Frequently Asked Questions: Deadline for Initial Accreditation or Approval


March 19, 2007
(Updated)

DEPARTMENT OF STATE NOTICE
Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 (IAA)
22 CFR Part 96
Accreditation and Approval Regulations

DEPARTMENT OF STATE NOTICE (3) TO APPLICANTS THAT APPLIED FOR FULL ACCREDITATION/APPROVAL UNDER THE INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTION ACT

What to expect during the accreditation/approval process

Congratulations on your decision to pursue accreditation or approval under the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 (IAA), the U.S. implementing legislation for the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in respect of Intercountry Adoption (the Hague Adoption Convention).  This short list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) will help guide your understanding of the accreditation/approval process under the IAA.

  1. What are the next steps in the process of accreditation or approval?
  2. What is the Deadline for Initial Accreditation or Approval (DIAA)?
  3. When will the DIAA be set?
  4. What will be expected of me when I am contacted by the Accrediting Entity to arrange my site visit?
  5. What constitutes a “reasonable opportunity” to be accredited or approved by the Deadline for Initial Accreditation or Approval (DIAA)?
  6. What if I accept the site visit date offered to me, but I am told after the visit that I cannot be accredited or approved without corrective action?
  7.  I understand that I cannot provide services in Hague adoption cases until I am accredited. What if my agency is not able to address corrective actions in order to receive accreditation before the Convention goes into force?
  8. When will the agency or person be notified of its accreditation status?
  9. What is the UND?
  10. What happens to an agency or person that has not completed the accreditation/approval process by the DIAA?
  11. When will the Department submit the US instrument of ratification for the Hague Adoption Convention?
  12. When will the Hague Adoption Convention enter into force for the United States?

1. What are the next steps in the process of accreditation or approval?

Before the Accrediting Entity (AE) evaluators visit your offices (the site visit), the Accrediting Entity (either the Council on Accreditation or the Colorado Department of Human Services) will review your application and request material it will need prior to the site visit.  During this pre-site visit period, the Accrediting Entity might request clarifying information, additional documents or material and/or might discuss with you whether your agency appears to be ready for a site visit. 

If you applied to COA, we understand that you must sign and return a contract, pay the accreditation fee, and submit any self-study materials on a timely basis. Any delays on your part may adversely affect your ability to become accredited or approved by the Deadline for Initial Accreditation or Approval (DIAA) as defined in 22 CFR 96.19.  After you send the contract back to COA, an Accreditation Coordinator assigned to your agency will contact you to arrange a site visit.  On the established site visit date, one or more evaluators will come to your location(s) to review relevant documentation and conduct the required interviews with your staff and clients. COA will then review the information gathered and issue a report. COA may advise you of any deficiencies that may hinder or prevent your accreditation or approval and allow you to correct the deficiencies.

If you applied to Colorado, it will advise you of similar procedures regarding the submission of materials and scheduling of a site visit.

2. What is the Deadline for Initial Accreditation or Approval (DIAA)?

The DIAA is the date by which any agency or person that applied by the November 17, 2006 Transitional Application Date (TAD) must successfully complete the accreditation or approval process so that it will be definitely accredited or approved at the time the Convention enters into force for the United States.  An agency or person that has successfully completed the accreditation or approval process will have been found to be in substantial compliance with the accreditation/approval regulations.  Any deficiencies identified by the Accrediting Entity will have been corrected by the agency or person and approved by the Accrediting Entity before the DIAA.

If for any reason an agency or person has not completed the accreditation or approval process or corrected any deficiencies found by the AEs before the DIAA, the agency or person may not be accredited or approved at the time the Convention enters into force for the United States.

Please keep in mind that each agency or person must comply with all AE requests for submission of materials and scheduling of site visits or the agency or person will risk not completing the process by the DIAA.

3. When will the DIAA be set?

The Department of State has set the DIAA for February 15, 2008 based on its assessment of the number of adoption service providers who have yet to have site visits and the estimated time it will take the AEs to determine if such adoption service providers are in substantial compliance or if they must correct deficiencies. The notice announcing the DIAA was published in the Federal Register on April 11 2007. It is essential for agencies and persons to be in substantial compliance with the standards and/or to correct any identified deficiencies if they want to complete the accreditation/approval process by the February 15, 2008 DIAA.

4. What will be expected of me when I am contacted by the Accrediting Entity to arrange my site visit?

We understand that the AE will offer a set date for your site visit that will take place after evaluators have reviewed all of the necessary materials, including any supplementary documentation requested by the AE.  Although the AE may be able to accommodate scheduling requests within specific narrow time frames, there is little flexibility within the tight accreditation schedule.  We understand that, if you are working with COA and want to re-schedule your site visit, COA will ask you to sign a statement documenting your decision to postpone your site visit and stating that you understand that you may not be accredited or approved by the DIAA. 

5. What constitutes a “reasonable opportunity” to be accredited or approved by the Deadline for Initial Accreditation or Approval (DIAA)?

Section 96.19 of the accreditation and approval regulations (22 CFR  Part 96) states that “[t]he accrediting entity must use its best efforts to provide a reasonable opportunity for an agency or person that applies by the transitional application deadline (TAD) to complete the accreditation or approval process by the deadline for initial accreditation (DIAA) or approval.”  The Department of State understands reasonable opportunity to complete the process to mean the opportunity to submit an application and documentation in support of the application, the opportunity to sign a contract with the accrediting entity and one opportunity for a site visit.  If an agency fails to sign and submit a contract with the accrediting entity by April 5, 2007 its period of reasonable opportunity will have expired.

6. What if I accept the site visit date offered to me, but I am told after the visit that I cannot be accredited or approved without corrective action?

You should address deficiencies as soon as possible so that the AE may consider whether corrective actions have brought you into substantial compliance with the standards for approval or accreditation. Because the AEs will be under great workload constraints during this period, it may not be possible for them to make an accreditation or approval decision before the Convention enters into force with respect to agencies/persons that require corrective action after the site visit.

7. I understand that I cannot provide services in Hague adoption cases until I am accredited.  What if my agency is not able to address corrective actions in order to receive accreditation before the Convention goes into force?

Agencies/persons should make every possible effort to provide the AE with all of the evidence necessary to demonstrate that they are in substantial compliance with the standards before and during the site visit and to provide any supplemental materials immediately upon request. Any delays on your part may adversely affect your ability to become accredited or approved.

It is important to note that Hague Convention accreditation in the United States is a rolling process.  Thus, even if you are not accredited by the date the Convention enters into force for the United States, you may still be able to complete the process within days, weeks or months thereafter.  After the Convention enters into force, the names of accredited agencies/approved persons will be sent to the Hague Permanent Bureau as the agencies and persons are accredited or approved. 

8. When will the agency or person be notified of its accreditation status?  

There will be several opportunities throughout the process to receive information about your application from the AEs and whether or not there are any deficiencies.  Agencies or persons who applied by the TAD will be notified on the Uniform Notification Date (UND) about their accreditation status (see next question).

9. What is the UND?

The UND is the date on which the AEs must inform each applicant in writing whether the agency’s or person’s application has been granted or denied or remains pending.  In accordance with 22 CFR 96.58, the AE may not provide any information about its accreditation or approval decisions to any agency or person or to the public until the UND.  The AEs may communicate with the agencies and persons that applied by the transitional application deadline (TAD) about the status of their pending applications prior to the UND for the sole purpose of affording them an opportunity to correct deficiencies that may hinder or prevent accreditation or approval.

10. What happens to an agency or person that has not completed the accreditation/approval process by the DIAA?

For those agencies or persons that are unable to avoid notice of deficiencies at the end of a site visit, the adoption service provider may continue and is encouraged to continue, working on correcting its deficiencies. COA may give an applicant an opportunity to correct deficiencies before or after the DIAA, but such applicants may not be accredited or approved before the DIAA or before the Hague Convention enters into force for the United States.

If AEs are able to complete the evaluations of agencies and persons with identified deficiencies before the UND, the Department will include those agencies and persons on a list submitted to the Hague Permanent Bureau. The Department will submit the names of subsequently accredited agencies or approved persons on a rolling basis.

11. When will the Department submit the US instrument of ratification for the Hague Adoption Convention?

The Department plans to submit the instrument of ratification in 2007. 

12. When will the Hague Adoption Convention enter into force for the United States?

The Convention will enter into force for the United States on the first day of the third month after the United States deposits the instrument of ratification.