impersonal email today about CAII shutting down I was flabbergasted. I was actually numb and I don't think it has sunk in yet. My case manager is also quite upset. I do not blame her. She said they were also blindsided and she was actually crying on the phone. I feel bad for the people that got caught under the mismanagement of Marina Mayhew and James Mayhew. I am also pursuing a lawsuit. My lawyer is looking into a class action suit because it is the only way to now have to pay up front. So if anyone is interested in jumping on this lawsuit, I would love to contact you (or have my lawyer contact you). I am disgusted, disappointed and angry. I honestly don't know where to go from here.
I had never planned to post comments in public about my experience adopting a child through Commonwealth several years ago, but yesterday I received a letter from the agency encouraging me to log on to this and another website to post positive comments to counter ones posted by clients who "did not have a blessed experience." Well, the very fact that they would send such a letter to us given that we emphatically did not have a "blessed experience" with them should tell you what you need to know about the difference between their rhetoric of caring about children and the reality that this agency has a long history of treating adoptive children and their parents unethically--as least if our experience is any indication. They care nothing about the day-to-day post-adoptive realities of their clients down the road--otherwise, why would they send us such a letter? Moreover, I fully agree with the postings of clients who say that CAI would like to silence or discredit those of us who have had bad experiences--either recently or in the past. A truly good agency does not need to send out letters asking former clients to write nice things about them on the internet.
I would have to write a book to really explain all the nuances of why our adoption experience was so bad, and some of the issues are way more critical than others. The in-country associate was horrible, Marina Mayhew's husband got involved and gave us erroneous information about country requirements, there was a lack of follow-up support and information regarding how to handle post-placement reports, you name it. Most significantly in speaking to the overall ethics of the agency, though, is this: Commonwealth had, or should have had, reason to suspect that our daughter was born with neurological damage, but they presented her to us as a healthy infant.
I myself perceived from my brief encounters with her in the orphanage that she had neurological "soft signs," but the in-country associate refused to take me to the orphanage for more than a few minutes at a time every few days, and he never gave me a chance to speak with the pediatrician on staff. By the end of about two weeks, I figured out from talking with some German adoptive parents that I could have been spending up to four hours a day at the orphanage visiting with our daughter and talking with staff, but by that point it was time to return to the States to wait until the paperwork could be processed and we could return to bring our daughter home. So I barely saw our daughter on my whole first visit, and the degree of stress I was under about the reasons I wasn't being taken to see her (was the in--country associate too lazy to take me? was he trying to prevent me from finding out more about her background and health condition?) is evidenced by the upwards of $700 in international phone charges I ran up due to calling my partner repeatedly to try to figure out what to do. Even to this day it is not entirely clear to me what was really going on, but my best guess is that CAI hired an unethical in-country associate and that once things went wrong, their only focus was on protecting themselves legally. We never had any intention of bringing a lawsuit; we just wanted the truth about why the experience was so horrible: what did the associate know about our child's background and health status? why wouldn't he take me to visit our daughter while I was in the country? what did CAI know about the situation? This questions will be with me for as long as I live, as will my feelings of anger and betrayal at being manipulated and lied to.
For obvious reasons this is a hard thing to talk about in public. We love our daughter dearly and recognize that there are no guarantees when it comes to becoming a parent--either via adoption or via childbirth. We are not angry that our child has disabilities (significant ones that will prevent her from living independently); to risk invoking a cliche, she is a vibrant, lovely child who has enriched our lives immeasurably. What we're angry about is that Commonwealth lied to us and that Commonwealth has never (again, presumably for legal reasons) acknowledged that it failed to fulfill fundamental obligations such as seeking out all available information on the child we were assigned, sharing that information with us, and so on. In the first few years after we completed the adoption, we tried to maintain a civil correspondence with the agency, but in more recent years I have decided to cut off contact. The memories of being left alone for days at a time in a hotel room when I could have been with our child, the anxiety of perceiving that she very likely had disabilities but not being given access to basic medical information that was known at the time, such as the fact that she was born via C-section (suggestive of a difficult birth scenario), and so on--all that lingers with me even today.
I'm sure there are people out there who would want to be sanctimonious and dismiss me as someone who was looking for a "perfect" child. That's not the case. We are adoptive parents "by choice," and when our daughter was two we adopted another child from the same country, albeit using a different agency. We love both our children as they are. The issue is one of ethics and honesty: Commonwealth at the time was vastly more concerned about creating a "niche" for itself as an agency working in this particular country than with the welfare of the adoptive children. After all, any respectable agency that really cared about a child such as ours, one that had a reasonable possibility of having special needs, would have wanted to talk straightforwardly with the prospective adoptive family so as to try to make sure they were committed to raising a child with special needs. Let me stress: Had CAI had no reason to suspect that she would have disabilities, that would have been a different story. But we found out later that the orphanage staff had devised a special set of "exercises" to improve our child's muscle tone from the time she was an infant. The staff knew something was wrong, we think the in-country associate knew or had good reason to suspect, and if CAI didn't know, it clearly should have. We were the ones kept in the dark.
Obviously not all CAI country programs are alike, and much time has passed since the fiasco of our bad adoption experience, but when I noticed some of the comments from people posting about their recent bad experiences, it reminded me of what had happened to us. I am writing to convey my support for those of you who had bad experiences, as I have lived for years now with the pressure to stay silent. I feel that I am somehow betraying my child in posting this comment; yet it would also be a betrayal to remain silent, since it was CAI that originally betrayed her by treating her as an item of market-based exchange rather than trying to assess her real needs and to determine if we were a family that had the capacity to meet them. I like to think we've done a pretty good job--goodness knows we are trying our best--but we have spent years and years of our lives bouncing from doctor to doctor, seeking out different types of therapy, doing battle with our insurance company over claims denied, working with teachers to try to devise appropriate educational opportunities, etc. Had CAI simply given us the medical background we very likely would have gone through with the adoption anyway, but it would have made a world of difference to have gone in armed with more information: we might have had a better idea what specialists to seek out, we might have sought out some specialists sooner than we did, etc.
By the way, we adopted our second child in 2001 via World Child International. It was a wonderful experience. I'm still in contact with folks from World Child, and we send them money every year for their in-country programs. There's no way I would ever send CAI money, as I have never received any concrete information from them regarding what they do with it. I'm sure that many, many good people have worked for CAI over the years. But those of us who had bad experiences are not just "cranks." We're real human beings. My partner and I will spend the rest of our lives caring for (and planning for the care of) our disabled child, a child we adopted through CAI. Imagine if you were in our shoes, and the only time CAI ever contacted you post-adoption was to ask you to provide a fairy-tale story of a perfect adoption with a happily-ever-after ending. I am posting this comment in honor of my daughter, a beautiful child who deserved to be treated with more respect than CAI showed her. In many ways we do feel that our lives have a happily-ever-after ending, but it's despite CAI, not because of them.
I have to say that after reading all of these reviews that Commonwealth sure "screwed up" alot of great families. We started our Vietnam adoption in Sept 2006. We got shifted around so much with paperwork, lies, a distraught case worker who might I add was the best but couldn't take the crap of the agency anymore and resigned well into our case, and losses of time with our son & money. We paid all of our fees by the end of April 2007 and CAI drug their feet for the next 1 1/2 years. We were told numerous times that our adoption of our already referred son maynot happen because the OD messed up paperwork. I now know that the fault was right here in CAI's hands not in the Vietnam government. We are so disgusted that an agency that claims to be "reputable" could mess up the lives of so many children not to mention the families who long so badly for them. We fortunately brought our son home in Sept. 2008 after a long gruelling battle. When we found out through the faithful web....No, Commonwealth never contacted us to tell us..... we were devastated as to what was going to happen as it was only a matter of getting a G&R date to travel. I got a call around midnight one night from a fellow CAI family and was told about the closure. SHEER PANIC struck. We immediately got online and searched for our Program Director's hime phone and called. He immediately returned our call and confirmed the news. What would happen next. Here's where we relied on other CAI families in our same situation and we all bonded together to figure out how to get these kids HOME. We managed to find a way to privately pay our in country associate and he continued to work on our behalf. This ended up costing is bucco bucks beyond the fees paid to Commonwealth. To us it didn't matter as long as Derek came home. We traveled to Vietnam without a G&R scheduled and trusted the families there that were working things out for us and GOD that we woud actually have one. We got to Vietnam on Sept. 30th, went to meet our son at the orphanage on Sept. 1st, and had a G&R on Sept. 8th. We pushed and pulled to get this done but it was all worth it. We filed an insurance claim to try to recoup some of the fees spent in excess of the agency fees however we have been told that we breeched our contract by going directly to our associate and to Vietnam and finalizing our adoption. I would love to see the staff of Commonwealth go down and be ordered to return monies to families who were less fortunate than us. I still believe we should be entitled to our post placement fee ($1000.00) because Commonwealth announced their closure before we breached the contract. Some days I just want to fight and others I look into my precious son's eyes and am just grateful that he is HOME!!!!
My heart goes out to those of you that got burned by Commonwealth and I pray that your day of good fortune will come soon.
Commonwealth and their sister agengy Sunshine Adoptions are both agencies that we would NEVER recommend to ANYONE. We were charged an EXTRA $5,000 to be in the faster program. The money was suppose to go the orphange, but the orphanage director said he never received it. It took 3 Years. we were told it would be 12 to 18 months. We felt we were lied to overcharged. BEWARE of these agencies.
We adopted 2 children in 2005 from Izhevsk Russia we just this past July finished our last post placement report. Dawn hill kept sending me threatening e-mails to hurry we werent even late, long story short I kept saying so when will you be sending my money back that i laid out in the begining for all these reports, she just kept talking in circles, call this one call that one, Ps I decided enough was enough as I am e-mailing her its not going through....why you ask because Commonwealth Adoptions had closed the doors and went out of business with all my money. I also on our second trip to Russia for court had to buy another set of tickets for me & my husband to get home because our case worker jennifer harris advised us to get tickets with no return date... when we were booking our flight while in Russia to come home those tickets were no good ....another $2800. out the window we were stuck we had no choice but to buy more tickets... I could go on and on now all the extra money they kept asking for makes sense but when you are face to face with your children nothing else matters except bringing them home..
Attorney General sues Tucson adoption agency for fraud
Reported by: Jeff Cochran
Email: JCochran@abc15.com
Last Update: 12:05 pm
Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard Attorney General Terry Goddard Tuesday filed a lawsuit against an adoption agency in Tucson that allegedly failed to refund nearly $215,000 to families after the company shut down earlier this year.
According to court documents, Tucson-based Commonwealth Adoptions International Inc. engaged in a pattern of misrepresentations and deceptive practices in the sale of domestic and foreign adoption services to families.
"These families made life-changing decisions and gave this company their money and their trust," Goddard said. "They deserve to be reimbursed, and Commonwealth needs to be held accountable for violating the terms of its agreements."
These practices, according to the Attorney General, included inducing families to enter into contracts for adoption services under the pretense that the families would receive certain services in exchange for fees paid to Commonwealth. Instead, Commonwealth allegedly pooled fees, using money paid by one set of parents to pay for other families' adoptions.
The lawsuit seeks to stop the defendants from engaging in these unlawful practices and prohibit them from conducting any future business in Arizona.
The suit also asks the defendants to pay $10,000 for each violation of the Consumer Fraud Act, provide full restitution to all families who were defrauded and reimburse the State for investigation costs and legal fees.
Assistant Attorney General Taren Ellis is handling this case. A copy of the complaint, which was filed in Pima County Superior Court, is available on the Attorney General's Web site, www.azag.gov.
Consumers who feel they have been the victim of consumer fraud by Commonwealth or any Arizona businesses should contact the Arizona Attorney General's Office Consumer Information and Complaint division in Tucson at (520) 628-6504, in Phoenix at (602) 542-5763 or toll-free outside of Maricopa or Pima County at (800) 352-8431.
My husband and I completed an adoption through CAIIs Guatemala program in May 2007, however we worked through another agency who used CAII for their country program. Although our adoption took longer than we had hoped, this was not the fault of CAII, it was the Guatemalan government. While we were in country our "associate" was wonderful and patient and we loved her. She even took us on a daytrip to Antigua. When we decided to do another adoption in April of this year, it only made sense to use CAII again. Although our caseworker's communication left a bit to be desired, they were great to work with again. In July we found out that I am pregnant, after sending them a check for nearly $7000. Once we contacted them they tore the check up and placed us on a hold status for 1 year. I am disappointed that we were not notified that anything was going on with the agency, but overall we have no complaints about CAII at all. I am not negating anyones experiences, only offering another point of view. I hope this sorts out for everyone though, we were prepared to lose the money we had already paid them and had not received a referral or match yet, so our situation is a bit different. Good luck to all the families fighting this!
I am in Phoenix, AZ and have received no new contact from Commonwealth about the status of my contract. I began the process in March of this year. I was originally told to hold off on filing my I600A because they were going through Hague cert review and that a new form was going to be used after the certification, the I800A. Then they didn't get approval but said all was fine and to continue as usual....that meant getting my money in by the contract deadlines. When they were denied approval on appeal (to a non-existent appeal board), they said that they were still hopeful. At this point I told them that they couldn't honor my contract for a Colombian adoption and that I wanted my money back and would be pursuing adoption through the US Foster Care system. I got an email from my case worker in July saying that they would give me back $2500. I called her and questioned this because they had $5000, of which $3000 was for dossier prep which was never done. I said to send the $2500 right away and that I would deal with the agency regarding the other $2500. When I tried to call the agency, the lines were disconnected. It was from an online blog that I learned that they had declared bankruptcy. My social worker heard from me before them on their status. I have only read that they are helping families who had filed I800A to find new agencies. I hope to join a lawsuit to recover the money that was taken from me with no services rendered. It is one of the worst ways to take advantage of someone....going through the painful, expensive adoption process.
I can be reached at: amurphy23@cox.net
Below is a copy of corespondence I recieved from the Commonwealth agent. contact with the people she lists all say they don't cover us becuse it isn't submitted in writing. PROTECT YOURSELF and don't just call Liz Chamberlin. Submit your claim in writing to the agencies. 2 of the 3 said my claim isn't covered by their agency at all and I am waiting on a return call after several lmessages from the third. As nice as they start on the phone remember they are the @%$$#@'s filing in for the %@%#$ that stole our hopes, dreams and money.
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Here are the assigned adjusters. Please contact them for further instructions. I will provide the contact information you have now provided this morning.
Kaye Campbell/ Admiral Insurance Company Phone 856-429-9200 x 343
Chad Zupke/Great American Insurance Company 847-330-6754
Cheryl Mawby/ United America Insurance Group -Phone 610-668-3381
Oh you are so welcome! As I mentioned before too, it is suggested that in addition to this (regardless if you've lost money or not)... that you join the lawsuit which is in the works. This may light a bit of a fire under their butts for some action.
If you'd like to contact me about that please do so! ginalyn@intouchmi.com
Gina
PS~ According to Marina and Dawn they both say that CAII has gone out of business and that they will be shutting their doors permanently.
This is just to let you guys know that those of you who have lost money or feel that you want retribution of some sort for your particular circumstances involving CAII...you should file an insurance claim with the agencies insurance company. Please be advised that you NEED to file these claims ASAP as the agencies insurance policies are close to expiring and once they do...then you may not be able to make a claim!
Hello, we did successfully complete our adoption with Commonwealth in July, 2008 and have our beautiful son home with us. HOWEVER! The experience in Brazil was horrendous! Commonwealth's in country staff was poorly equipped to handle all the nuances of adoption and the bureaucratic insanity. We were so poorly treated, bordering on abuse by the in country staff. It has taken my husband and I a good year to get over the trauma of those 6 weeks in Sao Paulo. I could go on and on and will at some point but I want to address the lawsuit. We refused to do our post adoption report when we returned home despite Commonwealth's constant efforts and threats. We spent countless hours writing emails to both Marina and Simone about the horrors of the Brazilian program. The information we received about our child (the social report) was false, filled with lies and withheld essential information regarding our son's emotional and psychological history and health, in particular. We are not owed any money from the agency, and therefore, we don't know if we are entitled to join the suit. However, the financial burden of taking care of our son's needs this past year is overwhelming (both physical and psychological) and this is due to the lack of correct information provided by Commonwealth and outright misrepresentation of our son's needs. We want to support those of you who were caught mid stream- do not even have your child and have lost so many thousands of dollars to Commonwealth. There were only 3 placements in the Brazilian program and the process for all of them was horrific. If the attorney feels it is appropriate for us to join the suit, we will! Please contact me should you like to discuss further.
We too were victimized by these crooks. I spoke to some Russian woman who refused to give me contact information for Dawn Hill. We are owed $1,000 but were told we would not get it. She is probably here illegally. I contacted Phoenix FBI but they were of no use. I would be happy to join any RICO suit. I live in DC so I plan to contact DHS, State, and anyone else who can help us or at least get Hill in jail and the Russian women sent back home.
Besides complaining about Commonwealth Adoptions with the Attorney General's Office, and proceeding with a law firm, complain to the Better Business Bureau if Commonwealth has done you wrong too.
Yes, Commonwealth, your fake "happy posts" are obvious. You are still a terrible agency who has done many wrong.
This is just as an FYI for everyone wanting to be in on the lawsuit!
I just wanted to let you guys know that this lawyer that we are using is willing to do a payment plan of the $2500.00 retainer fee...and you can set up the payment plan and they will just write the contract accordingly.
I'm letting you guys know this as I know that many of you (if your like us) were worrried about coming up with that money. Also again, here is her contact information:
This is just as an FYI for everyone wanting to be in on the lawsuit!
I just wanted to let you guys know that this lawyer that we are using is willing to do a payment plan of the $2500.00 retainer fee...and you can set up the payment plan and they will just write the contract accordingly.
I'm letting you guys know this as I know that many of you (if your like us) were worrried about coming up with that money. Also again, here is her contact information:
Please add me to the list for the class action lawsuit. My adoption has been completed and I must say things did go smoothly. I have a beautiful little girl from Kemerovo in Russia. My last post-placement report is due in Russia next month. With that a $1,000 security is due back to me. I just found out today that they closed their doors so I am scrambling to get some answers. I have no idea what to do or how to proceed, but I want my security back. We have all spent a fortune and I have fulfilled every obligation to both Commonwealth and Russia. I'm not letting this go. If anyone can give me any information, please let me know.
Please feel free to contact me any time and I will give you as much information as possible. I also post a lot of information about this on the group that I run: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/adoption_agency_abuse/
I hope all of this helps you guys out. We are already in the process of doing all of this when we get the contract for services from Joni tomorrow. The more people involved...the better!
If anyone is pursuing a class action suit on Commonwealth please include us heidibig@yahoo.com. We, like so many others are out $14,000, with little more than a "too bad" from Marina. What they have done is beyond unethical. I will be writing the local papers in Tuscon shortly...we just have to figure out where our documents are.
We are also among you all that have been screwed over by CAII. We were in the middle of a Ukraine adoption and are now out over $13K. How is a business allowed to treat their clients like this?? We are interested in being a part of this class action law suit! Please contact me at scox1016 @ hotmail . com with the details. We went through several people at CAII - Natalya (quit or laid off), Donna (worthless P.O.S), Dawn (another worthless P.O.S) and now Marina. We were told so many stories of "be patient with us", "you just don't understand how international adoption works", etc, etc... They should be ashamed of themselves for stealing our hard earned money!! All we wanted was to start our families through adoption. What was supposed to be a blessed journey has ended in heartache for most of us. Sounds like most of us will not go down without a fight. Hopefully we can ban together to file that suit.
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Reviews
RICO Lawsuit Action
OK...for those that want to get in on this I have gotten some information from a lawyer in Michigan willing to take on our case. She says that it does not matter if the agency has filed or will file for bankruptcy...so here is the email she sent me. If you would like to join in all we need is 4 families to file a lawsuit. This lawyer is pretty reasonable as well....like only a couple thousand I believe. I'm sending ehr another email right now to find out.
Anyway, here's the email she just sent me! Thanks to Terri for pointing me in her direction!
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Hi Gina & Bill,
We have reviewed your contract with CAII to see if there were any legal prohibitions to bring a lawsuit (usually there are just some limitations). The contract does state that any legal action must be taken in AZ in a court of competent jurisdiction or arbitration. The way the contract is worded allows us to avoid the arbitration and to move forward with legal action. I have no problem bringing a RICO suit against CAII and its directors in AZ.
What we look for is a pattern of deceptive behavior by CAII experienced by 4 or more families and we are able to bring a RICO suit. The fact that they went out of business is of no consequence to us – the directors are still responsible.
I understand that there are probably more than 4 families who have been victimized by CAII. So yes, you can move forward with a lawsuit against CAII. The difference is whether you bring one alone against CAII or as a multi-plaintiff group.
thanks,
Joni M. Fixel
Fixel Law Offices, PLLC
4990 Northwind Drive, Ste 121
East Lansing, MI 48823
(517) 332-3390
(517) 853-0434
Commonwealth nightmare in Brazil
**Moved by Jeff to correct agency** Original poster was Kevin.
I adopted 3 wonderful children from Brazil a year and 1/2 ago. I was Commonwealths first person in Brazil to complete an adoption. Commonwealth switched people on me about 1/2 through the process and I didn't hear from the for several weeks until I got rude and demanded to speak to Marina and find out what had happened. I was told that my case worker had quit and they hadn't found a replacement for her as of yet. Later came my replacement which was the most rude individual I have ever worked with. She made me feel like I was the biggest inconvenience when I called her to ask questions.
I was told by Commonwealth that there were several people in the Brazil program before me but I ended up being the first to go which still is puzzling to me.
I left on February 1st of 2007 after rushing to get all of my documents because my referral came and they wanted me in Brazil. My referal was for a boy and a girl ages 10 and 7. When I arrived in Brazil after flying for 10 hours I was greeted by the Brazilian case worker who told me immediately that my case had fallen apart days before and that the social worker on the case in Brazil was new and she was not co-operating at all. I was told that they made numerous calls to Commonwealth to try and prevent me from coming down until they could work through all of this but COmmonwelath told them they couldn't afford to do that because I was their first in the program. I was then rushed to a hotel where I took a shower and was told I was going to see my two children in an orphanage near by. Once there the social worker and the attorneys took me into a room where I met my new son and daughter or so I thought I the time. They didn't know who I was even though a month prior I had sent down a photo album filled with pictures of their new home and myself. I was told by Commonwealth prior to me leaving that the kids had looked at the album and were excited about having a family. The girl broke out into tears and ran and the boy was terrified. Then my attorney and the social worker got into a huge verbal battle in Portuguese while I sat there. After that I was told to visit with my son and daughter and let them show me their bedrooms and their school classes and maybe hand out the toys I had brought for the other kids. I did that and then was told it would be a good time to give the $1000.00 to the orphanage director. Then I left. After leaving the orphanage the attorney was taking me to my residence for what I though would be the next 30 days. He received a phone call telling him that the social worker says the kids are not ready for adoption. He then repeated see I knew you shouldn't have come down to Brazil right now. Basically within less than 24 hours my referral had fallen apart. I was then told to keep up appearances I would need to go back to the orphanage to spend time with the girl and the boy who I had grown fond of preparing for the adoption as we all do when we get those wonderful pictures. I spent another day with them and then I never saw them again. For the next week I stayed in Brazil hoping to get another referral. Many phone calls were made to Commonwealth by myself and my family members on the state side and they were told as I was you are in Brazil so we can't help you. It was then for the next week I waited to see if I was going to fly home and have to start all over or if Brazil would allow me another referral. I ended up staying 52 days in Brazil because of Commonwealths decision not to pull out at the last minute even though they were advised by their Brazilian Representatives. I did have a wonderful success in the fact I now have 3 wonderful children who I love dearly. There were many other hurdles thanks to Commonwealth and their lack of preparation. They had not given me all the documents I needed for the final adoption nor did they follow up on the change on my I-600 which thank goodness for the agency that did my homestudy Luther Social Services they helped me when Commonwealth left me with nothing.
My heart goes out to all the families who are in the middle of their adoptions and the mounds of paperwork. It is already enough of an emotional rollercoaster without having commonwealth their to make matters worse. My adoption is final so I know that being part of a law suit is impossible but I can testify as my family can as well the living nightmare Commonwealth caused in my life and the money I had to come up with while in country because they didn't want to jeopardize their new adoption program in Brazil.
Not a good experience
I did not have a good experience with Commonwealth, though this was about five years ago so I cannot speak to whether changes have been made in the meantime. In my experience, my first child was lost. I do not hold Commonwealth responsible for this; however, I do hold their lack of communciation against them. They had not explained that there was any chance of the first adoption falling through (though of course, international adoption is always an iffy thing). But they had led me to believe that it was a done deal and we were just waiting on paperwork to be completed. I was very shocked when I was told - a few weeks before I was to get on a plane - that the adoption had fallen through for reasons never explained before as possibilities. I also feel - and of course, I could be wrong about this - that part of why it fell through was because they did not follow up on my paperwork in a timely manner. I was told that it would take about three months after I accepted the referral and yet six months into it, I could get no information from Commonwealth as to what was going on. I just kept getting a very patronizing, "Just relax - everything will be fine." But of course, it ended up that things were not fine. And I rarely heard from them unless I contacted them and even then it was like pulling teeth to get them to respond to me or my social worker. They seem to constantly confuse who I was and where I was adopting from. It was a lot, a lot of work on my part to get the caseworker to contact me, communicate with me or to communicate with my local social worker. (At one point, I got so frustrated with them, I just turned it over to my local social worker to work with them.) I realize I was not their only client but it was extremely frustrating to feel like no one is really there for you when one is hanging on, not understanding what is going on. Even a weekly check-in of "here is where we are stuck but we have not forgotten you" would have been appreciated. When my first child fell through, I was advised to move to Siberia, which I did. The only reason I can give Commonwealth a 2 instead of a 1 rating is because I loved the people in Siberia. I worked with a doctor named Eugene and I felt he went out of his way to make things happen. But back on the state side, I still could not get anyone to communicate very well with me or my social worker. And while I can never know if they sat on my paperwork for the first adoption causing it to fall through, I do know for a fact that they were slow with some crucial paperwork on the second adoption. Two days before I was to leave for my second trip to Siberia and the court date, I learned that Commonwealth had not followed up on my visa. Big, big dropping the ball on their part. I had to call San Francisco myself and begged to have the visa expidited - explained that I had waited five months for my court date and if it had to be rescheduled because of the visa issue, it might be another five months of my daughter sitting in a hospital instead of being home with me. I literally sat by my back door waiting for Fed-X, which delivered it only hours before I was to get on the plane. I got it - I DID IT - but it was very stressful and it was not something I should have had to do given that I was paying Commonwealth more than most other agencies I could have chosen. Paying more does not necessarily mean better service. I also ended up with a child with extreme mental health special needs - I had been clear that I was adopting as a single mom with limited resources and it would not be an advantage for me or the child to take on a child with a lot of special needs. Again, I can not blame Commonwealth for this piece of it as I do not know how much they knew or did not know about my daughter at the time. I do know that there were very detailed court papers that I never received until after the adoption was completed though I had asked for them to be translated and sent to me after my first visit. I also found it interesting that my local social worker, who has been doing this work for 25 years, had never had never seen a child so young with so many needs and no indication given to the parents beforehand. It was nothing that showed up in a picture or even a limited visit but I did learn later that no one representing Commonwealth with any training had met the child beforehand because their worker in Siberia was not allowed in the hospital where my daughter was at. (????? I never understood this but apparently Commonwealth was going entirely by paperwork supplied by a small village in northern Siberia.) Basically, however, I do not feel I received good service for all the extra money I paid and I watched friends bring home healthier, happier children in a much faster time. Of course, having said all of this, I love my child immensely and though it has been a long, long extremely difficult transition, she is turning into a wonderful child and I certainly realize that some of what I face is beyond anyone's control. So while I do not want to hold Commonwealth to an impossible standard, I will say that I never once felt that they really cared (on the state side at least. In Siberia, Eugene seemed genuinely invested in taking care of my daughter and keeping me informed. And there were no glitches in Siberia - I have heard horror stories about problems in country which I did not face.) Still, on the US side, it did feel like nothing more than a business deal and it was buyer beware!
Contact a TV station's investigative reporter
Has anyone contacted a tv station's investigative reporter? I'm sure this is news worthy. We have a couple here in Denver but I think it would be best to contact someone in Tucson/AZ. Maybe they can get some answers and some results??? Just a thought. I cannot do it right now so someone else will have to take the lead.
Also, if you haven't contacted the State licensing office in the State where you were working with Commonwealth (ie. Colorado, Florida, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, etc. , that might also help to put some pressure on.
Contact the AZ Attorney General's office re:Commonwealth
Hi All,
I just got a voice mail message from the Attorney General's office in AZ. They said they couldn't answer all our claims at this point but that "David Matthew(s?) may be able to help get a copy of your file. 602-347-6348". If we have any "further questions" we are supposed to talk to Karen Christenson at 520-628-6504. I think if I were all of you, I'd give either/both of them a call asap!!!
Good luck!
would LOVE to participate in a class-action lawsuit
I started the process with Commonwealth in May 2008, and lost about $7000 in the process. They are dishonest and unethical thieves and we should all get together and sue. Please include me if you are getting a suit together! jenn_hayes@comcast.net
New Commonwealth Comments
Today I received an e-mail that totally contradicted the first one that they sent about closing. The first e-mail said all families "in process" will be transitioned to new agencies. Today's e-mail said only families with referrals will be transitioned. I am in the Vietnam program, have an approval number, but no referral. If Sept 1st the countries get something in place, and no paperwork is returned , then what happens to my number? Why can't I be transitioned to an agency with Hague and referrals? I asked for a copy of my approval listing and was told NO! Don't we have rights to our paperwork?
How do I know I was really filed in Vietnam at all? I was called 3 weeks ago
with a referral and then it was cancelled. What's up with that? I can't believe there isn't an agency out there, who would want those of us who already have a approval and just need a match. All the initial work is done! Vietnam has a national orphanage with thousands of paper legitimate orphans. Why does no one care? Why is no one matching us? I can't believe this. We all get into this for the right reasons, we are good people, we sacrificed - and now nothing. No help to be found anywhere. Children continue to suffer for no reason at all! 4 out of 1700 cases were found to be problematic. The process in place caught it. All of this misery for 4 cases. How stupid !
Caught in the Commonwealth debacle also
I live in Colorado and the office here was the first to close. That was in February. Our homestudy was done but not yet back form the state and our USCiS application should have been sent out upon it's return. It wasn't. Only after we had waited the 6-8 weeks it takes for approval (We didn't know that we'd be sent notification in the mail and have to do fingerprints etc, we've never done this beforeh and no one told us about it!) Long story short they threatened us that they'd suspend our file if we didn't give them about $13,000 by a random date back in March/April, (don't remember when but I have it in email.) Needless to say I had already looked at their 2004 and 2005 tax returns (you can view other agencies too online at Guidestar.com) and saw that things weren't good and to boot, our case worker had been let go at the end of December. The writing was on the wall at this point. They prayed on desperation of many families. The sad part is that so many people did send them the money and now are SOL. One women even tried to stop her cashiers check but couldn't.
Meanwhile, we were advised to not switch from Commonwealth while our USCIS approval was pending so we didn't. We received it at the end of May. Supposedly they submitted their part on or about the 1st of March but i believe this is a lie. I have been told that USCIS has to deposit the $ within 24 hrs of receipt. Our money was not deposited until the middle of March. WE went on a long vacation in June so didn't do anything about changing agencies until we got back. I researched and found that they had made arrangements with 2 agencies here in Denver that could take over our State portion of things. One agency cannot help us as they can no longer work with families going to Russia. Now why would they tell me to go to this agency if they knew they couldn't hep us to begin with? Anyway, we are now waiting for Commonwealth to release our homestudy to our new agency. They have had the Release for 2 weeks and cannot give us a time frame for it's completion. They received it before they announced their closure and so when we got an email from Dawn Hill saying the agency was closing for good, she also said she'd get to us when she could but she had more important clients to deal with!!! They no longer respond to our emails. So we remain HOSTAGE to the whims of Dawn Hill and the incompetence of Commonwealth Adoptions.
BTW, if you'd like to discuss things or make a complaint with the Sate of Colorado, call Laurie Roxbury at the Dept of Human Services (or whatever it's officially titled- they are investigating the closure and continued problems with commonwealth in the State of Colorado). Her number is 303-866-5475. You can also call Marlene Romero at 303-866-5088 to request the most recent Report of Inspection and and pending legal action. I requested it today so I'll have to wait to fill you in on that...
Here are a few assurances from Dawn Hill, Executive Operations Director about the state of Commonwealth Adoptions as quoted from her emails to us. On March 12, 2008, she said "I completely understand why you are concerned about the abrupt closure but rest assured, it was based on circumstances outside of any stability of the agency. I'm not at liberty to discuss with you the reasons we closed the office and let go of the staff, but it was not motivated by financial considerations." and after more closures and "restructuring" on March 25, 2008, she said this, "We sent out a notification to all families explaining our need to shift our business plan and focus on what we do best - which is completing adoptions and being a placement agency. The decision to downsize all our offices was a strategic decision to ensure best service to families. Businesses change their models all the time and we have elected to change ours. This change does not impact your adoption at all."
What a joke, it doesn't "impact" our adoption at all!!! it's been a year since we stared with them and we currently don't even have a homestudy that anyone can see/access/use/verify/update, much less the two children we had hoped for!!! We are now looking to spend another $1000 dollars or so just to change to our new Colorado agency plus who knows how much for the new International Agency. And if this hadn't been a cruel enough joke already, we were offered to adopt an (emergency) private adoption of a healthy 2 day old Caucasian male baby on Friday evening. We had to have a valid homestudy and be able to be in Florida the following day at noon to get him before he had to be turned over to the Foster Care System!!!! I don't know how my family will come to be, but I do know that we missed a HUGE opportunity because of Commonwealth's ineptitude and their lack of responsibility to ALL their families. Not just the ones who have paid the most money! (No offense to anyone else but we've already been dealing with their problems since February so I'd have to say we have to have a place at the front of the line here... and how much time can it really take to put our file in an envelope and put it in the mail???) Oh and did I mention that our USCIS approval is only good for a short amount of time??? So tick-tock our time is expiring as we speak.
At this point my attorney husband is looking at the implications of her assurances and her failure to release our homestudy, not to mention recovering the costs incurred thus far and future costs associated with fixing their "closure" screw ups. And then there is the baby that might have been ours! the just keep digging the liability hole deeper and deeper.
As for in you in a lawsuit, we'd definitely be interested. I want to see Dawn Hill squirm on the stand and I want to see them all be sent to jail for their deceit. At the very lest, these people should NEVER be able to work in, around, near or have anything to do with social work, children or adoption!!! We've been contemplating a lawsuit since February but didn't really take it seriously because what kind of money are you going to get from a Non-profit? And then how many kids would suffer because of it? Not worth it until now. Now there are not any children that are going to suffer because we and the rest of you sue the sox off them.
If any of you from Colorado want to reach Vi Pearce, Anney Grossberg, Diane R or Ashley Hall, let me know and I can give you contact info. Feel free to contact me for anything further. tmahoneykneisel@gmail.com
Tamara
Update
OK, we were in a Russian program with Commonwealth. I got an e-mail from Marina this morning informing us that our file will be transferred to Adoption Center of Washington. I called them and spoke with Linda (I am not sure, but I think she is an Executive Director). When I told her about the e-mail, she said that e-mail went out very premature, because they just got the list of all the families and still reviewing it, but can not promise anything!!! And by the way, our name was not on the list!!???? When I asked about how they will be handling money and remaining fees issue, she said that will depends on how much funds are available on each particular case from Commonwealth. And families will have to come up with difference. But definitely it will cost more to everybody.
Dazed, Depressed & Confused
My husband and I are totally dazed. We can't believe an agency can take our life savings then close and actually get away with it. I wonder how many couples are in the same boat? It will take us years to replace the money lost. We worked so hard to save the money with hopes of adopting and starting a family. We are unsure where to go next. I look at all of these agencies posted on this site and all of them have many negative comments posted against them. How do you choose? Honestly, who do you trust again? We now know that adoptive parents have no protection under our laws. The contracts that we sign don't protect us. They are protection for the agencies. Does anyone know of a trustworthy agency that deals with domestic adoptions?
Adoption Center of Washington?????
We just received an e-mail from Commonwealth suggesting a transfer to"ACW"-never heard of this agency-and also, they make no guarantee about this not costing us more. So, no clue about this agency's reputation or how much $$$ is involved in the end...right. And they sent this letter without addressing any of our other questions. I think we are better off switching on our own.
I'm a birthmother who placed through Commonwealth
I gave birth to a beautiful little girl on July 1, '08, and placed her through Commonwealth with a fantastic family. Today, my amazing caseworker, Cheryl, picked me up to take me to a doctor's appointment, and she dropped the bomb on me that the agency was closing. I did not receive an email or a letter from the agency telling me this news. There are two days before this adoption is finalized, and I am absolutely terrified about what's going to happen with my photos, information, and how my daughter's family is going to keep the contact with me that was agreed upon. We've been communicating directly with one another via email, but what happens if we lose touch? What happens if, when our child is 20 years old, she decides she wants to find me? What happens to her great new family as far as their fees go?
I trust Cheryl, my adoption caseworker, very much. She emails me and calls me regularly still, and today, she gave me her personal email address so that I could always get in touch with her. My heart is breaking for her, as she just found out that she's out of a job. Up until today, I was 100% confident in Commonwealth's ability, as I couldn't think of a single thing that they did wrong on my end. However, now, I'm terrified of the future as far as updates on my child and her and her family's ability to contact me in the future.
I hate to say I am not surprised
I hate to say I am not surprised that CAI is once again trying to pull something shady.
We adopted a few years ago with Commonwealth and it was a nightmare. We went through 4 caseworkers, not by our choice but because they had quit, etc. The last caseworker we had was such a cold fish she should have never been in a position to deal with the public.
After we had so much time and money invested we felt like we just wanted to complete our adoption so we walked on eggshells for fear something else would happen after we had already gone through many delays. When we were on our 2nd trip the 4 other families we traveled with all started admitting what an awful experience they also had with CAI. I guess because we were so close to bringing home our children we were braver about speaking out.
I have tried to warn people about CAI on a few message boards but the rabid fans (CAI employees perhaps?) of theirs would discredit me, I truly feel terrible for people who had to go through the terrible experience we did.
I could not believe my eyes when we received a letter a few weeks ago from CAI telling us to give them good reviews and asking for donations. But once again, it shouldn't have surprised me because this agency will do anything for the almighty dollar.
About TV Shows
In response to wattie21: Commonwealth was a "legitimate" agency in a business since 1991. And they still think that. Did you read their letter???? Adoption is a multi billion dollars industry in a US, surprisinly very poorly regulated. Very sadly, a lot of agencies in this for big bucks. If an agency is a "legitimate" they have nothing to worry about, right? But if they are crooks like Commonwealth, the sooner they go, the better. When things started getting really bad with Commonwealth, I called at least a dozen other agencies, who are processing adoptions in Russia and was begging them to step in and acept our case but reduce their fees. We were ready to pay, but not from the scratch. Our home study was finished, dossier was already registered with Ministry of Education in Russia. How many of them do you think were willing to do that? NO ONE!!!!!
Legitimate Agencies?
These "legitimate agencies" denied me of service because I declared myself Catholic. These agencies are making a ton of money off of all of us. I am not against adoption. It needs to be regulated. These are "non-profit", but the owners are making 6 figure salaries. I work in education. We put together IEP's for students with special needs constantly. They are about the size of a home study. We don't get paid $2,000 per IEP to do it. There needs to be regulation. I understand you are worried for yourself, but you might find yourself in the exact same situation. I was told the following when I specifically asked about the state of Commonwealth: "Commonwealth's domestic program is thriving. It is the one program that is keeping things going. Commonwealth will not be shut down." This was told to me in May of 2008.
CAI Closing
I am so sorry for what everyone is going through. We were fortunate enough to narrowly finish our adoption after 2.5 years of tears and frustration. My heart goes out to each of you. I wish there was something I could do. I do not understand how CAI could take so much money from so many people and not maintain open and honest communication. You are all in my thoughts.
Criminal Complaints
As a side note: criminal complaints for this issue can be filed with the state attorney general in AZ and respective home states (as applicable) and they can be filed on-line-. The link for AZ is:
http://www.azag.gov/consumer/complaintform.html
TV shows
I am writing to a bunch of TV shows to pitch the idea of an expose on how unregulated adoptions are...even in the U.S.!
Update
I just received e-mail from Marina in response to my request for an update. I asked her if any agency was selected for us to be transfered to. This is her response:
"We will be sending a second letter with more updates on the agency within next couple of days - we will identify the agency and transition update."
Money
We paid $11,000 just to Commonwealth.
Another $4,000 for the Homestudy with post adoption visits fee.
Getting visas, booking, canceling, rebooking and canceling again tickets (always on a very short notice) for 3 times now cost us almost $9,000. Plus all kind of fees (USCIS, fingerprints, notary etc.) close to $2,000. Total of $26,000 and now THIS!!!!????????????
interested
We are very interested as well - just got the news yesterday. We have been with Commonwealth for over 1.5 years. We have had to change country programs three times - we are now in the domestic program and thought it would be more streamlined and prone to less corruption. We switched from international after we were asked to pay to "retranslate" our adoption dossier, and then to pay $2000 in "humanitarian" fees - because we felt it was downright corrupt. We thought the corruption was purely on the Kazakhstan side, but now, it's obvious that CAI has played a role as well. We've invested $15-$20 in Commonwealth, between their fees, and international fees (translation, fingerprints) and that's everything we had saved for the adoption process. We were in the middle of redoing our home study update and now have to place that on hold. We would be very interested in a class action lawsuit as I think we need to be proactive rather than wait for CAI to decide how to to deal with the aftermath. Minor observation: Have you noticed that the Executive Director is a provisional PhD at the University of Arizona in conservation psychology? It's no wonder that the families haven't been a priority given that this discipline is so far removed from domestic and international adoption, not to mention the intensive nature of a Ph.D. program. I agree that we all need to stick together and develop a plan.
we all need to stick together
We all need to band together and make a united front. My name is Amanda and I can be contacted at hotpeppers125@yahoo.com.
Upset
We have also lost our dreams and money because of Commonwealth.
People, please pray for all of us
People, please, pray for hundreds of families, who are in this horrible mess right now.
We have no idea what are we going to do next. More then a year of hopes, broken dreams, tons of wasted money and time. Our son is still at that miserable orphanage – and now we do not even know if we ever will be able to bring him home. We are simply running out of money and will not be able to start with different agency. I am sure Marina and her husband will get their share.
It's all about the money
Did I mention that Commonwealth was trying to get us to pay extra for our post placement reports just this week!!!!! We told them we weren't giving them another dime. They already owe us money. Raul is such a LIAR! He made promise after promise to us and didn't keep any of them. The more I read, the angrier I get. Thank God that our adoption is final. Even after it's all said and done, they still want your money.
mullet
This is a complete nightmare
That is really all I can think right now. We were just contacted on August 1 about a possible birthmother match and in the VERY SAME email, were asked for more MONEY!!!!! Just one day earlier they had had their meeting. My chest aches right now because we have lost so much. They say that they are going to try to place us with another agency. What about changing our homestudy, are they going to pay for that? What about when it expires in a few months after we've waited and waited. Now we have to start all over and wait more.
Terrible Agency
I also got caught in the Commonwealth "situation". I started my "journey" in early 2007 as a Guatemala hopeful. When those problems began, I was advised into Vietnam. We all know what happened with Vietnam...that program went south too. This, after I had talked to the agency numerous times over concerns with the fact that there didn't seem to be any referrals coming out of the program and definitely no one traveling to pick up their child. I also questioned the Hague situation and was told that they were being unfairly treated and it was under control. When Vietnam went under I tried to get my money back to head to a new agency, but I was told my money was gone, BUT if I stayed with CAII, my money would transfer to a new program. How can money that is gone go to a new program? They refused to provide a detailed bill of where all of my money went when I requested one. I was then told to go to either Russia or the domestic program and I opted for Domestic because of the Hague situation. I specifically asked if the state of CAII was ok or if they were in danger of shutting down (this was because my local agency that had piggy backed CAII had closed down for unknown reasons). I was told that the domestic program was the strongest and was the only successful program at that time and had no chance of closing. When I got my very impersonal email today about CAII shutting down I was flabbergasted. I was actually numb and I don't think it has sunk in yet. My case manager is also quite upset. I do not blame her. She said they were also blindsided and she was actually crying on the phone. I feel bad for the people that got caught under the mismanagement of Marina Mayhew and James Mayhew. I am also pursuing a lawsuit. My lawyer is looking into a class action suit because it is the only way to now have to pay up front. So if anyone is interested in jumping on this lawsuit, I would love to contact you (or have my lawyer contact you). I am disgusted, disappointed and angry. I honestly don't know where to go from here.
Do Not Trust This Agency
I had never planned to post comments in public about my experience adopting a child through Commonwealth several years ago, but yesterday I received a letter from the agency encouraging me to log on to this and another website to post positive comments to counter ones posted by clients who "did not have a blessed experience." Well, the very fact that they would send such a letter to us given that we emphatically did not have a "blessed experience" with them should tell you what you need to know about the difference between their rhetoric of caring about children and the reality that this agency has a long history of treating adoptive children and their parents unethically--as least if our experience is any indication. They care nothing about the day-to-day post-adoptive realities of their clients down the road--otherwise, why would they send us such a letter? Moreover, I fully agree with the postings of clients who say that CAI would like to silence or discredit those of us who have had bad experiences--either recently or in the past. A truly good agency does not need to send out letters asking former clients to write nice things about them on the internet.
I would have to write a book to really explain all the nuances of why our adoption experience was so bad, and some of the issues are way more critical than others. The in-country associate was horrible, Marina Mayhew's husband got involved and gave us erroneous information about country requirements, there was a lack of follow-up support and information regarding how to handle post-placement reports, you name it. Most significantly in speaking to the overall ethics of the agency, though, is this: Commonwealth had, or should have had, reason to suspect that our daughter was born with neurological damage, but they presented her to us as a healthy infant.
I myself perceived from my brief encounters with her in the orphanage that she had neurological "soft signs," but the in-country associate refused to take me to the orphanage for more than a few minutes at a time every few days, and he never gave me a chance to speak with the pediatrician on staff. By the end of about two weeks, I figured out from talking with some German adoptive parents that I could have been spending up to four hours a day at the orphanage visiting with our daughter and talking with staff, but by that point it was time to return to the States to wait until the paperwork could be processed and we could return to bring our daughter home. So I barely saw our daughter on my whole first visit, and the degree of stress I was under about the reasons I wasn't being taken to see her (was the in--country associate too lazy to take me? was he trying to prevent me from finding out more about her background and health condition?) is evidenced by the upwards of $700 in international phone charges I ran up due to calling my partner repeatedly to try to figure out what to do. Even to this day it is not entirely clear to me what was really going on, but my best guess is that CAI hired an unethical in-country associate and that once things went wrong, their only focus was on protecting themselves legally. We never had any intention of bringing a lawsuit; we just wanted the truth about why the experience was so horrible: what did the associate know about our child's background and health status? why wouldn't he take me to visit our daughter while I was in the country? what did CAI know about the situation? This questions will be with me for as long as I live, as will my feelings of anger and betrayal at being manipulated and lied to.
For obvious reasons this is a hard thing to talk about in public. We love our daughter dearly and recognize that there are no guarantees when it comes to becoming a parent--either via adoption or via childbirth. We are not angry that our child has disabilities (significant ones that will prevent her from living independently); to risk invoking a cliche, she is a vibrant, lovely child who has enriched our lives immeasurably. What we're angry about is that Commonwealth lied to us and that Commonwealth has never (again, presumably for legal reasons) acknowledged that it failed to fulfill fundamental obligations such as seeking out all available information on the child we were assigned, sharing that information with us, and so on. In the first few years after we completed the adoption, we tried to maintain a civil correspondence with the agency, but in more recent years I have decided to cut off contact. The memories of being left alone for days at a time in a hotel room when I could have been with our child, the anxiety of perceiving that she very likely had disabilities but not being given access to basic medical information that was known at the time, such as the fact that she was born via C-section (suggestive of a difficult birth scenario), and so on--all that lingers with me even today.
I'm sure there are people out there who would want to be sanctimonious and dismiss me as someone who was looking for a "perfect" child. That's not the case. We are adoptive parents "by choice," and when our daughter was two we adopted another child from the same country, albeit using a different agency. We love both our children as they are. The issue is one of ethics and honesty: Commonwealth at the time was vastly more concerned about creating a "niche" for itself as an agency working in this particular country than with the welfare of the adoptive children. After all, any respectable agency that really cared about a child such as ours, one that had a reasonable possibility of having special needs, would have wanted to talk straightforwardly with the prospective adoptive family so as to try to make sure they were committed to raising a child with special needs. Let me stress: Had CAI had no reason to suspect that she would have disabilities, that would have been a different story. But we found out later that the orphanage staff had devised a special set of "exercises" to improve our child's muscle tone from the time she was an infant. The staff knew something was wrong, we think the in-country associate knew or had good reason to suspect, and if CAI didn't know, it clearly should have. We were the ones kept in the dark.
Obviously not all CAI country programs are alike, and much time has passed since the fiasco of our bad adoption experience, but when I noticed some of the comments from people posting about their recent bad experiences, it reminded me of what had happened to us. I am writing to convey my support for those of you who had bad experiences, as I have lived for years now with the pressure to stay silent. I feel that I am somehow betraying my child in posting this comment; yet it would also be a betrayal to remain silent, since it was CAI that originally betrayed her by treating her as an item of market-based exchange rather than trying to assess her real needs and to determine if we were a family that had the capacity to meet them. I like to think we've done a pretty good job--goodness knows we are trying our best--but we have spent years and years of our lives bouncing from doctor to doctor, seeking out different types of therapy, doing battle with our insurance company over claims denied, working with teachers to try to devise appropriate educational opportunities, etc. Had CAI simply given us the medical background we very likely would have gone through with the adoption anyway, but it would have made a world of difference to have gone in armed with more information: we might have had a better idea what specialists to seek out, we might have sought out some specialists sooner than we did, etc.
By the way, we adopted our second child in 2001 via World Child International. It was a wonderful experience. I'm still in contact with folks from World Child, and we send them money every year for their in-country programs. There's no way I would ever send CAI money, as I have never received any concrete information from them regarding what they do with it. I'm sure that many, many good people have worked for CAI over the years. But those of us who had bad experiences are not just "cranks." We're real human beings. My partner and I will spend the rest of our lives caring for (and planning for the care of) our disabled child, a child we adopted through CAI. Imagine if you were in our shoes, and the only time CAI ever contacted you post-adoption was to ask you to provide a fairy-tale story of a perfect adoption with a happily-ever-after ending. I am posting this comment in honor of my daughter, a beautiful child who deserved to be treated with more respect than CAI showed her. In many ways we do feel that our lives have a happily-ever-after ending, but it's despite CAI, not because of them.
One Of The FEW Lucky Ones
I have to say that after reading all of these reviews that Commonwealth sure "screwed up" alot of great families. We started our Vietnam adoption in Sept 2006. We got shifted around so much with paperwork, lies, a distraught case worker who might I add was the best but couldn't take the crap of the agency anymore and resigned well into our case, and losses of time with our son & money. We paid all of our fees by the end of April 2007 and CAI drug their feet for the next 1 1/2 years. We were told numerous times that our adoption of our already referred son maynot happen because the OD messed up paperwork. I now know that the fault was right here in CAI's hands not in the Vietnam government. We are so disgusted that an agency that claims to be "reputable" could mess up the lives of so many children not to mention the families who long so badly for them. We fortunately brought our son home in Sept. 2008 after a long gruelling battle. When we found out through the faithful web....No, Commonwealth never contacted us to tell us..... we were devastated as to what was going to happen as it was only a matter of getting a G&R date to travel. I got a call around midnight one night from a fellow CAI family and was told about the closure. SHEER PANIC struck. We immediately got online and searched for our Program Director's hime phone and called. He immediately returned our call and confirmed the news. What would happen next. Here's where we relied on other CAI families in our same situation and we all bonded together to figure out how to get these kids HOME. We managed to find a way to privately pay our in country associate and he continued to work on our behalf. This ended up costing is bucco bucks beyond the fees paid to Commonwealth. To us it didn't matter as long as Derek came home. We traveled to Vietnam without a G&R scheduled and trusted the families there that were working things out for us and GOD that we woud actually have one. We got to Vietnam on Sept. 30th, went to meet our son at the orphanage on Sept. 1st, and had a G&R on Sept. 8th. We pushed and pulled to get this done but it was all worth it. We filed an insurance claim to try to recoup some of the fees spent in excess of the agency fees however we have been told that we breeched our contract by going directly to our associate and to Vietnam and finalizing our adoption. I would love to see the staff of Commonwealth go down and be ordered to return monies to families who were less fortunate than us. I still believe we should be entitled to our post placement fee ($1000.00) because Commonwealth announced their closure before we breached the contract. Some days I just want to fight and others I look into my precious son's eyes and am just grateful that he is HOME!!!!
My heart goes out to those of you that got burned by Commonwealth and I pray that your day of good fortune will come soon.
Finalized Vietnam Adoption 9/08
commonwealth and sunshine adoptions
Commonwealth and their sister agengy Sunshine Adoptions are both agencies that we would NEVER recommend to ANYONE. We were charged an EXTRA $5,000 to be in the faster program. The money was suppose to go the orphange, but the orphanage director said he never received it. It took 3 Years. we were told it would be 12 to 18 months. We felt we were lied to overcharged. BEWARE of these agencies.
Wheres our hard earned cash
We adopted 2 children in 2005 from Izhevsk Russia we just this past July finished our last post placement report. Dawn hill kept sending me threatening e-mails to hurry we werent even late, long story short I kept saying so when will you be sending my money back that i laid out in the begining for all these reports, she just kept talking in circles, call this one call that one, Ps I decided enough was enough as I am e-mailing her its not going through....why you ask because Commonwealth Adoptions had closed the doors and went out of business with all my money. I also on our second trip to Russia for court had to buy another set of tickets for me & my husband to get home because our case worker jennifer harris advised us to get tickets with no return date... when we were booking our flight while in Russia to come home those tickets were no good ....another $2800. out the window we were stuck we had no choice but to buy more tickets... I could go on and on now all the extra money they kept asking for makes sense but when you are face to face with your children nothing else matters except bringing them home..
Attorney General Files Suit Against CAII
http://www.abc15.com/content/news/centralsouthernarizona/story.aspx?cont...
Attorney General sues Tucson adoption agency for fraud
Reported by: Jeff Cochran
Email: JCochran@abc15.com
Last Update: 12:05 pm
Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard Attorney General Terry Goddard Tuesday filed a lawsuit against an adoption agency in Tucson that allegedly failed to refund nearly $215,000 to families after the company shut down earlier this year.
According to court documents, Tucson-based Commonwealth Adoptions International Inc. engaged in a pattern of misrepresentations and deceptive practices in the sale of domestic and foreign adoption services to families.
"These families made life-changing decisions and gave this company their money and their trust," Goddard said. "They deserve to be reimbursed, and Commonwealth needs to be held accountable for violating the terms of its agreements."
These practices, according to the Attorney General, included inducing families to enter into contracts for adoption services under the pretense that the families would receive certain services in exchange for fees paid to Commonwealth. Instead, Commonwealth allegedly pooled fees, using money paid by one set of parents to pay for other families' adoptions.
The lawsuit seeks to stop the defendants from engaging in these unlawful practices and prohibit them from conducting any future business in Arizona.
The suit also asks the defendants to pay $10,000 for each violation of the Consumer Fraud Act, provide full restitution to all families who were defrauded and reimburse the State for investigation costs and legal fees.
Assistant Attorney General Taren Ellis is handling this case. A copy of the complaint, which was filed in Pima County Superior Court, is available on the Attorney General's Web site, www.azag.gov.
Consumers who feel they have been the victim of consumer fraud by Commonwealth or any Arizona businesses should contact the Arizona Attorney General's Office Consumer Information and Complaint division in Tucson at (520) 628-6504, in Phoenix at (602) 542-5763 or toll-free outside of Maricopa or Pima County at (800) 352-8431.
No problems with CAII
My husband and I completed an adoption through CAIIs Guatemala program in May 2007, however we worked through another agency who used CAII for their country program. Although our adoption took longer than we had hoped, this was not the fault of CAII, it was the Guatemalan government. While we were in country our "associate" was wonderful and patient and we loved her. She even took us on a daytrip to Antigua. When we decided to do another adoption in April of this year, it only made sense to use CAII again. Although our caseworker's communication left a bit to be desired, they were great to work with again. In July we found out that I am pregnant, after sending them a check for nearly $7000. Once we contacted them they tore the check up and placed us on a hold status for 1 year. I am disappointed that we were not notified that anything was going on with the agency, but overall we have no complaints about CAII at all. I am not negating anyones experiences, only offering another point of view. I hope this sorts out for everyone though, we were prepared to lose the money we had already paid them and had not received a referral or match yet, so our situation is a bit different. Good luck to all the families fighting this!
Looking to sue Commonwealth also
I am in Phoenix, AZ and have received no new contact from Commonwealth about the status of my contract. I began the process in March of this year. I was originally told to hold off on filing my I600A because they were going through Hague cert review and that a new form was going to be used after the certification, the I800A. Then they didn't get approval but said all was fine and to continue as usual....that meant getting my money in by the contract deadlines. When they were denied approval on appeal (to a non-existent appeal board), they said that they were still hopeful. At this point I told them that they couldn't honor my contract for a Colombian adoption and that I wanted my money back and would be pursuing adoption through the US Foster Care system. I got an email from my case worker in July saying that they would give me back $2500. I called her and questioned this because they had $5000, of which $3000 was for dossier prep which was never done. I said to send the $2500 right away and that I would deal with the agency regarding the other $2500. When I tried to call the agency, the lines were disconnected. It was from an online blog that I learned that they had declared bankruptcy. My social worker heard from me before them on their status. I have only read that they are helping families who had filed I800A to find new agencies. I hope to join a lawsuit to recover the money that was taken from me with no services rendered. It is one of the worst ways to take advantage of someone....going through the painful, expensive adoption process.
I can be reached at: amurphy23@cox.net
Insurance claims
Below is a copy of corespondence I recieved from the Commonwealth agent. contact with the people she lists all say they don't cover us becuse it isn't submitted in writing. PROTECT YOURSELF and don't just call Liz Chamberlin. Submit your claim in writing to the agencies. 2 of the 3 said my claim isn't covered by their agency at all and I am waiting on a return call after several lmessages from the third. As nice as they start on the phone remember they are the @%$$#@'s filing in for the %@%#$ that stole our hopes, dreams and money.
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Here are the assigned adjusters. Please contact them for further instructions. I will provide the contact information you have now provided this morning.
Kaye Campbell/ Admiral Insurance Company Phone 856-429-9200 x 343
Chad Zupke/Great American Insurance Company 847-330-6754
Cheryl Mawby/ United America Insurance Group -Phone 610-668-3381
Please let me know if you need anything else.
Sincerely,
Liz Chamberlain
Claim Manager
Liz Chamberlain
Claim Manager
Compass Insurance Agency Inc - Mueller Division
(520) 784-7619
Fax (520)319-4652
liz.chamberlain@compassinsurance.com
Compass Insurance claims
Oh you are so welcome! As I mentioned before too, it is suggested that in addition to this (regardless if you've lost money or not)... that you join the lawsuit which is in the works. This may light a bit of a fire under their butts for some action.
If you'd like to contact me about that please do so!
ginalyn@intouchmi.com
Gina
PS~ According to Marina and Dawn they both say that CAII has gone out of business and that they will be shutting their doors permanently.
Filing an Insurance Claim
This is just to let you guys know that those of you who have lost money or feel that you want retribution of some sort for your particular circumstances involving CAII...you should file an insurance claim with the agencies insurance company. Please be advised that you NEED to file these claims ASAP as the agencies insurance policies are close to expiring and once they do...then you may not be able to make a claim!
Here is the information and person to contact:
Compass Insurance
Contact: Liz Chamberlain
Phone: 520-881-5760
Email: lchamberlain@compassinsurance.com
nightmare in Brazil!
Hello, we did successfully complete our adoption with Commonwealth in July, 2008 and have our beautiful son home with us. HOWEVER! The experience in Brazil was horrendous! Commonwealth's in country staff was poorly equipped to handle all the nuances of adoption and the bureaucratic insanity. We were so poorly treated, bordering on abuse by the in country staff. It has taken my husband and I a good year to get over the trauma of those 6 weeks in Sao Paulo. I could go on and on and will at some point but I want to address the lawsuit. We refused to do our post adoption report when we returned home despite Commonwealth's constant efforts and threats. We spent countless hours writing emails to both Marina and Simone about the horrors of the Brazilian program. The information we received about our child (the social report) was false, filled with lies and withheld essential information regarding our son's emotional and psychological history and health, in particular. We are not owed any money from the agency, and therefore, we don't know if we are entitled to join the suit. However, the financial burden of taking care of our son's needs this past year is overwhelming (both physical and psychological) and this is due to the lack of correct information provided by Commonwealth and outright misrepresentation of our son's needs. We want to support those of you who were caught mid stream- do not even have your child and have lost so many thousands of dollars to Commonwealth. There were only 3 placements in the Brazilian program and the process for all of them was horrific. If the attorney feels it is appropriate for us to join the suit, we will! Please contact me should you like to discuss further.
Commonwealth Crooks
We too were victimized by these crooks. I spoke to some Russian woman who refused to give me contact information for Dawn Hill. We are owed $1,000 but were told we would not get it. She is probably here illegally. I contacted Phoenix FBI but they were of no use. I would be happy to join any RICO suit. I live in DC so I plan to contact DHS, State, and anyone else who can help us or at least get Hill in jail and the Russian women sent back home.
Don't foget the Better Business Bureau
Besides complaining about Commonwealth Adoptions with the Attorney General's Office, and proceeding with a law firm, complain to the Better Business Bureau if Commonwealth has done you wrong too.
Yes, Commonwealth, your fake "happy posts" are obvious. You are still a terrible agency who has done many wrong.
Update on the RICO lawsuit
This is just as an FYI for everyone wanting to be in on the lawsuit!
I just wanted to let you guys know that this lawyer that we are using is willing to do a payment plan of the $2500.00 retainer fee...and you can set up the payment plan and they will just write the contract accordingly.
I'm letting you guys know this as I know that many of you (if your like us) were worrried about coming up with that money. Also again, here is her contact information:
Joni M. Fixel
jfixel@fixellawoffices.com
Fixel Law Offices, PLLC
4990 Northwind Drive, Ste 121
East Lansing, MI 48823
(517) 332-3390
(517) 853-0434
I hope this helps...it sure helped us out! Now we can do this without worrying about the money we have to pay to get involved in the lawsuit!
If anyone needs to talk to me about this please just email me...I'll let you know what I can:
ginalyn@intouchmi.com
Gina & Bill Hart
http://www.billandginahart.com/index.html
http://ginanbillsadoptionjourney.blogspot.com/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/adoption_agency_abuse/
Update on the RICO Lawsuit/ Payment Plan Available!
This is just as an FYI for everyone wanting to be in on the lawsuit!
I just wanted to let you guys know that this lawyer that we are using is willing to do a payment plan of the $2500.00 retainer fee...and you can set up the payment plan and they will just write the contract accordingly.
I'm letting you guys know this as I know that many of you (if your like us) were worrried about coming up with that money. Also again, here is her contact information:
Joni M. Fixel
jfixel@fixellawoffices.com
Fixel Law Offices, PLLC
4990 Northwind Drive, Ste 121
East Lansing, MI 48823
(517) 332-3390
(517) 853-0434
I hope this helps...it sure helped us out! Now we can do this without worrying about the money we have to pay to get involved in the lawsuit!
If anyone needs to talk to me about this please just email me...I'll let you know what I can:
ginalyn@intouchmi.com
Gina & Bill Hart
http://www.billandginahart.com/index.html
http://ginanbillsadoptionjourney.blogspot.com/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/adoption_agency_abuse/
Commonwealth Adoption Lawsuit
Please add me to the list for the class action lawsuit. My adoption has been completed and I must say things did go smoothly. I have a beautiful little girl from Kemerovo in Russia. My last post-placement report is due in Russia next month. With that a $1,000 security is due back to me. I just found out today that they closed their doors so I am scrambling to get some answers. I have no idea what to do or how to proceed, but I want my security back. We have all spent a fortune and I have fulfilled every obligation to both Commonwealth and Russia. I'm not letting this go. If anyone can give me any information, please let me know.
ABSOLUTELY
Absolutely, my email address is: ginalyn@intouchmi.com
Please feel free to contact me any time and I will give you as much information as possible. I also post a lot of information about this on the group that I run:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/adoption_agency_abuse/
I hope all of this helps you guys out. We are already in the process of doing all of this when we get the contract for services from Joni tomorrow. The more people involved...the better!
Any news on the Class Action Lawsuit?
-following up
COMMONWEALTH
If anyone is pursuing a class action suit on Commonwealth please include us heidibig@yahoo.com. We, like so many others are out $14,000, with little more than a "too bad" from Marina. What they have done is beyond unethical. I will be writing the local papers in Tuscon shortly...we just have to figure out where our documents are.
Any updates on Class Action Lawsuit?
just checking in since we haven't heard anything new. Thanks!
Stealing "Common People's Wealth"
Those scumbags made off with my money too - very unhelpful in the office ever - not on top of it. Hope they all go to jail. Thieves!
Yes, I am interested in a lawsuit. I will keep checking...is there one out there?
support group
I typed in Commonwealth Support Group and it was number seven. displacedbycommonwealth was the title for some reason.
Screwed by CAII
We are also among you all that have been screwed over by CAII. We were in the middle of a Ukraine adoption and are now out over $13K. How is a business allowed to treat their clients like this?? We are interested in being a part of this class action law suit! Please contact me at scox1016 @ hotmail . com with the details. We went through several people at CAII - Natalya (quit or laid off), Donna (worthless P.O.S), Dawn (another worthless P.O.S) and now Marina. We were told so many stories of "be patient with us", "you just don't understand how international adoption works", etc, etc... They should be ashamed of themselves for stealing our hard earned money!! All we wanted was to start our families through adoption. What was supposed to be a blessed journey has ended in heartache for most of us. Sounds like most of us will not go down without a fight. Hopefully we can ban together to file that suit.
Screwed over in KY