§14922 Process for accreditation and approval; role of accrediting entities

Summary

The Secretary must make agreements with one or more qualified entities and call them accrediting entities. A qualified entity is either a nonprofit that knows how to set standards for child welfare services or a public (nonfederal) state agency with that same experience that only accredits agencies in its state. Accrediting entities must approve and accredit agencies and people who handle adoptions covered by the Convention. They must watch that those agencies follow the rules, handle complaints using approved procedures, take actions when rules are broken (like requiring fixes, imposing sanctions, or suspending or canceling approval), and tell the agency or person what problems were found. They must keep records and report data to the Secretary, the U.S. central authority, state courts, and others as the Secretary requires. If an accrediting entity gets federal money under section 14943, it must report to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee within 90 days about how much it received and how it was or will be used. An agency or person who faces an adverse action can reapply or ask to end the action after fixing the problems. Adverse actions cannot be reviewed through an administrative process, but the agency or person can ask a U.S. district court to set aside the action. The court will review the decision under section 706 of title 5, and the accrediting entity is treated as an “agency” under section 701 for that review. Any fees for accreditation must be approved by the Secretary, cannot exceed the cost of accreditation, and the Secretary must consider the size, location, and number of Convention adoption cases the agency handles.