Some people have been asking; "Why are there so few agencies listed in the group of agencies certified by CMA?"
The answer is really quite simple, and is composed of two parts.
When CMA was first conceptualized, the objective was to provide a written standard of behaviors which most people would recognize as representing honest and ethical behaviors for agencies. The
Agency Code of Ethics (ACoE) was developed so that anyone might review the codified list of behaviors, and use that list for consideration of which agency to utilize.
It was stated in the beginning of the ACoE/CMA initiative, and it remains true today - that if the only thing ever accomplished by the ACoE/CMA initiative is the publication of a written standard to provide a reference, then the initiative will be successful - and it is successful.
The other reason for so few certified agencies is that CMA is not staffed with paid employees. To move this initiative forward, we depend on the volunteer efforts of others, mostly from the
Russian Women Discussion site. We anticipate that most efforts at CMA will require substantial time to implement, and there is no anxiety on our part because of it. The certification program is very much secondary to codification and publication of the ACoE.
The current value of CMA lies in the fact that those agencies who are listed can be counted to be honest and ethical. Additionally, the ACoE in Spanish, Russian, and English, codifies the behaviors which people should look for when considering doing business with any agency.
