The first thing that struck me about this agency was the knowledge base and comfort of the staff with Guatemalan adoptions. We actually changed agencys, prior to match, to use this agency. Joanne has the energy of three people. I receive emails often within minutes of when they are sent, especially if over a sensitive matter. If she needs to obtain info, she emails me and gets back to me in the time frame stated. I get medicals I never even asked for. When we had problems in family court, she knew exactly what to do and kept me informed every step of the way.... even when news wasn't what I wanted hear. I get pictures and movies on a regular bases. I can tell our little one is thriving and being taken good care of. She always lets us know ahead of time when she will be sending packages for babies and foster moms. I know at times she has taken packages to orphanages. She seems to be a very caring person. I am quite nervous about travel, and she has offered to have her assistant in Guatemala meet me at the airport and take me to the hotel, just so we can go for a visit trip. When I was unable to get a package together for our baby and foster mom, she sent one for me and politely refused reimbursement. I have to say overall, I have been impressed with this agency and plan to use them for round two should God lead us there.
It's nice that she responded to you so quickly. I've been waiting FOURTEEN MONTHS so far to the promise she made to me where she said she would give me either a refund or a new referral. My story is completely documented on my blog, www.waitingidjb.blogspot.com, and was included in the Dateline interview mentioned by another commenter. What Dateline did not mention was that Joanne Mitchell COMPLETELY lied to me, knowingly, stating at different points of time that my case completed family court and that I had been given DNA authorization, while the reality is my Power of Attorney had NEVER been filed. Therefore, ANY update Joanne gave me was ALL a complete lie. She blamed Teo, Teo blamed her, but the reality was I was NEVER in process to adopt a child (despite fourteen months of stories, pictures, and packages).
Anyone looking to work with Joanne Mitchell, regardless of what name she is using for her agency or what state she is located in, needs to carefully read and consider the number of comments on this site and others. If you believe that she picks favorites but you feel it's OK that you're not her favorite (that was my feeling when I started), go back and COUNT the number of responses here. It seems to me that the sheer volume of people stating a bad experience compared to the few positive responses (by families who did not have their children home at the time of the comment, which means they may also haven't realized the extent of Joanne's lies yet) should make a decision clear.
Anyone looking to avoid working with an agency that is KNOWN to be unethical, KNOWN to work with unethical people, KNOWN to bully and lie and intimidate and threaten, KNOWN to make up stories and then pull referrals and then blame the waiting potential parents, would be best to avoid Joanne Mitchell and any agency associated with her. If it looks like a snake and walks like a snake, it doesn't matter if it's called a duck because it's STILL a snake. www.waitingidjb.blogspot.com
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Reviews
The first thing that struck
The first thing that struck me about this agency was the knowledge base and comfort of the staff with Guatemalan adoptions. We actually changed agencys, prior to match, to use this agency. Joanne has the energy of three people. I receive emails often within minutes of when they are sent, especially if over a sensitive matter. If she needs to obtain info, she emails me and gets back to me in the time frame stated. I get medicals I never even asked for. When we had problems in family court, she knew exactly what to do and kept me informed every step of the way.... even when news wasn't what I wanted hear. I get pictures and movies on a regular bases. I can tell our little one is thriving and being taken good care of. She always lets us know ahead of time when she will be sending packages for babies and foster moms. I know at times she has taken packages to orphanages. She seems to be a very caring person. I am quite nervous about travel, and she has offered to have her assistant in Guatemala meet me at the airport and take me to the hotel, just so we can go for a visit trip. When I was unable to get a package together for our baby and foster mom, she sent one for me and politely refused reimbursement. I have to say overall, I have been impressed with this agency and plan to use them for round two should God lead us there.
It's nice that she responded
It's nice that she responded to you so quickly. I've been waiting FOURTEEN MONTHS so far to the promise she made to me where she said she would give me either a refund or a new referral. My story is completely documented on my blog, www.waitingidjb.blogspot.com, and was included in the Dateline interview mentioned by another commenter. What Dateline did not mention was that Joanne Mitchell COMPLETELY lied to me, knowingly, stating at different points of time that my case completed family court and that I had been given DNA authorization, while the reality is my Power of Attorney had NEVER been filed. Therefore, ANY update Joanne gave me was ALL a complete lie. She blamed Teo, Teo blamed her, but the reality was I was NEVER in process to adopt a child (despite fourteen months of stories, pictures, and packages).
Anyone looking to work with Joanne Mitchell, regardless of what name she is using for her agency or what state she is located in, needs to carefully read and consider the number of comments on this site and others. If you believe that she picks favorites but you feel it's OK that you're not her favorite (that was my feeling when I started), go back and COUNT the number of responses here. It seems to me that the sheer volume of people stating a bad experience compared to the few positive responses (by families who did not have their children home at the time of the comment, which means they may also haven't realized the extent of Joanne's lies yet) should make a decision clear.
Anyone looking to avoid working with an agency that is KNOWN to be unethical, KNOWN to work with unethical people, KNOWN to bully and lie and intimidate and threaten, KNOWN to make up stories and then pull referrals and then blame the waiting potential parents, would be best to avoid Joanne Mitchell and any agency associated with her. If it looks like a snake and walks like a snake, it doesn't matter if it's called a duck because it's STILL a snake.
www.waitingidjb.blogspot.com