Accreditation in the United States

Adoption Accreditation

Both organizations (nonprofit and for-profit) and inviduals are eligible to apply for accrediation/approval. Under the accreditation regulations (22 CFR Part 96), nonprofit organizations (called agencies) may apply to be accredited or temporarily accredited to provide intercountry adoptions under the Convention. For-profit organizations and individuals (both called persons) may apply to be approved. (With a few exceptions, there is no difference between the services accredited agencies and approved persons can provide.):

Nonprofit Agencies apply for accreditation
Individuals or for-profit organizations apply for approval

To carry out the accrediation function, the Department of State has designated two accrediting entities. They are the Council on Accrediation and the Colorado Department of Health and Human Services. These accrediting entities will determine whether an applicant may be accredited or approved by using a substantial compliance system approved by the Department of State (22 CFR Part 96.27). Applicants for accreditation or approval should strive to satisfy every applicable standard outlined in 22 CFR Part 96, though less than full compliance with some standards may not be a bar to accreditation or approval.

Before deciding whether to accredit an agency or approve a person, an accrediting entity may use its discretion to provide the agency or person an opportunity to correct any deficiencies that may hinder or prevent accreditation or approval (22 CFR Part 96.24). The IAA does not provide for judicial or administrative review of an accrediting entity’s decision to deny an application. If an applicant is denied accreditation or approval, it may petition for reconsideration using the accrediting entity’s internal review procedures (22 CFR Part 96.59). The accreditation regulations do not provide a parallel petition procedure for temporary accreditation applicants.

If an organization or individual applies for accreditation/approval and fails to receive it, it can apply again at a later date. Adoption service providers in this position must apply to the same Accrediting Entity to which they first applied (22 CFR 96.21(b)(i)).

Learn more about the Accrediting Entities below.

Length of Accreditation

Accreditation or approval and renewal of accreditation or approval will last four years. Temporary accreditation will be granted for a more limited period of time (one or two years). (Note: Initial accreditations and approvals were granted for three, four, or five years in order to stagger the future dates by which accredited agencies and approved persons will need to apply for renewal of their accreditation or approval status.)

Temporary Accreditation

Temporary accreditation is available to agencies that have provided adoption services in fewer than 100 intercountry adoption cases in the calendar year preceding the year in which the transitional application deadline falls.

Temporary accreditation will last for one year for agencies that provided adoption services for 50-99 intercountry adoption cases and two years for agencies that provided adoption services in fewer than 50 intercountry adoption cases. It is not renewable; a temporarily accredited agency that wishes to continue to provide adoption services in Convention cases will have to attain full accreditation by the time its temporary accreditation expires or thereafter work as a supervised or exempted provider.

Determining the Length of Temporary Accreditation

Number of Intercountry Adoption Cases: 50-99 – Length of Temporary Accreditation: 1 year
Number of Intercountry Adoption Cases: 0-49 – Length of Temporary Accreditation: 2 years

Only nonprofit organizations licensed by a State to provide adoption services may apply for temporary accreditation; for-profit organizations and individuals are not eligible. If your agency is eligible, it must apply by the transitional application deadline. An accrediting entity may permit an agency to convert its application for temporary accreditation to an application for full accreditation; however, the agency will be treated as if it had applied after the transitional application deadline (if the application is converted after that date).

Performing Adoption Services Without Accreditation

An agency or person engaged in intercountry adoptions does not necessarily have to apply for accreditation or approval to perform adoption services in Convention adoptions. It may instead choose to work under the supervision of another provider that is accredited or approved, or to provide only certain limited services that may be provided in Convention cases without being accredited or approved or supervised. It may also choose to provide services only in cases not subject to the Convention.

The IAA and its implementing regulations created the accreditation process to accredit agencies and to approve persons to act as primary providers in Convention cases. The intent was to give prospective adoptive parents one accredited/approved adoption service provider that would be responsible for implementing a service plan to provide (either directly or through arrangements with other providers) all of the adoption services in connection with a Convention adoption.

The categories supervised and exempted providers were specifically created by the IAA and its implementing regulations to enable smaller or specialized providers to operate under the Hague system in the United States and to work in concert with primary providers. The fact that such a provider is not “accredited” or “approved” does not reflect negatively on the provider’s ability to provide a particular adoption service. It simply reflects the fact that such a provider is not in a position to act as a primary provider.

Accrediting Entities

The Department of State has designated two accrediting entities to carry out the accreditation, temporary accrediation, and approval of adoption service providers. The accrediting entities are The Council on Accreditation and The Colorado Department of Human Services.

These two accrediting entities will make accreditation and approval decisions based upon the standards and procedures in federal accreditation regulations (22 CFR Part 96). In this role, they will perform a number of tasks, including:

Determining whether agencies or persons are eligible for accreditation, temporary accreditation, or approval;
Monitoring the performance of accredited agencies, temporarily accredited agencies, and approved persons;
Investigating and responding to complaints about accredited agencies, temporarily accredited agencies, and approved persons;
Taking disciplinary action, when appropriate, against accredited agencies, temporarily accredited agencies, and approved persons;
Determining whether accredited agencies and approved persons are eligible for renewal of their accreditation or approval;
Collecting data from accredited agencies, temporarily accredited agencies, and approved persons, maintaining records, and reporting information; and
Assisting in the transfer of Convention adoption cases and adoption records if an agency or person loses its accreditation, temporary accreditation, or approval.

State Department Oversight

The State Department monitors these accrediting entities to ensure that each performs its functions consistent with the Hague Adoption Convention, the Intercountry Adoption Act (IAA), regulations implementing the IAA, other applicable law, and its agreement with the Department. The State Department conducts regular site visits and conference calls with each accrediting entity as part of this monitoring.

The Department has the authority to suspend or cancel an accrediting entity’s designation if it determines the accrediting entity is substantially out of compliance. An accrediting entity may be considered substantially out of compliance with Convention or the IAA under circumstances such as:

· Failing to act in a timely manner when presented with evidence that an accredited/approved adoption service provider is substantially out of compliance with the accreditation standards;

· Accrediting or approving a significant number of agencies or persons whose performance results in the intervention of the Department of State for the purposes of suspension, cancellation, or debarment;

· Failing to perform its responsibilities fairly and objectively;

· Violating prohibitions on conflicts of interests;

· Failing to meet its reporting requirements;

· Failing to protect information or documents that it receives in the course of performing its responsibilities; and

· Failing to monitor frequently and carefully the compliance of accredited/approved adoption service providers with the home study requirements of the Convention.

Accreditation