Universal Accreditation Act Becomes Law

President Obama signed the Intercountry adoption Universal Accreditation Act on January 14, 2013. 

The DOS published the following Announcement on the Universal Accreditation Act:

 

 On January 14, 2013, the President signed The Intercountry Adoption Universal Accreditation Act of 2012 (UAA), one of the last bills passed in the final days of the 112^th Congress. The effective date of the UAA is July 14, 2014, 18 months after the President's signature.

The UAA has broad implications for all U.S. adoption service providers (ASPs) active in intercountry adoption. It affects currently accredited or approved ASPs and those ASPs with programs only in non-Hague Adoption Convention countries of origin, where federal accreditation or approval was not previously required.


The purpose of the UAA is to apply the provisions of the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 (IAA) concerning the accreditation of ASPs to agencies and persons providing adoption services in cases involving children described in Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) section 101(b)(1)(F) and adopted through the orphan process. By requiring all ASPs handling cases under 101(b)(1)(F) and 101(b)(1)(G) (concerning children habitually resident in Hague Adoption Convention countries) to receive the same accreditation under federal standards, families adopting internationally will have the assurance that regardless from where they adopt, the ASP they choose to work with will be in substantial compliance with the same ethical standards of practice and conduct.


Previously, the conduct of accredited agencies in non-Convention cases did not generally fall under the oversight and monitoring responsibilities of the Department of State-designated accrediting entities (AEs). Such conduct is now subject to the oversight and monitoring by AEs. The UAA also extends the enforcement provisions of the IAA to ASPs providing adoption services in orphan cases.

The UAA provides for transition cases (grandfathering) in certain situations; ASPs providing adoption services in grandfathered cases do not need to be accredited.


A copy of the UAA is available in pdf format at this link.

Additional information on the UAA will be available soon on our website, Adoption.State.gov, in the Information for Agencies section.

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Ethics, Transparency, Support
~ What All Adoptions Deserve.
http://www.pear-now.org/

Legislative Update: Universal Accreditation Introduced

Two identical bills were recently introduced, one in the House, one in the Senate, to amend the Intercountry Adoption Act, expanding the requirement for accreditation for all US adoption agencies offering intercountry adoption services. Both versions have been introduced and are now in Committee.


The full text of the amendments can be found here (they are identical):


House version: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/hr6027/text
Senate version: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/s3331/text


The following is the press release from the Senate:

June 22, 1012
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-MA) and Ranking Member Richard Lugar (R-IN) along with Senators Mary Landrieu (D-LA)  and James Inhofe (R-OK) introduced legislation to elevate and standardize adoption services across the globe to safeguard against corruption and fraudulent adoptions.
After years of conflicting, country-by-country standards for Adoption Service Providers (ASPs), the Intercountry Adoption Universal Accreditation Act of 2012 will for the first time universalize the accreditation process for all ASPs.  The legislation would elevate standards, requiring all ASPs to comply with current, stronger requirements upheld for ASPs working with Hague countries.
The new accreditation standard would help safeguard against corruption and fraud in the adoption process. 
“The safety of children across the globe should be our number one concern in the adoption process and this commonsense reform will help us get them placed into safe and loving homes. Piecemeal, conflicting adoption standards have made far too many cracks and chasms in the system that left room for corruption, deception, and often outright fraudulent adoptions.  I’m grateful to our Ranking Member Dick Lugar and Senators Landrieu and Inhofe for partnering with me in this effort to elevate and put in place universal adoption standards that make kids the priority,” said U.S. Senator John Kerry (D-MA), Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.
“The United States adopts more children from overseas than any other nation.  Many of these children have serious medical conditions, often requiring significant and costly medical attention, yet, regardless, Americans open their hearts and homes to them.  This legislation establishes uniform standards that would provide American families with certainty that they are working with an accredited American adoption service provider, regardless of the country they are adopting from.  I am pleased to be joined by Senators Mary Landrieu and Jim Inhofe, two of the Senate’s leaders in this field, as well the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, John Kerry,” said U.S. Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN), Ranking Member of the Foreign Relations Committee.
“Mandatory accreditation will ensure that the adoption process between the U.S. and other countries is lawful and safe for an adopted child and respectful of the families involved.  Additionally, I hope that this bill will prompt the U.S. Department of State to consider financially supporting the accrediting entities to relieve part of the financial burden on smaller agencies and to ensure a robust accreditation process,” said U.S. Senator Mary L. Landrieu (D-LA).
“Standardizing the accreditation process for international adoptions will provide additional protections for both the child and the adopting family.  The patchwork of adoption standards that currently exist have resulted in a situation that is not optimal for protecting the international children being offered for adoption.  It has also resulted in fraud and corruption that has devastated loving American families who are willing to make many sacrifices to adopt internationally.  This legislation is the right approach to fix the problems that currently exist,” said U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK), co-chair of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption.
The Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 (IAA) specified that accreditation or approval is required in order to provide adoption services in cases subject to the Hague Convention with limited exceptions. The IAA defines the parameters of accreditation for the organizations providing services to prospective adoptive parents and charges the Department of State with responsibility of the accreditation process. The Kerry-Lugar bill would apply the accreditation requirement universally to all ASPs – those operating in both Hague and non-Hague countries. 

http://www.foreign.senate.gov/press/chair/release/kerry-lugar-bill-would-help-prevent-corrupt-fraudulent-adoptions-abroad 


Comment from PEAR: Universal Accreditation as a step in the right direction toward cleaning up intercountry adoption practices. Although there is much to be done to improve the regulation and oversight of intercountry adoption, PEAR supports this step. We will continue to monitor the progress of both bills and will provide updates as they occur.

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Ethics, Transparency, Support
~ What All Adoptions Deserve.
http://www.pear-now.org/