Lesotho March 1, 2013 Notice: Adoptions from Lesotho to Begin Under the Hague Adoption Convention The Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-Operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (Convention) entered into force for Lesotho on December 1, 2012. At that time, Lesotho did not yet have a fully functional Convention process in place and elected to suspend intercountry …
Category: Hague Accredited Agency
Adverse Action: Children of Africa Enterprises/Hope Adoption Agency loses Hague Accreditation
DOS Notice: Children of Africa Enterprises/Hope Adoption Agency loses Hague Accreditation November 20, 2012 On November 8, 2012 the Council on Accreditation (COA) canceled the Hague accreditation of Children of Africa Enterprises/Hope Adoption Agency (“Hope”) for failing to maintain substantial compliance with the U.S. accreditation standards at 22 Code of Federal Regulations Part 96 Subpart F. Prior to this date, …
DOS Adoption Alert: Haiti Update
October 17, 2012 Alert: Update On Haiti’s New Adoption Procedures This alert updates the Department of State’s September 14, 2012 notice pertaining to Haiti’s new administrative adoption procedures. Haiti’s adoption authority, Institut du Bien-Être Social et de Recherches (IBESR), has postponed the effective date of the new administrative adoption procedures from October 1 to November 5, 2012. Although …
COA’s Latest Substantiated Complaint and Adverse Action Report
COA released an updated Substantiated Complaints and Adverse Action Report today, September 28, 2012. One agency, Vista Del Mar is listed as having an additional Substantiated Complaint since the publication of the last report in August 2012. No other new complaints appear in the report. COA’s Substantiated Complaint and Adverse Action Reports can be found on the COA website: http://coanet.org/programs/hague-accreditation-and-approval/monitoring-and-oversight/Scroll …
September 2012 Update to COA Substantiated Complaints and Adverse Action Report
In August of this year, PEAR published a list of agencies which had substantiated complaints under the COA’s Hague Monitoring and Oversight provisions. The Council on Accreditation subsequently published a more recent collection of reports of Substantiated Complaints and Adverse Actions for Hague Accredited Agencies and Approved Persons. The Reports are available via the COA’s website under the category Monitoring …
UPDATE: Kyrgyzstan – US Special Advisor for Children’s Issues Travels to Kyrgyzstan
The following press release was made yesterday by the Office of Children’s Issues. We are assuming this in response to the recent scandal in Kyrgyzstan involving misconduct by US adoption agencies and the subsequent suspension of their accreditation in Kyrgyzstan. We request the US DOS to disclose the identity of the agency alleged to have given bribes to the Kyrg …
UPDATE: Kyrgyzstan Reportedly Revokes Accreditation of All Foreign Adoption Agencies
According to media sources, the Kyrgyzstan government has revoked accreditation of intercountry adoption agencies. The order allegedly comes from the Ministry of Social Development and is translated as follows: The order states: to terminate the force of accreditation certificates for international adoption of children without parental care of the following foreign organizations: – Child and Future Agency (the Netherlands); – …
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/textSenate …
Kyrgyzstan Investigating Allegations of Bribery in Agency Accreditation
According to news sources, Kyrgyzstan’s social development minister was arrested on Wednesday July 4, 2012 under suspicion of seeking at least $15,000 in bribes from a United States adoption agency. According to the media, the US agency had paid $10,000 in bribes to become accredited to participate in intercountry adoptions from Kyrgyzstan under the Hague, and the minister was seeking …
DOS Adoption Notice Romania: Agency Authorization Required by Romanian Law
Romania June 28, 2012 Notice: Agency Authorization Required by Romanian Law The Romanian Office for Adoptions (the Office) reported to the U.S. Embassy in Bucharest that it will allow private non-profit organizations accredited in the foreign receiving country to transmit documents in intercountry adoption procedures provided that they are also authorized by the Office. U.S. accredited agencies that would like …