[happyhome]

Hi there,
My agency is one of those caught up in this whole reaccredidation/NGO mess. I recently received a letter from them saying they are looking into two options to allow their families to complete adoptions: independent and using an umbrella agency. Whether or not we can go independent will depend on the region (as far as I know right now). I was wondering though, how does working with an umbrella agency work? Is your agency going through the same pool of referrals that the umbrella agency is? Do you become a client of the umbrella agency and work with the orphanages they work with, or does your agency get to continue "business as normal," just using the umbrella agency's name?

I know neither of these options are ideal, but switching agencies is not an option for us right now. I'm just trying to get as much info as possible at this point.

Thanks for your help.

[mauserhaus]

As I understand it.... the agency your agency umbrella's under becomes responsible for your (and your agency's) actions. Besides that, most things continue as they would if your agency had accreditation. Their regions, referrals, etc.

Hope this helps.

[mixtim]

Our agency uses another agency's accredidation, but that's it as far as I can tell in terms of the accrediated agency's involvement. They don't share referrals, they work in different regions, they are essentially 2 entirely different businesses entirely. We don't call the other agency and they certainly would not call us.

In our case, it doesn't really bother me that my own agency umbrellas. We relied on their good reputation when we selected them, and the agency they work under also has a great reputation. Plus, the two have worked in this arrangement for many years. I asked my agency once why they didn't just go get their own accreditation and was basically told it was expensive and a hassle and it made better business sense for them just to work under the other one (for a big fee I'm sure). I'm sure if they felt their business was in any jeopardy due to their not having their own accrediation, they be would rushing to get that paperwork in. I have no doubt they could get accredited if it came down to it.

[DaniJ]

Turns out My agency wasn't an agency at all, so they used an accredited umbrella agency, too. It just meant that the 'umbrella' agency wrote a letter accepting the case from that point forward. The dossier couldn't be submitted until we had that letter (long story there). The translater/coordinator was an employee of the umbrella agency, and received the referrals, etc.
I think they just agree to take on/represent the case after the paperwork is done. It was the one area of our adoption which I did NOT feel uncertain about!
(In fact, I trusted the umbrella agency more than my own.... turns out my instincts were right )

Danielle