The Intercountry Universal Accreditation Act of 2012 (UAA) requires that all agencies or persons providing adoption services in orphan and Hague Adoption Convention cases be accredited or approved, unless a limited exception applies.^[1] Supervised providers, exempted providers, public domestic authorities, and public foreign authorities do not require accreditation or approval.

Adoption service means any one of the following six services:^[2]

1. Identifying a child for adoption and arranging an adoption;
2. Securing the necessary consent to termination of parental rights and to adoption;
3. Performing a background study on a child or a home study on a prospective adoptive parent(s) (PAP(s)), and reporting on such a study;
4. Making non-judicial determinations of the best interests of a child and the appropriateness of an adoptive placement for the child;
5. Monitoring a case after a child has been placed with PAP(s) until final adoption; or
6. When necessary, because of a disruption before final adoption, assuming custody and providing (including facilitating the provision of) childcare or any other social service pending an alternative placement.

A primary adoption service provider is the accredited agency or approved person who is responsible under 22 CFR 96 for ensuring all six adoption services defined in 22 CFR 96.2 are provided according to the law, for supervising and being responsible for supervised providers when used,^[3] and for developing and implementing a service plan in accordance with 22 CFR 96.44.^[4] PAPs provide primary adoption service provider information on the petition for orphan and Hague cases.

Footnotes

[^ 1] See the Intercountry Adoption Universal Accreditation Act of 2012, Pub. L. 112-276 (PDF) (January 14, 2013). See Guidance on the Implementation of the Intercountry Adoption Universal Accreditation Act of 2012 and the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014 in Intercountry Adoption Adjudications, PM-602-0103, issued June 30, 2014 and USCIS’ Universal Accreditation Act webpage. See the U.S. Department of State (DOS) Accreditation Regulations at 22 CFR 96. For a list of accredited agencies and approved persons, see DOS’ Adoption Service Provider Search webpage.

[^ 2] Defined at 22 CFR 96.2.

[^ 3] See 22 CFR 96.14.

[^ 4] See 22 CFR 96.