Revenues of large adoption agencies and the decline in inter-county adoption
Submitted by Kerry and Niels on Tue, 2009-12-22 23:03.
This week the U.S. State Department presented the figures of intercountry adoption for FY 2009, and for the fifth year in a row the numbers have dropped.
Here are the total number of inter-county adoptions for the last 6 years:
2004: 22,990
2005: 22,734
2006: 20,680
2007: 19,609
2008: 17,475
2009: 12,753
Seeing these numbers, and having learned the Joint Council on International Childrens Services is facing bankruptcy, the question may arise if the revenues of the large adoption agencies were influenced by the decline in inter-country adoption. Apparently the effect is not all that big. There is a decline for FY 2008, and the growth these organizations had in earlier years has certainly stopped, but overall there is not a huge drop in revenues for these organizations.
Here follows a table of program service revenue of some of the largest adoption agencies, based upon IRS Form 990 statements.
| Agency name | Program service revenu | ||||
| 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | |
| Bethany Christian Services | $42.461.927 | $45.509.417 | $45.005.717 | $46.640.493 | *$47.912.388 |
| Children's Home Society & Family Services | $16.031.627 | $16.473.431 | $18.843.282 | $18.805.880 | $19.838.189 |
| Holt International Children's Services | $12.971.240 | $13.639.543 | $12.864.430 | $9.680.672 | $11.375.809 |
| European Adoption Consultants (EAC) | $7.551.977 | $8.181.875 | $7.690.372 | $5.796.718 | $6.024.515 |
| Wide Horizons for Children (WHFC) | $5.713.034 | $6.041.080 | $6.922.226 | $7.437.292 | $7.670.115 |
| Gladney Center for Adoption | $5.286.781 | $5.816.466 | $5.493.295 | $7.349.699 | $6.285.847 |
| Christian World Adoption (CWA) | $4.506.966 | $5.260.709 | $7.120.083 | $6.102.291 | $5.439.775 |
| America World Adoption Association | $3.329.995 | $4.203.609 | $3.251.030 | $4.686.925 | *$4.647.442 |
| Alliance for Children, Inc. (MA) | $2.751.760 | $2.493.440 | $2.451.685 | $2.788.116 | *$2.638.078 |
| Dillon International, Inc. | $2.016.724 | $1.908.145 | $3.463.693 | $3.137.616 | $2.590.693 |
| The Cradle | $2.130.387 | $2.242.353 | $2.493.001 | $2.627.811 | $3.504.046 |
| Nightlight Christian Adoption | $2.805.031 | $2.083.216 | $1.940.068 | $1.776.223 | $2.177.986 |
| Frank Foundation (FFCAI) | $3.119.060 | $2.335.729 | $2.168.035 | $1.712.678 | *$1.237.165 |
| Total | $31.659.738 | $32.384.747 | $35.303.116 | $37.618.651 | $36.191.148 |
* figures for 2008 were not available, the figure presented is a forecast
The following chart shows the sum of the program revenues of the agencies in above table.
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For several of these organizations, programs are not their only source of revenue, as can be learned from the following table, presenting the total revenue of these organizations:
| Agency name | Total revenu | ||||
| 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | |
| Bethany Christian Services | $53.014.131 | $57.396.323 | $58.768.762 | $60.516.048 | *$63.393.363 |
| Children's Home Society & Family Services | $23.037.029 | $22.523.138 | $25.255.117 | $25.398.420 | $26.097.410 |
| Holt International Children's Services | $17.489.178 | $19.318.571 | $20.423.497 | $19.178.415 | $21.463.074 |
| Gladney Center for Adoption | $7.610.026 | $7.987.295 | $8.411.682 | $10.115.263 | $13.345.314 |
| Wide Horizons for Children (WHFC) | $6.291.016 | $6.712.368 | $7.690.893 | $8.242.360 | $8.698.800 |
| European Adoption Consultants (EAC) | $7.568.621 | $8.197.469 | $7.809.150 | $5.906.638 | $6.051.613 |
| Christian World Adoption (CWA) | $4.464.696 | $5.282.609 | $7.202.572 | $6.179.431 | $5.922.405 |
| America World Adoption Association | $3.676.100 | $7.676.584 | $5.481.304 | $5.221.294 | *$6.123.896 |
| The Cradle | $4.938.482 | $4.721.569 | $5.857.128 | $6.232.464 | $6.218.156 |
| Dillon International, Inc. | $2.449.540 | $2.607.063 | $4.207.864 | $3.997.253 | $3.528.151 |
| Alliance for Children, Inc. (MA) | $3.303.231 | $2.668.962 | $2.858.506 | $2.966.095 | *$2.743.732 |
| Frank Foundation (FFCAI) | $3.515.811 | $2.673.347 | $2.365.182 | $1.892.726 | *$1.317.411 |
| Nightlight Christian Adoption | $2.805.031 | $2.083.216 | $1.940.068 | $1.776.223 | $2.177.986 |
| Total | $22.347.860 | $25.630.134 | $27.972.556 | $26.489.263 | $25.853.752 |
* figures for 2008 were not available, the figure presented is a forecast
The following chart shows the sum of the total revenues of the agencies in above table.
.png)
The ranking of agencies changes somewhat when looking at total revenues. Especially the Gladney Center for Adoption and The Cradle, receive a disproportionate amount of their total revenues through donations.
Apparently the decline in inter-country adoption hasn't hurt the big adoption agencies all that much, so the loss in revenue as a result of that decline, most likely hit the smaller agencies more than the large ones.
Given the large drop of inter-country adoptions in 2009, it is interesting to see if the large agencies will maintain to do relatively well, or if this plunge starts to affect the entire industry.
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Drop in IC adoption numbers but not in profits!
This is very interesting analysis! I would have to say that these agencies have had very little fluctuations in profits/revenue I can only guess this is because:
A) The smaller to mid-size agencies are losing the business to these Giant Adoption Agencies- I would have to agree that most of the closed agencies have been small to mid-size.
B) Many agencies like Harrahs, Commonwealth -after years of service didn't have the sources and know how for a new business model that addresses the every changing climate of adoptions. Some have no Social Workers on staff or business associates savvy enough to landscape the COA certification and the Hague compliancy requirements (or fee)
C) Other agencies are not really agencies but a "facilitator for independent adoptions" or a paper midwife, These are organizations that are usually religious based.
D) It is much more difficult to have host programs in the USA which were very lucrative for agencies charging $2,000+ per kid X 20 kids = $40,000 profit for a 2 week host program.
E) Agencies found with new regulations that doing business in a country the old way was not going to suffice. They were not prepared for changes.
F) Some Agencies depended on vulnerable countries like: former soviet countries, guatemala and when those countries have issues or close down found they had not cast a wide enough net. Having just a "few" countries they deal with can potentially lead to the closing of an agency should that country close down to adoptions: Waiting Angels (Guatemala only) Claar Foundation (Guatemala only) The agencies were not set up for long term only short term. Country / source gone? So is the Agency.
G) Agencies are offering other services like Domestic Adoptions, more post adoption family counseling, humanitarian aid programs (no comment here) lucrative fund raisers and thriving and growing special needs programs. Not to mention the International Surrogacy programs that are available.
Re spin of business is the sign of longevity. Maybe JCICS should charge these larger agencies more money for fees?
Interesting
What I find even more interesting is that some of these agencies do not specify what they get from the state and federal governments. Some of these agencies have state contracts. Gladney for example has a contract with the Department of Family and Protective Services for over $100,000. There is no real details on how much they get. Lutheran Social Services of Illinois gets $69,000,000 per year from the federal government. The same agency out of Wisconsin (or it could be Michigan) gets $70,000,000 per year. It varies from state to state. It is very difficult to get all of that information. I have been lucky enough to have seen those numbers. They do not have to report how they spend that funding. There is no accountability on the state or federal level.
"Interesting" makes an excellent point
Many agencies get state and county fees for different services. I heard that some agencies in IND and IL were suing the state for fees - evidently the states are broke (surprise, surprise)
We need to have accountability, this is our tax dollars.
There was an Foster Care Adoption agency called Genesis out in California. It is ran by two sisters
De la Torre and Bernard. 2 years ago they were caught embezzling, had personal purchases (Victoria's Secret, etc., on their corporate credit card.) Since Genesis largely survives on State and County Funds, they were charged with embezzlement. They are still being audited but after a verdict of guilty---closing Genesis down would mean that many children would not get "services" so they are watched closely.
The sisters, have since tried to go back to the County they are in to get more contracts "Drug abuse counseling for Spanish Speaking people", etc., These places can be gold mines, if they have enough services that the county may so desperately need and it would be cheaper to outsource via a contract.
http://www.fresnobee.com/523/story/1364654.html
Here is a novel idea for JCICS
Since these Big Gun adoption agencies are making so much dam money - in the millions $$$$.
Why doesn't the financial strapped, on the verge of bankrupt-JCICS ask for a bail out from these prosperous agencies?