42 U.S.C. § 14902 — Definitions

This section defines the words used throughout this chapter. (1) Accredited agency. An agency that is accredited under subchapter II to provide adoption services in the United States in cases subject to the Convention. (2) Accrediting entity. An entity designated under section 14922(a) of this title to accredit agencies and approve persons under subchapter II. (3) Adoption service. This means several specific activities: (A) identifying a child for adoption and arranging the adoption; (B) securing necessary consent to end parental rights and to the adoption; (C) performing a background study on a child, or a home study on a prospective adoptive parent, and reporting on it; (D) determining the child's best interests and whether an adoptive placement is appropriate; (E) monitoring the case after placement until the adoption is final; and (F) if a placement falls through before the adoption is final, assuming custody of the child and providing child care or other social services until an alternative placement is found. "Providing" an adoption service also includes facilitating someone else's provision of it. (4) Agency. Any person other than an individual -- in other words, an organization rather than a single person. (5) Approved person. A person approved under subchapter II to provide adoption services in the United States in cases subject to the Convention. (6) Attorney General. Except as used in section 14944 of this title, this means the Attorney General acting through the Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization. (7) Central authority. The entity a Convention country designates as such under Article 6(1) of the Convention. (8) Central authority function. Any duty a central authority is required to carry out under the Convention. (9) Convention. The Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, done at The Hague on May 29, 1993. (10) Convention adoption. Either the adoption of a child living in a foreign Convention country by a United States citizen, or the adoption of a child living in the United States by someone living in another Convention country. (11) Convention record. Any document, electronic data, photograph, audio or video tape, or other stored information about a specific past, current, or prospective Convention adoption -- whether or not the adoption was made final -- that the Secretary of State or Attorney General has preserved under section 14941(a) of this title. (12) Convention country. A country that is a party to the Convention. (13) Other Convention country. Any Convention country besides the United States. (14) Person. Has the meaning given in section 1 of title 1, but does not include a government agency or tribal government entity. (15) Person with an ownership or control interest. Has the meaning given that term in section 1320a-3(a)(3) of this title. (16) Secretary. The Secretary of State. (17) State. The 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the Virgin Islands.