§14924 Secretarial oversight of accreditation and approval

Summary

The Secretary must watch accrediting organizations to make sure they follow the Convention, this law, other laws, and rules made under this law. If an accreditor is seriously out of line, the Secretary must suspend or cancel its official designation. The Secretary must also suspend or cancel an agency’s or person’s accreditation or approval when that agency or person is seriously out of compliance and the accreditor fails to take proper action after talking with the Secretary. If the problems are fixed, the Secretary will tell the accreditor and either end a suspension or, after a cancellation, tell the agency or person they may re-apply. The Secretary can also debar (bar) an agency or person from getting accreditation or approval, temporarily or permanently, if there is strong evidence of noncompliance and a pattern of serious, willful, or grossly negligent failures or other bad circumstances that put children or families at risk. A temporary debarment must include a date, not earlier than 3 years later, when the barred party may ask to lift it. Accreditors may consider such debarments when deciding future applications. Anyone finally suspended, canceled, or debarred can ask the U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia or their local district to set aside the action; the court will review it under section 706 of title 5. The law says failing, repeatedly or willfully, to complete and send the required background report (home study) under section 14923(b)(1)(A)(ii) counts as substantial noncompliance. Regulations must require frequent checks for compliance and consultation between the Secretary and accreditors when such failures occur, and repeated serious failures after consultation count as a pattern for debarment unless clear proof shows the failures did not affect court or official decisions in the U.S. or the child’s home country.