DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — An adoption agency operating in 16 states notified clients on Tuesday that it was bankrupt, leaving hundreds of families unsure of what would happen next.
The Independent Adoption Center has been operating in Georgia since 2001.
The agency's office in Tucker now has notes on the door from families demanding their personal documents.
The Department of Human Services said the agency did not follow state regulations because it did not provide a plan for the transfer of sensitive family records to the state.
The DHS released a statement that said in part: "The Department's priority is to assist families with active cases with IAC, so that they are able to get into contact with an agency representative and retrieve their files and/or have them appropriately transferred to another licensed adoption agency of their choice."
Some families said they are out $10,000 after the agency never fulfilled their contract obligations.
"It's not refundable and they don't pretend it's refundable," former client Adam Griff said.
Adam and Bobbee Griff began trying to grow their family through the Independent Adoption Center in 2012.
"We obviously didn't place through them and ended up having to do it on our own," Bobbee Griff said.
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The couple ended up finding their son by working with an out-of-state attorney.
The Griffs said what happened at the agency makes no sense.
"I don't know what they spent all the money on," Adam Griff said. "I don't know. It's baffling because their expenses are pretty limited to staff costs, marketing costs, but most of the direct costs the clients pay."
The agency's tax filings show revenue between $4.6 million and $6.5 million between 2011 and 2014.
Eric Hutcherson and his husband Keith had similar questions when they found out the agency had shut down.
"We've given them $20,000, none of which we can recover," Hutcherson said. "We were lied to for the past 18 months about what they were going to do and they haven't done, so it's the feeling of starting all over again."
The Hutchersons were able to get their records back. They said it’s just the first step in starting the long adoption process all over again.
"So now we pick up the pieces and move forward to it. We're not going to let this stop us or deter us from what the ultimate goal is," Keith Hutcherson said.
Channel 2's Nicole Carr left messages with the agency's main office in California, but the calls were not returned.
Carr went to the home of the woman listed as the registered agent of the Tucker office, and the woman declined to answer the door.
Carr has been in contact with the Georgia Secretary of State's Office, which should have more guidance for clients in the coming days.
Families seeking a licensed adoption agency in Georgia can visit this website: https://dhs.georgia.gov/child-placing-agencies-cpa.
Cox Media Group
