Adoptions are very personal and emotional for the prospective placing parent and the potential adoptive parent. Adoptive parents are required to invest much time and financial resources to complete an adoption. Unfortunately there have been times when persons have defrauded or otherwise taken advantage of persons seeking to successfully adopt a child. To reduce the possibility of fraud or improper behavior, the AAAA has created this national clearinghouse to register prospective placing parents. Through the Adoption Information Clearinghouse (AIC), a participant will be able to learn better, through the information contained in its database, whether the individual has sought financial assistance from other participating sources and/or that an individual has not committed to any other adoptive family for the same placement.
The process begins when, after obtaining written permission from the prospective placing parent, identifying information is submitted to the AIC to determine whether there is information in the system about the parent. If there is no information in the database about the prospective placing parent, AIC will issue a Clearinghouse Number (CN) to the prospective placing parent. If there is information in the database about the prospective placing parent, the attorney or agency submitting the request for CN will be notified that there is information in the system about the prospective placing parent. The submitting attorney or agency will also be given the name and telephone number of the person who originally reported that information. The submitting person then contacts the party who originally reported the information to discuss what occurred. It is expected in many cases the sharing of information between the submitting party and the original reporting person will allow them to determine that the prior report was not something of concern for this adoption. Examples of such information could be that the prior information was submitted for the adoption of another child or that the prospective placing parent and the original reporting person could not continue working with each other for reasons other than inappropriate behavior. Once this is determined, the submitting party will report the information back to AIC so a CN can be issued.
If there is information in the database and contact with the original reporting person shows improper behavior, that information will be reported back to AIC and no CN will be issued.
To become participants, registrants must complete the registration process by completing the registration form. There are two levels of participants in the AIC:
A Certified AIC Participant is one who agrees to submit requests for a Clearance Number (CN) on all placing parents who seek financial assistance from the adoptive parents or adoption agency. A Certified AIC Participant also agrees to encourage any prospective placing parents with whom they work who are not seeking financial assistance to obtain a CN, but is not required to do so for each such prospective placing parent.
A Certified AIC Participant, if possible, will seek a CN before they begin their representation of the placing parent and before allowing the disbursement of funds to the parent or payment of expenses on behalf of the parent. Once registered and accepted as a Certified AIC Participant, the participant shall be given confirmation from the AIC that they are permitted to use the term "Certified AIC Participant." They shall be permitted at that time, and as long as they maintain their membership and meet the standards for Certified AIC Participant, to display the term "Certified AIC Participant" on their stationary or in their advertising.
Agencies who are eligible to be Certified AIC Participants also must agree to the terms set forth above for Certified AIC Participants. Once so certified they shall have the same benefits as a Certified AIC Participant Fellow as long as they are eligible to participate and continue to meet the requirements for Certified AIC Participant.
A Non-certified AIC Participant is one who does not agree to submit requests for Clearance Numbers on all prospective placing parents who seek financial assistance.
Back to Top
The AIC requires all participants to disclose to all placing parents, prior to submitting an Application for AIC, the existence of the AIC, how it operates, and that a request is being made. The AIC has a form, "Disclosure to Prospective Placing Parent and Waiver" that is to be used by all participants to explain the AIC to every prospective placing parent. The document must be completed by every prospective placing parent prior to a Request for CN being made. This is a strict requirement of the AIC as it gives the prospective placing parent vital information about the AIC and also provides a level of protection for participants, the AIC, and AAAA. Failure to obtain a completed form from the prospective placing parent, provide a copy to the prospective placing parent and retain a copy of that form, shall constitute grounds for immediate suspension and possible dismissal of the participant from the AIC.
Back to Top
It is extremely important that the information provided in a Request for Clearinghouse Number be correct for the parent. All participants shall endeavor to obtain accurate information from the parent when making a Request for CN. To insure that only correct information is submitted, the participant shall make every attempt to view and obtain a copy of a government issued identification card from the parent. The copy of the card shall be retained by the participant in a file. If it is not possible to view and copy such a card or no identification card is available, the blank on the Request for CN ?ID Not Verified? shall be checked. Under such circumstances, if no match is found in the database, AIC will issue a ?conditional CN? which shall indicate that the CN is issued based on unsubstantiated information.
Back to Top
AAAA is making AIC available to all adoption professionals free of charge.
Back to Top
Disclosure to Prospective Placing Parent and Waiver (PDF)
Application for AIC Clearance Number (CN)
Back to Top
|
