Devos' Adoption Mill: Bethany Christian Services, Grand Rapids, MI, has taken in 81 immigrant childr

[Wwcd]

Link to tweet

From the Link:

Link to tweet

Documents (2013) for the Richard & Helen DeVos Foundation show that they contributed $250,000 to Bethany Christian Services. The Dick & Betsy DeVos Foundation provided $25,000 to Bethany in 2013.

Betsy DeVos Wants to Use America’s Schools to Build “God’s Kingdom”
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/01/betsy-devos-christian-schools-vouchers-charter-education-secretary/

Bethany works to find families for children living in orphanages in Eastern Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Since 1944 Bethany has placed over 50,000 children in Christian homes."

Interested in "adoption"? [click here]
https://www.mnnonline.org/mission_groups/bethany-christian-services/



Here's the way Bethany Skirts the Laws

In six months they'll file abandonment petitions on John Doe and Jane Doe.

That's the plan. They have no intention of trying to find, much less uniting parents with their children. It's a radical Christian adoption trafficking mill.

It is reported that Bethany charges $50,000 pr child


MSM needs to get on the DeVos Bethany Christian Services migrant story ASAP before the required wait to label them "abandoned" expires.

https://www.bethany.org/other-services/refugee-and-immigrant-services


Devos' adoption mill: Bethany Christian Services, Grand Rapids, MI, has taken in 81 immigrant children snatched from their parents under the new Trump kidnapping plan. Ask them if they have names & addresses of the parents. I bet they don't. They don't want the names & addresses.

Link to tweet

[Wwcd]

1. And This:

Link to tweet

[StevieM]

2. My heart broke when I heard this. Bethany Christian Services is the worst of the worst

when it comes to pursuing coerced adoptions.

[Wwcd]

3. I hope we already have 100 Avennatis heading squarely

for this level of criminality.

There is a reason that HHS, etc just blew off any possibility of creating a system of tracking kids & parents.
They wanted them to disappear., never to be united with family again.

This is global mob level business.

[Me.]

4. Free Maid Service For Life

[lunasun]

5. I figured her brother Erik Prince to have some hand$ in this horror show . Should have

figured her too
That's right they do not want the name of the parents
"Lost" for profit and trafficking

[dixiegrrrrl]

6. This is jaw dropping.

I tend to forget the fanaticism people can have about social engineering. In this case, disguised by religion.
And of course all that money.

Hope Avenatti and others are onto this.

[Hortensis]

7. Anyone whose work has ever involved processing

anything has to realize the lack of parents' names and other data identifying them on these children's records must be deliberate. Cannot be otherwise. The Trump administration is requiring foster care agencies to not provide information on the children they hold, including to state agencies. Federal agencies are also not responding to requests for information, even by state agencies.

This is an incredible evil. And stupid. The national outrage may not remain at current pitch, but it will continue to be energized by stories generated by activities of state governments and private organizations working to care for and reconnect the children with their families.

From Newsday regarding ONE New York activity as only one example:

State demands info on separated children, threatens agencies: Letters from the Office of Mental Health and Office of Children and Family Services warn foster care agencies of fines, suspensions if the data is not produced.

The Cuomo administration is threatening fines, suspensions and criminal prosecution if foster care and youth care agencies throughout New York don’t turn over detailed information about whether they are housing immigrant children who have been separated from their parents as part of the Trump administration’s border policy.

The demands for information and threats of penalties were contained in letters sent late Thursday afternoon through the state Office of Mental Health and Office of Children and Family Services, according to copies obtained by Newsday.

And it occurred just hours after Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo held a news conference to blast the Trump administration for its “zero-tolerance” border policy and the separation of migrant children from their families. The governor, a Democrat who is up for re-election, also harshly criticized what he called a federal gag placed on foster care providers and the Trump administration’s refusing to respond to information requests.

In the missive, the state demanded the foster care groups submit “copies of any contract your agency has executed with the federal government to provide direct or indirect care to any immigrant children,” as well as summaries of any verbal agreements. The letters also asked for the name and age of each child, country of origin, language spoken, parents’ names and details of their separation. The agencies were told to respond by 10 a.m. Friday via encrypted email. “Failure to respond timely to this request may result in the state’s suspension, revocation or limitation of your residential program’s operating certificate . . . and/or the referral of the matter for criminal prosecution,” acting Children and Family Services Commissioner Sheila J. Poole wrote.

https://www.newsday.com/long-island/politics/spin-cycle/state-demands-info-on-separated-children-threatens-agencies-1.19346655

It's clear the states are already aware of the profiteering of these mass kidnappings and, for some, that it will fall on them to reunite the families, plus many other issues such as providing schooling and other social services.

[eppur_se_muova]

8. K&R. Really needs more eyeballs. nt

[Hortensis]

9. Last night NPR reported a mother's claim that she was

told her child would be adopted and she wouldn't see him again before age 18. Even if someone said that, it doesn't mean that person knew anything of fact, but still. Many of these brown-skinned children were separated with obviously no intention of reuniting them with their parents in this or any other nation.

"Where are the girls?" I'm just so glad at least some of the 6 known state governments are heavily involved, even though last I read Michigan's governor said it was the federal government's responsibility to reunite the families, not MI's.

South Carolina's governor, Henry McMaster, rushed to suck up to Trump by supporting these vicious atrocities and confirming sending troops to the border. He was apparently rewarded, or at least not given the boot, in SC's primary the next week. Cook report has this troglodyte scumbag's chances of reelection as "likely Republican" after this. (He just cut $16M from the state healthcare budget, giving an excuse that it was to make sure none of it went for abortion.)

[eppur_se_muova]

10. Western Michigan, eh ? Did you see this ?

https://upload.democraticunderground.com/100210770761#post5

[Hortensis]

11. :) DeVos involvement hit the news almost immediately.

Something else that worked right, private groups and fourth estate shining a spotlight on the crime scene as it developed.

DeVos is making appropriate noise now about commitment to reuniting their 60 or more children with their parents. It was dedication to reunification that flew those children to MI as billing numbers on a DeVos-linked contract?

This reveals so many things bizarrely wrong with these people. I suspect those behind this, almost certainly including DeVos herself, really thought they could get away with turning thousands of kidnapped children into income streams, and to bring them to God via their true religion of course. Wonder what Bethany Christian Services alone is being paid per day per head? And what adoption services would have been billed at?

[eppur_se_muova]

12. Time for Congress to look into how all those contracts were awarded.

I'm sure they'll get right on it ... after the January swearing-in.

[michigan10]

13. Please give this a read, understand the truth!

Friends, I am someone who does foster care through Bethany. I hope you will listen and trust that I only care about the truth and helping people who are in horrible situations.
I don’t know how to respond to this other than to say that most of this is simply not true and Bethany is on OUR side of this issue. The only thing that will come from fighting against organizations like Bethany (and not focusing on the current administration) is immigrant children and their families being in worse situations and children separated from their parents for longer times.

-First, the government snatched these children from their parents. Almost every one of the children separated from their parents and placed in Bethany’s care has been reunited with their parents! The very few remaining will be returning very soon (and trust me, the only reason they have not is because of horrible things this administration did) This is simply the truth that cannot be disputed. The very first thing they do is try to identify who and where the parents are and begin to try and reunite them. No abandonment petitions ever. Bethany has never ever had an unaccompanied minor not reunite with their family. Not an “adoption mill.” Also, I think we can all agree that although adoption should be a last option it is a necessary and good thing for those who need it. As progressives, human rights is something I know you we all care about!

The other option for these kids was going to large facilities with many children in them, where they cannot receive the caring love of a family. In those facilities they will not receive the same level of professional education and counseling as they do with Bethany (I promise you), or have some of the best caseworkers that are able to wade through the bureaucratic/legal mess the government has created for these families and get the kids returned extremely quickly.

-Bethany has clearly, directly, and repeatedly spoken out against this administration and terrible decisions they have made (the Muslim ban and separating children just being two examples). They also continue to fight against other terrible immigration policies and laws. They are on your side on these issues! Also, I can confidently tell you that most of the people working on these immigrant families behalf’s against this administration for Bethany vote Democrat and I would be shocked if even one voted for the current president. The same goes for the other foster parents doing this program (many of whom are immigrants from Latin America themselves).

-Bethany does not make money off children. I don’t even know what to say since this is so ludicrous but they are non-profit, and yes do receive government money that is used to give immigrants and refugees amazing care. Do you not want the government to support immigrants, refugees and orphans, seriously? Employees for Bethany make nothing close to what they work they do is worth, trust me, there is no job there that someone is doing for the money, only because they care for others (you should see the cars some of them drive if you want proof).
Yes, Bethany does tell people what they do and ask for financial support. Do you really think that this administration is sending enough funding so they can help these immigrants? They do need money to do what they do, and this only covers costs they already have that help them give better assistants to immigrants and asylum seekers. Again, do we progressives really not want money going to help immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, orphans, and to fight against human trafficking and poverty? I don’t know but I think we all do support that!

-Side note. Many non-Christians do foster care and work with Bethany in other ways. Children in all of Bethany’s services have the choice to take part in whatever religion (or to not take part in any) they choose and regardless of the religion of a family that may be caring for them.

-Please do not waste your time with “this one lady who is in the government working for this President who a few years had a son of an uncle of the guy she married to who worked for this organization…” I’m sorry but this means nothing. Also, is it really that shocking that multi-millionaires who are Christian donated a few hundred thousand dollars to a Christian organization that is in their town, as they have every other large Christian organization in there town (and dozens, if not more, of donations to non-Christian non-profit organizations in their town). Friends. Please. This simply is not some scheme. It makes sense if you take a second to think about it. (And again, would you prefer they not be donating money to help immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, orphans, and to fight against human trafficking and poverty? Would you prefer they send more money to some conservative politicians instead of immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, orphans, and to fight against human trafficking and poverty? This is a win for us!)

-My wife and I signed up to do this to help children. Trust me, we know the system is a mess and believe that our policies on immigration our wrong. We signed up to care for unaccompanied minors, who come without an immediate relative. This is done to protect children from traffickers and get them in to safe homes with their families. What this administration did separating children from their families (or what they are doing, detaining immigrant and asylum seeking families as if they are criminals) was horrible. What my family did and what Bethany is doing is trying to fight against this and help these people.

I beg you to fight against these policies. Fight for immigration reform. Fight for immigrants, asylum seekers, and children. Fight for human rights. Don’t fight against the people trying to do good or turn to dishonest, mudslinging politics. Stuff like this does not help our cause or things we believe in. Do your homework, learn facts, and fight for what is right!

[lagomorph777]

17. Sorry, if DeVos is associated with Bethany, your credibility is crap.

[Demsrule86]

18. This is an adoption mill...and sorry those kids should not be there. They will be adopted and lost

to their parents forever.

[FakeNoose]

19. I believe that you may be sincere in your desire to help children

However these immigrant children are not orphans. They have parents, and they were stolen illegally. Some of the children don't have identification, and they're too young to know their own names or the names of their parents.

The government has no right to steal these children, and there is certainly no reason for Bethany to participate in this travesty. Except for the money. The government is paying Bethany $700 per child, per day.

I understand that the money doesn't go into the volunteers' pockets, or the salaried caregivers' pockets. But the money is going somewhere and it's not being accounted for. Don't be deceived by the greedy people running this organization who hide behind religion while they line their pockets.

If the US government can afford to pay Bethany $700 per child per day, why can't they spend anything to help the immigrant or asylum-seeking families stay together?

[michigan10]

21. Agree with you but understand...

Bethany is not associated with Betsy Devos. That is a fact. If people don't like that they have connections to her cousins husband and his political views that is fine but we should not be trying to smear an organization for unfounded reasons. I strongly disagree with what Betsy is trying to do with our school systems and I do what I can to fight against that but I will not use the tactics that the right uses to create fear and smear when it is baseless. Again, they are not an adoption mill. Do you know any women that have put there child up for adoption through them? Do you know people who were adopted children through Bethany? I am sorry, but if not than please do not try and tell me what they are doing. I know these people personally and we have a desperate need for these services in our country (and for orphans in other countries throughout the world).

FakeNoose, you are correct, these are not orphans, they were illegally stolen from there parents. Also, you are correct that some children don't have identification (or have it taken or "lost" by border officials in stories these kids have told me). BUT Bethany has figured out who EVERY SINGLE ONE of the kids is and found ALL of their parents. We even had a girl that speaks a Guatemalan dialect that very few speak. They were able to figure out which one and very quickly, find her father, who immigration had already deported, and get her back to her family already. We had a 3 year old that Bethany was able to get back to her mother in less than 3 weeks (I promise you this is way faster than these large children shelters that apparently some people would rather have them sent through. The FACT is ZERO of the unaccompanied minors that have been in Bethany's care have every been put up for adoption. Neither have or will any of the kids separated from their parents (of whom very, very few are left). ALL of these kids have been reunited with there families.

I can tell you that these families know this as well. All of the parents and families of the separated children that I cared for through Bethany, I promise you will only have good things to say about Bethany. They know that Bethany was there to help them when the government ripped their families apart. These people were wise enough to see what was happening here. Are we?

Bethany if fighting the same fight we are. They fought the federal government to end the child separations, even before May when it became large scale at the order of the President. Every dime of the money they receive is being accounted for. (2017 financial statements: https://bcswwwstorage.blob.core.windows.net/media/Default/Donor/Bethany%20Christian%20Services%20(Long)-1217-Final-1.pdf) No one in this non-profit is getting wealthy. It goes to foster parents (I promise we spend more than what we are paid for caring for these kids), clinicians, and professional educators (all of whom are simply not well paid). This is less than what the large shelter cost the government. Yes, absolutely, they should be spending this money to keep families together.
This is exactly what Bethany fought the government for. In public statements Bethany condemned the federal government for using children as deterrents and called for them to end this policy from the time they started. They also were one of the first organizations to contact media outlets to get the word out about what was happening to help the general public understand and get them to fight against these policies. They were helping the families affected by this and advocating the end of it. Here is their most recent statement about the current situation.

"The Executive Order recognizing the importance of keeping families together is only the first step to reversing the harm caused by the “zero tolerance” policy targeting vulnerable families and children who are seeking refuge, and much uncertainty remains. While keeping families together is the right thing to do, keeping families in detention facilities is still extremely traumatic and harmful for children. Family separation and family detention should not be the only solutions to a problem that never needed to exist. Instead, Congress and the administration should focus on community-based services and reforms that protect children and families. It is still too soon to determine how the order will impact vulnerable families and children, but we remain committed to their safety and well-being, and keeping families together."

They have also recommended alternatives to family detention. https://bcswwwstorage.blob.core.windows.net/media/Default/Campaigns/Refugee%20Family%20Separation/7.10.18%20FINAL%20Bethany%20Policy%20Recommendation%20Press%20Release.pdf

Maybe I am alone in this, but the reason I want to see Democratic officials elected is so our world can be a better place. I am not here to fight against everyone that has different views than myself and to attempt to make others look bad, especially when they are doing good for the world. It seems to be that some people care more about destroying those that have different views no matter what the cost rather than people and the improvement of our country being the most important. If we disagree on things, lets fight for that issue, not make it about something else. Let's elect Democrats that will care for immigrants and refugees! And let's not put politics above supporting immigrants and refugees.

[FakeNoose]

24. I wasn't aware of this, thanks for correcting me

If this is true that Bethany has succeeded in reuniting the children with their parents, then that is awesome news. And it's greatly to your credit for doing it because the government hasn't helped. As a matter of fact they've created the mess that you are helping to solve.

Please continue to be a part of Democratic Underground. I assure you that we don't normally attack and criticize new members. Usually we encourage everyone to participate in our sometimes lively discussions, and we try to be friendly towards divergent opinions.

Thanks for setting me (us) straight on this.

[heaven05]

20. tell Devos

to put some of those children on one of her 10 super-sized yachts and return them to their deported parents. DeVos involved, it is a VERY suspicious post

http://www.toledoblade.com/local/2018/07/25/DeVos-40-million-yacht-vandalized-at-Huron-dock-npr.html She has 10 of this type boat

[PufPuf23]

14. What Snopes says about Bethany Christian Services and DeVos

https://www.snopes.com/news/2018/06/26/bethany-christian-services-family-separation-betsy-devos/


Can't get any text to copy.

[Wwcd]

15. Yup. They avoided the questions, & gave the cultish sanitized answer.

Snopes couldn't get enough of a response from Bethany , as to any of their questions offered to verify Bethany's credibility.

Bethany/DeVos is a child trafficking business.

Just as we have discovered.

They don't want any light of day shined on their filthy business.

Good find PufPuf23

Thanks

[michigan10]

22. Couple of things...

I responded to some of this above but to answer this:
First, they did not avoid questions "We also asked Bethany what the end date is on its contract with the government, and whether it was keeping track of the identity and whereabouts of each child, as well as the identity and whereabouts of each child’s parent, but we did not receive a response to those questions."
Quite honestly, the time of their contract, which for their unaccompanied minor work was signed with ORR early in the Obama administration (which is the program that helped separated children), has nothing to do with any of this. Secondly, they did answer the question about keeping track of children multiple times in their other answers. I'm sorry, but if you actually thing they are not keeping track of identities and whereabouts of children and families, you clearly have no understanding of what's going on. As a foster parent of these kids who works closely with their caseworkers, they know all of this information for all of the children and parents! It very offensive for random reporters and people to be claiming that myself or the people are work with are part of some scheme that hides children and doesn't try to find parents, especially what it is completely unfounded. This is why almost all have ben reunited for weeks already thanks to Bethany.

You can try and make some donations and distant family relations about something they're not or just accept the truth. It sounds like anger has overtaken compassion and truth (let's not be like them).
You can choose to trust someone that has given everything I have had for the past few months trying to be a bit of hope for others in a disgusting situation, working directly with these children, their parents, and the organization helping them, or trust a reporter who saw a meme twitter, can do a family tree, and sent a couple emails.

[FSogol]

23. Choo-choo! Here comes the Excuse Train!

"but we did not receive a response to those questions."

[michigan10]

25. I would argue that they did give answers to these...

but regardless...why does this matter if they have kept track of where children and parents are and have reunified them. I do suppose you are right that they did not respond about the length of the contract but I guess, what does that matter? If they are fighting against the governments human rights abuses, keeping children out of large shelters, and taking great care of separated children and quickly reuniting them with their families (they also often help inform these families of resources where they are settling and refer them to good legal help) what is that worth? What does it have to do with the issue at hand? Again, we don't like Betsy Devos' decisions and plans for our education system, we don't like politicians that her grandparents have supported. Let's do our part to fight against that, but let's not make this into something its not.

[lagomorph777]

16. So Trump is selling his kidnapping victims to his Secretary of Ignorance

Disgusting.

Throw Trump and DeVos in a cage and throw away the key.

[yurbud]

26. Did this child separation policy start after the second season of HANDMAID'S TALE dropped?

It seems eerily similar.

[keithbvadu2]

27. Child trafficking for profit ...

Human trafficking for profit ...

Immigrant children describe hunger and cold in detention

https://apnews.com/1a8db84a88a940049558b4c450dccc8a/Immigrant-children-describe-hunger-and-cold-in-detention

"They were hungry, after being given what they say were frozen sandwiches and smelly food."

For $700 a day?

Human trafficking for profit

Trump called them animals anyway.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100210900475
https://upload.democraticunderground.com/10142112079