About
Memberships and Accreditation
West Sands Adoptions is:
- Hague Accredited
- A member of JCICS (Joint Council on International Children’s Services)
- A member of Utah Adoption Council
- A member of Southern Utah Adoption Coalition
Our beliefs
Over 15 years ago West Sands Adoptions, a licensed 501(c)(3) non-profit child placing agency in Utah, was established with the following core beliefs: We are all children of a kind and loving Heavenly Father and every orphaned child deserves a loving family through the gift of adoption. We believe that loving families include a mother and father, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, cousins and grandparents. We believe every child needs to be loved, cherished, and well cared for.
We believe that loving families have the right to bless the lives of orphaned children and to increase or complete their families through adoption. We believe West Sands Adoptions has the responsibility to provide extremely reliable and very high quality adoption services to families at the lowest possible cost. We believe that adopting a child should be a very positive and happy experience. One of the Chinese translations of the name West Sands is “A Sacred Mission.” We believe this best describes our adoption philosophy.
Our staff
Please let me introduce our staff. I am Kent C. Parke, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and the Executive Director of W.S.A., with over 30 years experience in adoption. It is my responsibility to oversee every aspect of our agency and be sure that every child being placed and every family adopting has a positive and rewarding experience. My wife Lynn Parke, B.S. (a graduate in Social Work) is our document coordinator. (My wife and I are pictured together at right.) Keith Parke, B.S. (a graduate student in Social Work at the University of Utah) serves as our media and newsletter coordinator.
Our Special Projects Director is Weston Whatcott, Ph.D., L.C.S.W. in social work and founder of W.S.A. He and his wife Sandy help develop adoption opportunities for W.S.A. We have an exceptional board of directors which include an attorney, accountant, civil engineer, and professional educator who has adopted three children. Our secretarial and training staff is excellent and our dedicated and professional international staff in China and Ethiopia are the very finest.
At your request, West Sands Adoptions will gladly make available the following information: (a) the number of our adoption placements per year for the prior three calendar years, and the number and percentage of those placements that remain intact, are disrupted, or have been dissolved as of the time the information is provided; and (b) the number of parents who apply to adopt on a yearly basis, based on the last three calendar years. West Sands Adoptions places “Waiting Children” through China’s program of adoption for special needs and waiting children. However, we do not have our own list of waiting children at this time. Parents who apply for adoption through programs with West Sands Adoptions will not be referred a child for placement until a child becomes available through the appropriate Central Authority in the child’s country of origin.
