Agreement with Department of State Designates Colorado Department of Human Resources As An Accrediting Entity for Intercountry Adoption Service Providers

Memorandum of Agreement with Department of State Designates Colorado’s Department of Human Resources As An Accrediting Entity for Intercountry Adoption Service Providers

The Colorado Department of Human Resources has signed an agreement with the Department of State under the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 (IAA) to become the first designated Accrediting Entity of Adoption Service Providers. The Memorandum of Agreement, signed by Maura Harty, Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs, Department of State on June 29, 2006, and Marva Livingston Hammons, Executive Director, Department of Human Services, State of Colorado on June 13, 2006, is published in today’s Federal Register (Volume 71, Number 129, Page 38442-38446). The text of the agreement may be found at www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main. The Department’s website at www.travel.state.gov also links to the Federal Register notice.

As the U.S. Central Authority for The Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, the State Department’s Office of Children’s Issues has primary responsibility for implementation of the Convention and the provisions of the IAA. One of the provisions in the IAA deals with the accreditation and approval of adoption service providers to offer adoption services in Convention cases. To fulfill its obligations, the IAA requires the State Department to enter into an agreement with at least one qualified entity, designate it as an accrediting entity, and monitor its performance. Accrediting entities may be nonprofit private organizations or state adoption licensing bodies that have expertise in developing and administering standards for entities providing child welfare services.

To accredit agencies or approve persons, Colorado’s Department of Human Services will use the standards established in 22 CFR Part 96, the final rule on Accreditation of Agencies and Approval of Persons Under the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000. Colorado’s Department of Human Services expects to begin accepting applications for accreditation or approval from adoption service providers licensed in Colorado soon after its fees are approved by the State Department and published later this summer.

The State Department also is working closely with another potential accrediting entity that will accredit or approve agencies or persons on a nationwide basis, and expects to conclude a Memorandum of Agreement shortly. In addition, the State Department is continuing its efforts to complete all of the remaining tasks necessary before the United States deposits its instrument of ratification of the Convention at The Hague, which is expected to happen in 2007.

2006/652

Released on July 6, 2006

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