- Children at Casa Quivira receive loving, private foster care.
- They receive excellent daily medical attention during the adoption process.
- Normal travel time to Guatemala for completion of the adoption procedure is 3-4 days.
- Individuals, as well as families, are eligible for international adoption.
- There are no age minimum or maximum limits for adoptive parents.
- Most adoptions through Casa Quivira are completed in 8-10 months from the time that referral of a child is accepted.
August 30, 2007
One week after the children in the care of Casa Quivira were ordered transferred the whereabouts and wellbeing of all forty-two (42) children continues to be unknown. Read Press Release
August 27, 2007
The whereabouts and wellbeing of the remaining forty-two (42) children from Casa Quivira which were under the intervention by the President's Office for Social Welfare (Secretaria de Bienestar Social de la Presidencia, SBSP) continues to be unknown. Read Press Release
August 25, 2007
Two US Families Granted Custody of Their Casa Quivira Children Read Press Release
August 24, 2007
All 35 Children in Casa Quivira under the Intervention of the Guatemalan President's Office for Social Welfare (Secretaria de Bienstar Social de la Presidencia, SBSP), have been removed from the Casa Quivira Home. Whereabouts and Wellbeing of Nine (9) Children earlier Removed from Casa Quivira by the SBSP continues to be unknown. Read Press Release
August 23, 2007
Guatemalan National Police Attempt Illegal Raid of Offices of Casas Quivira in Antigua, Guatemala. Whereabouts and Wellbeing of Nine (9) Children Removed from Casa Quivira by the Secretaria de Bienestar Social de la Presidencia (SBSP) continues to be unknown. Read Press Release
About Us
After Clifford Phillips and Sandra Gonzalez married, a friend approached them to ask if they would be willing to help another friend in the U.S. to complete an adoption of a Guatemalan baby. The intermediary agency that the family had worked with asked Cliff and Sandra to complete more adoptions and soon they shifted focus and were processing adoptions full time. For several years individual foster mothers were hired to care for the babies while the adoptions were in process. However, Cliff and Sandra discovered that it was nearly impossible to adequately monitor the foster homes to ensure that each child was receiving appropriate stimulation, nutrition, and medical care. Most of the foster mothers also had several children of their own to care for, as well as perform their many daily household chores and they were not educated to detect developmental or medical problems in the children. There were several occasions when the children had significant medical concerns that the foster mothers did not detect or report. Cliff and Sandra decided they wanted to establish a facility where they could have 24 hour/day access to monitor the well-being of the children as well as provide more diligent medical care. They would also be able to provide nannies whose focus was to care for the children only without other chores to do.In 1996 they opened their first children's home, Casa Quivira.
When asked where the name Casa Quivira originated, Clifford described a mythical place believed more than 300 years ago to have "abundant wealth, thriving agriculture and a sophisticated culture where families ate their meals on plates fashioned of gold", that the Spaniards searched for following the conquest of the Aztec kingdom. Many set out on ventures hoping to find their fortunes there. Clifford learned this from the owner of Quivira Vineyards in Healdsburg, CA after inquiring about the name and logo on their wines. Clifford liked the legend of Quivira, and thought it an appropriate name, given Cliff and Sandra's mission of finding better lives for the children that were being placed with them for adoption. And he felt that the ship on the logo well represented the "voyage to a better life" for the children. So, he asked permission from the owner of the vineyard to use the name and logo for the children's home, and the owner agreed, finding the mission of Casa Quivira to be quite honorable.
