[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 193 (Thursday, October 5, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Page 58893]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-16502]


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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: [email protected] 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: [email protected] 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