[gg_cook]

I received an email (not even a stinking phone call) today from my agency telling me that they were going to need $400 for May, $400 for June and a $35 processing fee for foster care. I am just wondering if anyone else is running into this with their agencies. I have told them for the time being that I am not sending anything until I speak with an atty. here and I am all over that. I don't mind paying if I feel that there is an actual end in sight but I am not willing to blindly send money. I think $400 a month is a lot of money down there. Just wanting to know if anyone else had this request.

[kzwief]

Is the $400 a part of your contract that you signed when you accepted the referral? I know our contract specifies the amount of money we will have to pay for foster care after having a referral for 8 months. We pay $300/month for foster fees. That includes a monthly doctor visit. Hope that helps. Read over your contract again.

[mhpro]

we did. 2x for $350 (300 foster care & 50 transaction) we are using the same attorney/agency as before, so i trust them. but i sure didn't like it very much.

i tried to focus on how much i know stuff costs. guatemala wasn't as cheap as i thought it would be. our dr. visit was $100, so there goes part of it. they all use diesel which must be ridiculous in cost right now. groceries & such weren't that much less expensive when we were there.

hope this helps. i'm in the same money boat with you. i sent it, but used my "teacher voice" when i told them not to ask me again!

m.

[gg_cook]

No, the initial fee that I paid was to cover ALL expenses until he came home. There was never a time limit or an additional fee mentioned. When I brought this to their attention today they did not have anything to say. They are demanding payment for May and June. I told them I would have to have an attorney look over it before I would send anything. That being said, I would go to the end of the earth for him and money is not the problem, I just do not want to have all of the fees brought up now and when do we know it will end?

[LJR1974]

Yes, we did have this. There were no additional fees in our contract and yet a couple months ago our agency sent us a similar email. Our atty wanted $400 per month from every client backdating to Jan due to cases taking longer. The fees were due at pickup. We grudgingly paid. I say grudgingly b/c we feel our case could have been handled better.

Maybe you can offer to pay at pickup? Just a thought.

[TryingtoComeHome]

I know our fm was paid $200 a month plus the agency provided her with formula and diapers. Don't forget that these ff need to get paid for their job as well as taking care of the bebies. So, I don't think $400 is that bad.

[t-square]

join the club - $400 is cheap - we are at $500 per month each and every month now until she comes home. it's ok paying it, just would be better if we could enjoy and be with her in addition to taking care of her

[polinski]

We are having to pay 500.00 a month for our son's care. If we would let us all OUT we would not be doin all this. How much more can a human take.

Buffy

[gg_cook]

It is the fact that we paid a boat load (more than I most I have found out) up front with the contact not stating anything about additional foster fees. My point is this, they said that my son would be between 8-12 months old when he came home and that the money that went up front to the atty. was to cover foster care for that time. Lets say that he came home at 6 months old. They would not refund the remainder. My son will be 12 months old in two weeks. So, if they had already factored in the cost of caring for him for 12 months then shouldn't I now have to start paying for foster care? How can they back date it to begin May 1 when they had already worked it into the fees for 12 months and our contract says nothing about additional foster care fees. I think I would of rather of been paying monthly fees from the beginning like it sounds like y'all have rather than have it sprung on me now for two months. I know one family that has 2 children so they now need to come up with $1600 for May and June and the $35 processing fee when we were told from the get go that our intinial fee would cover everything. Did I make any sense with all of that rambling?

[JustBarbara]

Hmm - my contract was very clear $400 per month after six months AND I paid 100% up front but this was 2006 and DS came home at 5.5 months. And no, if he had come home at 3 months there would not have been a refund and I would not have expected it. I really wish the agency had contacted you before to say ah, looks like things will be taking longer so we might be asking clients for another XX per month. Perhaps they were just trying to figure out how to do this so that the longer cases - and the FFs would be supported going forward. I also imagine that the whole process because of new additions to protocol are costing more money. Sorry for the rambling.

[cbmstephanie]

We too paid extra foster care fees after 6 months in process...on both of our adoptions. Ours weren't due though until we paid the final fees. The only thing I don't like about yours is paying for May and June...it doesn't seem like it gives your attorney much incentive to get your case done. I know right now there's nothing he or she can do to speed it up, but when this whole PGN thing is finished hopefully he will be able to get it done quickly.

[mayaprincess]

I think that it is very unfair not to give advance warning. Nine days is not enough. You are having to pay as much as I do on my mortgage. If the mortgage company told me right now that I had to make an extra payment, I would be screwed!

I am so sorry that this is happening and I hope your son comes home quickly. I am praying for you!

Love, R

[jandc]

Ours was written in our contract, although it did not specify an amount. After 6 months they reminded us that this would be the case. DD came home at 9 months and after she was home a month I recieved an invoice with all the reciepts for diapers, formula, medicine and a very nominal foster fee. For all of that and her care we paid 1100 total. It also included a nice note from our attorney which included her asking for payment at our earliest convenience. No demand for immediate remittance. The way it was handled was pleasant, transparent and felt right. So much of this process would be so much more tolerable if it felt that way. Anyway, it did not seem excessive especially with all the receipts. I would ask for a breakdown. 400 and 500 seems like a lot. Is the attorney expecting more $ for their services? To that I would not be happy but in our case we knew it was all for dd and for the foster family.

[BeverlyZ]

Originally Posted by gg_cook

Lets say that he came home at 6 months old. They would not refund the remainder.

Agreed... even if your agency is non-for-profit, they run like a business. They store up money when the adoption runs quickly and use it to pay for the adoptions that don't. Check your contract and hold the agency to it. You are within your rights to do so. Your agency and/or the lawyer will likely eat the costs until the adoption goes through. You can always give money to the foster family when you pick up the baby, just in case she was suffering financially because of the lawyer and agency made the foster family eat the difference. (Our agency's fees went up $2000 while we were in process, after our contract was signed. They did not approach us to pay the extra money since our contract was set at a different fee. We gave cash to our foster family upon pick-up, just in case.)

Our agency's facilitator down in Guatemala screwed up on our visit trip, putting us out $250+. We approached our agency to compensate us, but they explained that it's all part of the adoption process. Likewise... the delays in the process are simply part of the process. Money that changed hands per the contract should suffice.

[ceya]

We do not have an agency. We will be paying the orphanage when all documents are completed. If they were to ask us for more money, I would remind them that the judge told us that once our daughter was taken from foster care and placed in the orphanage, she would be home in 5-6 months. It is almost 3 years. We have had to renew I-171H twice, update our homestudy twice, be fingerprinted twice, etc. Will they be reimbursing us?

Since the average monthly salary is $140 a month in Guatemala, and most of the foster mothers are paid between $50-$75 per month; $400 a month seems pretty steep. The attorneys keep most of the money!