Dear Sir/Madam,

My name is Lisa Sinclair Smith and I live in Novato, CA. I also own a

flat in Moscow, Russia and have worked as a Russian adoption facilitator

in Russia since 1993 for two different US adoption agencies. During this

time, I have completed over 500 Russian adoptions with my team of

Russian coordination staff and translators. I have worked in 12

different regions of Russia, and I have sub-contracted employment to 7

different Russian coordinators \'under\' me. All along, our focus has

been the waiting child, with over half our adoptions being of orphans

over the age of 5 years old. We have also helped several dozen

physically disabled orphans become adopted since 1993.

I have read the proposed State Department regulations in regard to the

Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption; Accreditation of Agencies;

Approval of Persons; Preservation of Convention Records; Proposed Rules

and would like to make the following recommendations and comments as

follows:

1\. Regarding SUBPART B - section 96.39 - subpart (d) - which states:

\"The agency or person does not require a client or prospective client
to

sign a blanket waiver of liability in connection with the provision of

adoption services in Convention cases\" - I AGREE with this statement IF

insurance companies would allow both American and Russian adoption

facilitators like myself to purchase liability insurance, but I DISAGREE

with this regulation if the insurance industry does not give us

facilitators the option to purchase insurance at a reasonable price, as

they never have.

I believe adoption agencies should also be made accountable to cover

'independent contractors' like myself with insurance. The two adoption

agencies have have worked with the past 10 years have not done covered

me.

I myself, being am American, yet at the same time, being a Russian

adoption facilitator in Russia where I own a flat and have lived for the

better part of 10 years, have been unable to purchase business

insurance, professional liability insurnace or adoption agency insurance

of any kind since I have been in this profession because insurance

companies, when they find out I facilitate Russian adoptions, want

nothing to do with me. They claim there is no \'category\' I fall into

because I am not an adoption agency nor am I a social worker.

At the same time, I know of two families who have sued the agencies I

have worked for concerning a Russian adoption of theirs in which they

have claimed all sorts of things that were not accurate. They claimed

\'fraud\' and that the \'Russian facilitator committed lies, deceipt and

non-disclosure of information\' about their child prior to the child\'s

adoption. In fact, none of their accusations were true, but the defense

it cost my agency to prove they were not true cost my agency a

fortune. In fact, what really happened, I believe, was those families

had marital problems prior to their adoption and thought adopting a

Russian child would solve those problems. In fact, that didn\'t happen

and both the marriage as well as the adoption fell apart. Not wanting

to admit their own failings and wanting to find a scapegoat instead,

they sued the agency in an attempt to recover damages.

Agencies as well as facilitators have a right to protect themselves from

well intentioned adoptive parents who decide to sue. Some adoptive

parents, while well

intentioned, suffer from significant marital and/or personal issues

which homestudy agency social workers often do not identify, thus

resulting in those couples going forward to adopt when in fact they

should not be permitted to.

What blame does the homestudy agency social worker have in the whole

story? Why should facilitators and agencies NOT require families to sign

a liability waiver statement as a guarentee that those families realize

what they are doing and take personal responsiblity for adopting a child

internationally, with all the ramifications that adoption entails?

Having helped over 500+ Russian orphans become adopted during the last

10 years, I am proud of what I have done and do not wish to leave my

profession. At the same time, my profession offers me as a facilitator

no protection at all. As well, the agency I work with will have little

protection as well if you do not permit some sort of liability waiver to

be required to be signed by parents so they realize the seriousness of

what they are about to embark upon - the adoption of a child.

2\. Regarding Subpart B - section 96.46 - B4 - \"Requires the foreign

supervised provider to compensate its directors, officers and employees

who provide intercountry adoption services on a fee-for-service, hourly

wage, or salary basis, rather than based on whether a child is placed

for adoption or on a similar contingent fee basis\". I do NOT agree with

this suggestion because I know it simply will not work because adoption

coordinators, in Russia, have for 10 years worked on a per case basis

and those who are most successful and help the most children do so

because they are paid per case. I suspect that half as many Russian

adoptions will happen if employees are paid on a salary basis, because

this is not what they are used to. In general, whether employees are

paid on a per case basis or a salary basis will have no effect on the

professional performance of the employee. They will continue to perform

their work, simply in an un-motivated fashion (which could result in

sloppy paperwork) rather than in a motivated fashion. Turning our

profession into a 'socialist' compensation scheme will not result in

more ethical practicies; it

will result in more lazy practices. It will have the opposite effect

that you intend. Even if you don\'t intend for it to.

3\. Regarding Subpart B - section 96.46 - C1-2 - \"The agency or

person, when acting as the primary provider and using foreign supervised

providers to provide adoption services in other Convention countries,

does the following in relation to risk management:

\(1\) Assumes tort, contract, and other civil liabilities to the

prospective adoptive parents for the foreign supervised provider\'s

provision of the contracted adoption services and its compliance with

the standards in this subpart F; and

\(2\) Maintains a bond, escrow account, or liability insurance in an

amount sufficient to cover the risks of liability arising from its work

with foreign supervised providers\"

THIS SECTION IS TERRIFIC! THANK GOODNESS we forign faciliators will be

protected. However, the only suggestion I would make here is that you

require the adoption agencies to assess a specific fee to both the

foreign facilitator AND the local homestudy agency (who has written the

homestudy of the family) towards contributing towards this insurance,

which I\'m sure is very expensive. I\'d suggest a flat fee to be charged

to the facilitator per case (I realize this will raise oversees fees,

but so be it), as well as a flat fee per homestudy written to the

homestudy agency (who needs to have MUCH more accountability they they

do now concerning each homestudy they write).

Please contact me should you have any questions on my above comments.

Yours Sincerely,

Lisa Sinclair Smith

7 McIntosh Ct.

Novato, CA 94949

tel#415-382-1550

fax#415-884-4472