[Federal Register: October 5, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 193)]
[Notices]
[Page 58893]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr05oc06-94]
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DEPARTMENT OF STATE
[Public Notice 5573]
Transitional Application Deadline for Adoption Service Providers
Applying for Accreditation, Temporary Accreditation, or Approval Under
the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000
AGENCY: Department of State.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 (the IAA),
the Department of State (the Department) is the Central Authority for
the United States for implementation of the 1993 Hague Convention on
Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry
Adoption (the Convention). Under the Convention and the IAA, once the
Convention enters into force for the United States, agencies and
persons that seek to provide adoption services must generally be
accredited, temporarily accredited, approved, or otherwise exempt. The
United States intends to ratify the Convention once the necessary
preparations for its implementation in the United States have been
made.
In this public notice, the Department is announcing the
transitional application deadline (TAD). In order for an agency or
person to be accredited or approved as of the time the Convention
enters into force for the United States or for an agency to be
temporarily accredited, an agency or person must submit an application
and the required fee(s) on or before the TAD to an accrediting entity
with jurisdiction to evaluate its application. The Department has
designated two accrediting entities. They are: The Council on
Accreditation (COA) and Colorado's Department of Human Services. The
TAD is November 17, 2006. See 22 CFR part 96.19 for further information
on the TAD.
Agencies or persons that do not seek to be accredited or approved
by the time the Convention enters into force for the United States may
submit an application and the required fee(s) to an accrediting entity
with jurisdiction to evaluate its application at any time after the
TAD. Agencies seeking temporary accreditation must apply by the TAD.
FOR FUTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mikiko Stebbing, Accrediting Entity
Liaison, at 202-736-9086. Hearing or speech-impaired persons may use
the Telecommunications Devices for the Deaf (TDD) by contacting the
Federal Information Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339. Application and
fee information is available by contacting the appropriate accrediting
entity at the following mailing address, e-mail address or telephone
number: Council on Accreditation: Contact Beth Rubenstein, 212-797-3000
or e-mail: brubenstein@coanet.org or mailing address: Council on
Accreditation, 120 Wall Street, 11th Floor, New York City, NY 10005
(http://www.coanet.org); Colorado Department of Human Services: Contact Lori Roxbury, 303-866-5475 or e-mail: lori.roxbury@state.co.us or
mailing address: Colorado Department of Human Services, Division of
Child Care, 1575 Sherman Street, First Floor, Denver, Colorado 80203.
Applications for the Colorado Department of Human Services are limited
to adoption service providers licensed in the State of Colorado.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Agencies whose applications are received
after midnight on November 17, 2006 may not be accredited, temporarily
accredited, or approved as of the time the Convention enters into force
for the United States. Please send accreditation/approval applications
to the appropriate designated accrediting entity at the address listed
in the Contact Information section of this public notice. Do not send
accreditation/approval applications to the Department. Please note that
all applicants for temporary accreditation must apply by the TAD.
Temporary accreditation is available only to agencies that performed
fewer than 100 intercountry adoption cases in the year prior to the TAD
and only for the one or two-year period following the Convention's
entry into force for the United States. Please see 22 CFR 96.95 for
further information on temporary accreditation.
Shortly after the TAD on November 17, 2006, the designated
accrediting entities will make public the names and addresses of
agencies and persons that have applied to be accredited, temporarily
accredited, or approved. The accrediting entities will also provide a
mechanism for the public to comment on applicants, and will consider,
where appropriate, comments received from the public in their
accreditation, temporary accreditation, and approval decisions.
The Department, in consultation with the designated accrediting
entities, will subsequently establish and announce the deadline for
initial accreditation or approval (the DIAA), the date by which the
accreditation/approval process must be completed for an agency to be
accredited, temporarily accredited, or approved at the time the
Convention enters into force for the United States.
Designated accrediting entities must use their best efforts to
provide a reasonable opportunity for an agency or person that applied
by the TAD to complete the accreditation or approval process by the
DIAA. The accrediting entities will not publicly release their
accreditation (including temporary accreditation) and approval
decisions until the uniform notification date, the date when the
accrediting entities notify all adoption service providers that applied
by the TAD of their accreditation or approval decisions.
Only those agencies and persons that are accredited, temporarily
accredited, or approved by the DIAA will be included on the initial
list of accredited and temporarily accredited agencies and approved
persons that the Department will deposit with the Permanent Bureau of
the Hague Conference on Private International Law. An agency or person
may also apply for full accreditation (not temporary accreditation) or
approval at any time after November 17, 2006 but such applicants may
not be accredited or approved by the DIAA.
Dated: September 29, 2006.
Maura Harty,
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Consular Affairs, Department of State.
[FR Doc. E6-16502 Filed 10-4-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4710-06-P