Family Forum / Parenting / Adoption / July 2006

13 years to ratify?

J.

27 July 2006

U.S. Closer To Implementing International Adoption Convention

Issues proposed rules, decisions on accreditation of adoption service
providers

By Louise Fenner
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- The United States has moved closer to its goal of
ratifying the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption with the
publication of proposed rules related to adoption and custody
proceedings, and with the designation of two entities to handle the
accreditation of adoption service providers.

The State Department has named the Council on Accreditation and the
Colorado Department of Human Resources as entities responsible for
accrediting nonprofit agencies or other providers to handle adoptions
between countries that have implemented the Hague Convention.

The designation of accrediting entities is one of the steps necessary
for the United States to ratify the convention.  Assistant Secretary of
State for Consular Affairs Maura Harty has said that implementing the
Hague Convention for the United States is among her "highest
priorities."

The convention sets minimum international standards and procedures for
adoptions that occur between implementing countries.  It aims to
prevent abuses such as the abduction, sale or trafficking of children,
and to help prevent the exploitation of children, birth parents and
adoptive parents.

To date, 68 countries have ratified or acceded to the convention.  The
United States signed the pact in 1994 and hopes to ratify it by 2007.
The Intercountry Adoption Act signed by President Clinton in 2000 calls
on the State Department to issue regulations to implement the
convention.

In February, the State Department met a major milestone with the
adoption of final regulations on the approval and accreditation of
adoption service providers - a necessary step toward bringing the
convention into force.  (See related article.)

"We now have, for the first time, a set of national standards for
adoption agencies," Assistant Secretary Harty told the National
Council for Adoption in April.

Harty went on to say the United States signed the Hague Convention
because "we believe it is a vital tool for ensuring that intercountry
adoptions are always based upon the best interests of children."

She said the United States works hard to persuade other countries to
join and implement the convention.

"We invite foreign government officials to come to the United States
to see how our intercountry adoption system works and to witness
first-hand the benefits enjoyed by children," she said.  In 2005 the
State Department hosted two delegations from Russia as well as
delegations from Kazakhstan and Armenia, Harty said.

NEW REGULATIONS PENDING

Two additional rule-makings proposed by the State Department also would
move the United States closer to ratification of the convention.

In a June 16 proposed rule, the State Department sought to establish
the application process for Hague Convention Certificates and Hague
Convention Declarations in cases involving emigration of a child from
the United States. The proposal also would establish a process for
seeking certification that an adoption done in the United States
following a grant of custody in a Hague Convention country of origin
was done in accordance with the Hague Convention.

On June 22, the State Department proposed procedures that U.S. consular
officers would follow in cases involving intercountry adoptions,
including processing immigration petitions, visas and Hague Convention
certificates.

The June 16 and the June 22 proposals are available on the U.S.
Government Printing Office Web site.

Comments on the June 16 proposal will be accepted until August 15; the
comment period on the June 22 proposal closed July 24. The State
Department is required to consider any comments submitted before it can
adopt final rules.

In 2005, Americans adopted nearly 23,000 children from countries around
the world, with more than half coming from countries that are parties
to the Hague Convention, according to Assistant Secretary Harty.

A transcript of Harty's comments to the National Council for Adoption
and additional information about international adoption are available
on the State Department Web site. The Web site also offers additional
information on the Hague Convention.

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site:
http://usinfo.state.gov)

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