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Hague Adoption Convention
Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in
Respect of Intercountry Adoption
Joint Council on
International Children’s Services embraces the ideals embodied in the
Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect
of Intercountry Adoption. The listing of Hague-accredited/denied
agencies can be found on the State Department
website.
November 19,
2008
U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has issued a
release
reminding prospective adoptive parents to submit complete
application and petition packages for international adoptions under
the Hague Adoption
Convention to ensure timely processing.
Since April 1, 2008, the NBC has received more than 1,300 Hague
applications and petitions. USCIS has found that a majority of cases
are incomplete, requiring prospective adoptive parents to submit
additional information after they filed their initial application or
petition. In an effort to speed up this part of the process, the
NBC is working with adoption agency representatives to identify the
necessary requirements for an initial Hague application, including:
Ensuring that your home study is no more than 6 months old at the
time that it is filed with USCIS.
Ensuring that you have a Hague accredited agency complete your home
study, or have a Hague accredited agency review and approve it,
prior to submitting it, along with your Form I-800A to USCIS.
Submitting a Consent to Disclose Information supplement if you would
like the NBC to communicate with your adoption service provider on
issues related to your case as it moves through processing.
November 17,
2008
The U.S.
Department of State has released the orphan visa totals for 2008 on
their new Intercountry Adoption website (http://adoption.state.gov/).
You may find more information on totals by country and region in
these orphan visa statistics.
October 20,
2008
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Since the inception of the child abuse and clearance
requirements for Hague home studies, Joint Council has
advocated for a centralize database of contact information
and a transparent process by which the clearances can be
obtained in a straightforward and timely manner.
Virtually all Member Organizations have found great
difficulties in obtaining clearances particularly those for
clients who resided outside the United States. Many
countries do not have a child abuse registry, some that have
such registries are unresponsive to inquiries, and reliable
sources of contact information are unavailable. The result
is extended delays caused by confusion and/or inaction on
the part of the countries.
While Joint Council strongly supports a full and complete
child abuse clearance for every adoptive parent, it is Joint
Council’s assessment that the extended delays caused by the
confusion over child abuse clearances from foreign
countries, is not in the best interest of children seeking a
permanent family nor of the potential adoptive parents. An
urgent resolution to this issue is most definitely needed by
all parties.
At such time that the foreign element of the child abuse
clearance can be accomplished in a timely manner and without
undue delays for children, Joint Council will fully support
the child abuse clearances for all residences, including in
other countries, of the potential adoptive parent.
While Joint Council has not published much on this issue, it
has continued to be a point of discussion and advocacy with
the U.S. government. Most recently we advocated for a
resolution during our joint quarterly meetings with the
Department of State Office of Children’s Issues, U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services, National Benefits
Center and Joint Council Board. Again last week the issue
of clearances from other countries was addressed with these
key stakeholders.
We remain actively involved and have seen evidence that a
resolution to the foreign country element of the clearance
requirement is being considered. As always, we will keep
you updated as we continue to seek a resolution. |
October 2,
2008
The United States
Citizenship and Immigration Services' Office of Communications has
released "Frequently Asked Questions" on the Hague Inter-country
Adoption Process. You may read the FAQs here.
September 3,
2008
At
the invitation of officials from the National Benefits Center (NBC),
Joint Council participated in its fourth meeting with the NBC on
Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008. The meeting was held at
the offices of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and
included officials from the Department of State (DOS), Department of
Homeland Security (DHS) and other stakeholders. The agenda of the
meeting included an update from the NBC on their recent activities,
stakeholders’
input for improving NBC’s process and a discussion of mechanisms for
a regular exchange of information between the NBC and its
stakeholders.
Joint Council will be initiating
a working group, consisting of officials from USCIS, NBC, NCFA, and
Joint Council. This working
group will increase cooperation amongst government entities and identify
appropriate strategies moving forward. The working group will also
discuss standardized formatting for home studies and home study updates
in order to clarify NBC’s standards. Ensuring consistency in home study
standards remains a priority, and NBC intends to document these
expectations. USCIS and DOS reiterated their commitment to communicate
their expectations to ASPs by forming a closer partnership and
disseminating information to ASP’s. This partnership will provide
increased training to ASPs and will better document and publicize NBC’s
expectations.
USCIS’
latest update on the
Direct Mail Program details the expansion of this program to include
the I-800 and I-800A forms. Beginning on September 25, 2008, applicants
must submit the I-800 and I-800A, including related forms and
supplements, to the USCIS Chicago Lockbox facility for initial
processing. After this date applications should not be mailed to
local USCIS offices. The Lockbox facility will not review applications,
as the adjudication review will still occur at NBC. NBC anticipates
increased gains in efficiency and
a decrease in the overall processing
time after this transition.
Joint
Council
supports NBC’s efforts to increase the clarity of the I-800 and their
renewed commitment to form a partnership between DOS and USCIS to
streamline the process. Joint Council
anticipates the working group to be extremely beneficial in its future
advocacy efforts.
July 29,
2008
Joint Council
participated in a meeting on July 28, 2008, with the U.S. Department
of Justice, U.S. Department of State, Trace International, and the
National Council For Adoption on the subject of transparency and due
diligence reviews in intercountry adoption.
The meeting focused on the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) as
it relates to
the Hague Convention and
intercountry adoption. The overriding goals of the
meeting were to begin a collaborative, educational and preventive
process. This process will assist child welfare
organizations engaged in intercountry adoption to become familiar with
the FCPA and review practices to ensure compliance.
Such preventative measures can only help child welfare organizations to
avoid accreditation issues and support their transparent and ethical
service to children.
As part of the collaborative effort, Trace International, an NGO
performing anti-bribery due diligence reviews and compliance training
for international
organizations, is currently assessing its capacity to assist child
welfare organizations in reviewing in-country staff and conducting
in-country training. Also, Joint Council, in
collaboration with Trace and NCFA, is seeking to develop a Webinar
training for all child welfare organizations.
As noted above Joint Council will join Carolyn Lindsey of Trace
International, Kathleen Hamann of the U.S. Department of Justice, Brian
Lieke of the U.S. Department of State, Susan
Cox of Holt International and Irene Steffas
of Steffas & Associates as speakers at the
ABA International Fall Meeting in Brussels, Belgium on September 25,
2008. The title of the presentation is
Improving Transparency in Inter-Country Adoptions Under the Hague
Convention.
July 11,
2008
The U.S. Department of
State is creating a new inter-country adoption website and is
looking for input by means of a
survey. Please send the
completed survey to
annar@jcics.org by July 31st,
2008.
June 6, 2008
The U.S. Department of
State has issued a fact sheet in response to common questions on
inter-country adoptions. You may view the questions and answers
here.
May 28, 2008
The list of adoption
service providers denied Hague accreditation/approval has been
publicized on the U.S. Department of State's website. The list may
be viewed
here.
April 3,
2008
The
Council on Accreditation has issued a letter to Tom DiFilipo,
President & CEO of Joint Council, further clarifying the process by
which COA accredits/approves adoption service providers in the
United States pursuant to the Hague Convention. To view a copy of
the letter, please click
here.
April 2,
2008
The U.S. Department of State
requested that Joint Council post the following
document.
The article discusses the intercountry adoption process in light of
the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption, which officially went
into force on April 1st.
Please do not hesitate to contact the
Department of State directly at
adoptionusca@state.gov with any questions.
March 22,
2008
Due to concerns regarding the
complexity of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regulations
governing the implementation of the Hague Convention and the
relatively short initial comment period of only 60 days (which
originally ended in December 2007), Joint Council has continued to
advocate for a reopening of the comment period.
We are pleased to announce that DHS has
reopened the comment period for an additional 60-day period effective
Monday, March 24, 2008. Joint Council urges all Member Organizations,
colleagues and adoptive parents to utilize this opportunity to submit
comments on the DHS Hague regulations.
On Tuesday, March 25, 2008, Joint
Council will provide detailed instruction on how you or your
organization can submit comments.
We extend our appreciation to the
Center for Adoption Policy and other organizations for their
collaborative efforts in achieving a reopening of the comment period.
We also thank our colleagues at USCIS and the Department of Homeland
Security for providing this opportunity.
March 19,
2008
Joint Council continues to advocate
for the addition of newly accredited agencies to be posted ‘at the
earliest possible date’ after accreditation. Joint Council has
received confirmation that newly accredited agencies will be posted
to the DOS website within days of their accreditation.
Accordingly, the
list of Hague Accredited agencies has recently been updated on the U.S.
Department of State's
website.
Joint Council would like to extend our congratulations to the many Joint
Council member and affiliate organizations who continue to be added.
Joint
Council was also instrumental in ensuring that the
DOS website include a statement related to the ‘rolling’ nature of
accreditation. This statement is now included on the recently updated
Department of State
website.
Joint Council will be continuously
working with the U.S. State Department as more agencies receive Hague
Accreditation and are listed on the State Department’s
website.
March 7,
2008
Joint Council would like
to reaffirm that the list of approved agencies published on the U.S.
Department of State website published on February 29th identifies
only the first group of agencies that have achieved Hague
Accreditation. The list will be regularly updated as agencies
achieve accreditation on an ongoing basis.
March 3,
2008
Tom DiFilipo,
President & CEO of Joint Council, the Joint Council Board of
Directors, and the Joint Council staff are proud to acknowledge our
many member and affiliate organizations who have recently been
recognized as Hague Accredited by the U.S. Department of State.
The Joint Council
community has been actively involved with the implementation of the
Hague Convention in the United States for over the past decade. We are
especially proud that a majority of the organizations who have already
been Hague Accredited are members and affiliates of Joint Council.
At the same time, we
are confident that even more members and affiliates of the Joint Council
community will be recognized in the coming weeks and months. The
currently published list will continue to be updated over time and is a
small reflection of the many organizations that will be Hague Accredited
in the near future. To view a copy of the list, please visit the U.S.
Department of State's website at
http://www.travel.state.gov/family/adoption/convention/convention_4169.html#.
The Hague Accreditation
process has been complicated and demanding, and many other in-process
organizations should expect to receive Hague Accreditation very soon.
All of our member and affiliate organizations uphold Joint Council’s
Standards of Practice and have demonstrated a commitment to practices
that are in the best interest of children worldwide.
Should any questions
exist about a particular Joint Council member or affiliate organization
pursuing Hague Accreditation, please do not hesitate to contact us at
703-535-8045.
While we are excited
that another stage of Hague implementation is complete, Joint Council
will continue our efforts to ensure that all qualified organizations are
recognized as Hague Accredited, and that the Hague is successfully and
comprehensively implemented in the United States.
April 19,
2007
A
notice was
posted by the U.S. Department of State regarding the deadline for
initial accreditation or approval for agencies in order to be accredited
or approved when the Hague Convention enters into force. To view the
notice, please click
here.
March 09,
2007
The U.S. Department of State has issued two notices regarding
adoption service providers seeking to become accredited/approved.
The first notice concerns what providers should expect from the
accreditation/approval process and can be read by clicking
here.
The second notice clarifies questions primary provider rules for
incoming adoptions and can be read
here.
December 15,
2006
The Council on Accreditation (COA) has
developed several new one-page Tip Sheets which address specific
subjects that agencies may struggle with during COA accreditation. The
Tip Sheets are each available for download below in .pdf format:
October 12,
2006
The Council on
Accreditation has published frequently asked questions regarding the
COA Accreditation and Approval
Application and Schedule of
Fees.
October 5,
2006
The
Hague Accreditation and Approval application period will begin on
Monday, October 9, 2006. Applications will be made
available on COA's site (http://www.coanet.org) at that time. Click
here
for more information about the applications and Webinar meetings COA
will offer to help answer questions about the requirements and
application process.
The transitional application deadline (TAD) for Hague
Accreditation has been published. The deadline to apply for
Accreditation is set for November 17. The TAD is the date by
which adoption service providers in the United States will need to
submit an application if they wish to be accredited, temporarily
accredited, or approved to handle Hague Convention adoptions as of
the time the Convention enters into force for the United States. The
State Department's website at
www.travel.state.gov links to the TAD notice in the Federal
Register or click
here
for a PDF copy.
October 4, 2006 --
BREAKING NEWS!
The Council on Accreditation (COA) has published the
Hague Accreditation fee schedule and information on the
Substantial Compliance System. In a conference call with COA
this week, JCICS was informed that the accreditation/approval fee is
based on budgeted revenue information for an agency's Hague
Convention intercountry adoption program. More information and the
description of these fees can be found on the
COA website.
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Hague News and
Updates
Accrediting Entities
The Department of State has finalized the agreements with the two
accrediting entities under the Hague Convention. The Council
on Accreditation (COA) and the state of Colorado's Department of
Human Services are the two designated entities.
They will use the standards established in 22 CFR Part 96, the final rule
on Accreditation of Agencies and Approval of Persons under the IAA. COA will
accept applications from adoption service providers licensed and located
throughout the United States, while Colorado will limit applications to
providers licensed and operating in the State of Colorado. Both
COA and Colorado expect to begin accepting applications soon after their
fees are approved by the State Department and published later this
summer.
Many agencies have been asking “what does this mean for me now?” and
“when will accreditation start?”
Now
that the accrediting entities have been designated, we are on our way to
accreditation beginning, but first a few more steps need to occur.
The fee schedule (outlining how much accreditation will cost) needs to
be published along with the substantial compliance system (SCS) that
will explain the standards on which agencies will be evaluated for
accreditation and the weight given to each standard. These are
both expected to be published at the end of the summer.
Accreditation
Process:
Once the above criteria is made public, so agencies can decide to
seek accreditation or not, the application process for accreditation
will begin. The "transitional application deadline" or TAD, will be
the cut off date for initial applications for accreditation.
This may occur in September or early October. An agency seeking
accreditation will need to complete an application and submit an
application fee at this time. |
Important Links
Accrediting
Entity Agreements
The Council on Accreditation
Colorado
Regulations
from the Department of State
Final Rules on Reporting on Non-Convention and Convention Adoptions
of Emigrating Children
22 CFR Part 99
(9/12/06)
Proposed
Visa Regulations
22 CFR Part 42 (6/23/06)
Final Regulations on Agency Accreditation and Person Approval (99 pages)
22 CFR Part 96 (2/15/06)
Final Regulations on Record Retention (4 pages)
22 CFR Part 98 (2/15/06)
Final
Regulations on Hague Certificates (8 pages)
22 CFR Part 97 (11/02/06)
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Depending on how many agencies seek accreditation, the accrediting
entities will set the "deadline for initial application or approval" or
the DIAA. During the accreditation process timeframe agencies will
work with the accrediting entities (COA and Colorado) to demonstrate
their compliance and adherence to the regulations and the Convention.
It is estimated that accreditation will last for 12 months to allow
enough time for all interested international adoption agencies to apply.
After the deadline for accreditation, the U.S. will submit it's
instruments of ratification and three months later enter into force and
become a "Hague Country".
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How to Prepare?
The JCICS Surviving Hague Accreditation Guide is available to
JCICS Members for free and available to non-members for $75. See below
for more information.
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The
JCICS Surviving Hague Accreditation Guide is available with the
updated regulations and helpful hints for getting prepared for
accreditation.
For more information call (703) 535-8045 or email
jcics@jcics.org. |
March 20, 2006
- On March 17th The Department of State held a public meeting
addressing the Hague regulations. JCICS attended the meeting and
summarized some of the questions and answers that took place.
Click here for the summary.
Two important points
that were addressed at the meeting are listed below:
What is the difference between post-placement and post-adoption
services?
Under the
regulations, agencies could be exempt from accreditation if they
provide only “post-adoption” services and do not provide any of the
other services that require accreditation or approval. However, if
agencies provide “post-placement” services they must be accredited or
approved or act as a supervised provider. This terminology is taken directly from the IAA and could
be confusing for US agencies. Department of State representatives
outlined the distinction:
Post-placement is considered to be the period of time between parental
custody and the final adoption. An agency providing counseling,
support or reporting to families in this time needs to be accredited
or approved or acting as a supervised provider.
Post-adoption services are those that are provided any time after the
adoption is finalized. This could include providing support and
resources to the adoptive family as well as doing in-home visits and
assisting the family in filing post-adoption reports. This is NOT
considered an adoption service under the regulations, and therefore
agencies performing only this function, or this function coupled with
a home study, do not need to seek accreditation.
Will agencies
with programs in Guatemala need to be accredited or approved under the
regulations?
The Department of State was unable to provide a precise
recommendation for agencies with programs in Guatemala. They said the
Guatemala is considered a Convention country; however, their
procedures are not in compliance with the Convention. The Department
will be working with Guatemalan authorities to enforce the importance
of setting up laws in compliance with the Hague Convention. The State
Department felt that there will be more information from the
government of Guatemala before 2007 when the US plans to ratify the
Convention and become a “Hague country”.
Agencies will need to decide for themselves if they are interested in
seeking accreditation when it is available or if they would prefer to
see how things progress and if needed, operate as a supervised
provider. This decision may also depend on other countries in which
an agency has programs.
Did you know?
The Hague Convention only applies to other "Hague Countries".
Once the U.S. is a Hague Country then all adoptions agencies working in
other Hague Countries will have to be Hague Accredited or can act under
an accredited agency as a supervised provider. For an
up-to-date list of countries party to the Hague Convention,
click here.
*
For JCICS' estimated timeline on Hague ratification,
click here.
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Background
Information
JCICS Response to the Proposed Hague
Regulations 22 CFR Part 96:
On September 15, 2003, the U.S. Department
of State released the proposed final regulations for the Intercountry Adoption Act, as
well as the proposed regulations for
record preservation in the Federal Register. This commenced a
public comment period of 60 days (which was later extended an additional
30 days). All comments were to be submitted
to the U.S. Department of State no later than December 15, 2003.
During the fall of 2003, JCICS diligently examined the proposed regulations, surveyed our
members and drafted the JCICS response. In September we established
sub-teams within the working Hague Committee to gather feedback from the
membership at large. The Hague Committee Team Leads coordinated their
efforts via email and two lengthy conference calls to refine the
response paper. JCICS was also able to attend two meetings at the
Department of State to learn more information and have outstanding
issues clarified. After a membership review of the draft response paper
the Board of Directors reviewed and approved its submission. JCICS
submitted the detailed response paper to the Department of State in late
November.
History:
On October 6, 2000 President Clinton signed into law the Intercountry
Adoption Act of 2000, the US implementation of the Hague Convention on
International Adoption.
The Hague Convention is multilateral treaty that includes 66 prospective
member countries. The Convention serves to set internationally agreed
upon norms and procedures for countries who participate in intercountry
adoption. The goal of the Convention is to protect the children, birth
parents and adoptive parents involved in intercountry adoptions and to
prevent child-trafficking and other abuses.
The United States has signed the Hague
Convention but has not yet ratified. Ratification will occur when
the instruments of ratification are deposited at the Hague. At
that time, the U.S. Department of State will become the Central
Authority for the United States.
JCICS has supported the Hague Convention on International Adoption since
its drafting in 1994 and, along with other major adoption organizations,
has been active in guiding formulation of an effective implementation
plan in the US. For additional background information on the
history of the Hague Convention and who participated in the Seventeenth Session of the Hague Conference,
click here.
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Links: (Some direct links have been removed due to site changes)
For a copy of Joint
Council's position on the Hague Convention click
here.
At the 2004 JCICS annual conference
in April the Hague Committee revised a brief
position paper. Click
here for the 2-page document.
Full text of the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and
Co-operation in
Respect of Intercountry Adoption
The complete text of the final version of HR2909, the
Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000.
The U.S. Department of State
informational flyer on the Hague Convention
and information on
implementation.
Questions regarding the Hague may be sent to
the U.S. Department of State via e-mail at
adoptionusca@state.gov.
JCICS expresses its appreciation to those members of Congress and their
staff who worked tirelessly to forge a compromise and secure passage of
this important legislation. In particular, JCICS appreciates the work of
the members of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute.
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