Social Worker Reports
Submitted by La Ronda on Mon, 2011-06-06 00:37.
See also:
- Orphan scandal prompts scrutiny, action by Kyrgyz authorities
- The Mystery of #4709 - Who Am I?
- Couple from Pune seeks preference over foreigners in adoption
- Reviewing Jedd Medefind's response to "The Evangelical Adoption Crusade"
- Children trapped between supply and demand
- The final cost of an international adoption
- Real life: What makes a good adoptive parent?
- American mother caught in Pakistani child trafficking nightmare
- Armenia Considers Changing Adoption Procedures Amid Allegations Of Corruption
- Adoptions to Italy halted
As many of you may (or may not know) the sending country does a social worker report on the "orphan" being relinquished for ICA. Included in this report should be the name of the child, birthdate, place of birth, conditions of birth, weight at birth, age, appearance, characteristics of behavior, where the child is currently residing and their health status. Also included in the social workers report is the mother's full name, listing of any other children she may have including names, ages and what they do (either go to school if they are school age or working if they are older). The report also includes the mother's bio (place of birth, parents, early life), current address, work experience, schooling, marital status, past relationships that produced children, her financial situation and the reason for the relinquishment. Please note that ID numbers are also listed that pertain to her identification card and birth certificate. The name and occupation of the biofather is also stated as well as his current status (which is always that he abandoned the mother and child). Also included in this report is a brief bio of the PAP.
The social worker, after interviewing the birthmother, submits this report to the attorney. The social worker does not submit this to the approving entity that approves the adoption, instead (and let me repeat) the social worker's report is handed over to the adoption attorney.
Most APs either receive this report either the day after their US visa is approved or at a later date when the AP requests it. It is the attorney and sometimes the agency that gives the AP a copy of this said report.
As noted in another thread, many APs are doing biofamily searches to find the chid's first family. One little problem is arising....alot of what is in the social workers report does not match up with what actually is the first family's situation. There seems to be very present...biofathers, extended family members as well as the parents are loving and present to parent, evidenced by the older and younger biosiblings of the adoptee still living with the first family, some of which were not mentioned in some social workers reports! Some of the situations have not been as reported in the social worker reports. Birthdates are wrong, birthplaces are wrong, and the financial situation is not as dire as portrayed in the social workers report. Some APs have found out that the identity of the biomother is not the same person, so thus falsification of documentation had occured. Why were documents falsified and thus the question is then asked, who really is this child? These are the questions that some APs are facing.
What is then an AP to do? Why then were some of these children placed for ICA? Is the social worker report a piece of fiction then? How can a parent tell an adoptee about their own story if what the AP has is not quite an accurate picture to borderline fictional.
How many sending countries is this same scenario being repeated?
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Who pays the Social Worker??
"The social worker, after interviewing the birthmother, submits this report to the attorney."
And who pays the adoption attorney? The PAP.
And who pays for the social worker report? The PAP.
And one wonders why so much info was either omitted or...twisted?
Two different social workers report
I am an AP. I adopted two children who are ICA. I adopted our youngest child...first. Then two years later, I adopted their OLDER sibling.
In my first child's social worker report, the older sibling is not listed. There is no mention of this child in that report!
What am I suppose to do? What do I believe?
No mention is given
This reminds me of a loophole seen in PAP SW reports, as well. The PAP may have another child, who was abused by the PAP, but because that child is not living WITH the PAP, that child will not be contacted/interviewed for the home-study report.
Gives the saying 'possession is 9/10th's of the law' whole new cryptic meaning, doesn't it?
What the SW reports tell/don't tell
This topic is fascinating to me, because I see what the SW does/does not report in terms of an AP homestudy... and this missing/overlooked information is the stuff that makes a seemingly wonderful adoption placement a secret hell for the adopted child put in that agency approved home.
However, this particular SW report is much different, as it tells a story of origins and existence, as the AP is supposed to see and believe it. La Ronda describes the difference for me.
This leads me to ongoing discussions on adoption forums about 'searchers' and found bio-families.
How is it a paid searcher can find and locate parents, biofamily and 15th cousins, twice removed, two years AFTER a relinquishment, but not a one could be found prior to an ICA plan?
In addition, I am in awe of some of the comments written by very fogged APs on these adoption support forums, like adoption.con. For example, one writes:
Rather than reminding this overwhelmed mom with emotion something might be a wee bit fishy, and as such, she needs to take a step back for a few sense-collecting moments, the emotional Amom is congratulated for this great news and is given best wishes for a great future trip to X part of the world. [I'm sure the local tourist industry will thank the supportive AP's, at a later date, in their own special accommodating way....]
Does the stench of 'something is NOT right' waft up to their overwhelmed excited senses, ever, at all.... or is the adoption fog just too pervasive and thick?