42 U.S.C. § 14914 — Annual report on intercountry adoptions
submitted 26 years ago by Pub. L. 106-279 to r/title-42-THE-PUBLIC-HEALTH-AND-WELFARE · 665 words · no verdicts yet
Each year, the Secretary must report to specified congressional committees about the United States central authority’s intercountry-adoption activities during the prior year. The report must include adoption numbers, disruptions, timing, agencies, fees, countries that stopped adoptions, and related actions.
(a) Reports required
Starting one year after the Convention* takes effect for the United States, and every year after that, the Secretary* must consult the Attorney General* and other appropriate agencies and send a report about the United States central authority’s activities during the preceding year to the specified House and Senate committees.
(b) Report elements
Each report must state* for that year:
(1) The number of intercountry adoptions involving children immigrating to the United States, whether or not the Convention applied; the country each child left, the State each child entered, and the country where the adoption became final.
(2) The number involving children emigrating from the United States, whether or not the Convention applied; the country each child entered and the State each child left.
(3) The number of Convention placements in the United States that were disrupted, with the child’s country of origin, age, placement date, reasons, resolution, agencies involved, and plans for the child, plus information received under section 622(b)(12) about disruption or dissolution of adoptions of children from other countries.
(4) The average time to complete a Convention adoption*, by the child’s country of origin.
(5) The current list of accredited agencies and approved persons.
(6) The names of agencies and persons temporarily or permanently debarred and the reasons.
(7) The range and median of adoption fees for Convention adoptions involving immigration to the United States, by country of origin.
(8) The range of accreditation and approval fees charged in the United States.
(9) Countries with a significant law or regulation that prevented or prohibited adoptions involving immigration to the United States, whether or not the Convention applied.
(10) For each country in paragraph (9), when that law or regulation was first implemented.
(11) Efforts concerning those countries to encourage adoption proceedings involving immigration to the United States to resume, whether or not the Convention would apply.
(12) Any action by the Secretary that prevented, prohibited, or halted such adoptions, whether or not the Convention applied.
(13) For each country listed under paragraph (12): (A) the missing policies, procedures, resources, safeguards, or other shortcomings or circumstances that caused the action; (B) the country’s progress in correcting them; and (C) steps the Department of State took to help reopen intercountry adoptions.
(14) An assessment of how the Intercountry Adoption Accreditation and Maintenance Entity’s fee schedule affects families seeking international adoption, especially low-income families, families adopting sibling groups, and families adopting children with disabilities.
(c) Public availability of report
The Secretary must put the report’s information on the Department of State website.
Beginning 1 year after the date of the entry into force of the Convention* for the United States and each year thereafter, the Secretary*, in consultation with the Attorney General* and other appropriate agencies, shall submit a report describing the activities of the central authority* of the United States under this chapter during the preceding year to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on Ways and Means, and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on Finance, and the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate.
Each report under subsection (a) shall set forth with respect to the year concerned, the following:
The number of intercountry adoptions involving immigration to the United States, regardless of whether the adoption occurred under the Convention, including the country from which each child emigrated, the State* to which each child immigrated, and the country in which the adoption was finalized.
The number of intercountry adoptions involving emigration from the United States, regardless of whether the adoption occurred under the Convention, including the country to which each child immigrated and the State from which each child emigrated.
The number of Convention placements for adoption in the United States that were disrupted, including the country from which the child emigrated, the age of the child, the date of the placement for adoption, the reasons for the disruption, the resolution of the disruption, the agencies that handled the placement for adoption, and the plans for the child, and in addition, any information regarding disruption or dissolution of adoptions of children from other countries received pursuant to section 622(b)(12) of this title.
The average time required for completion of a Convention adoption*, set forth by country from which the child emigrated.
The current list of agencies accredited and persons approved under this chapter to provide adoption services.
The names of the agencies and persons temporarily or permanently debarred under this chapter, and the reasons for the debarment.
The range of adoption fees charged in connection with Convention adoptions involving immigration to the United States and the median of such fees set forth by the country of origin.
The range of fees charged for accreditation of agencies and the approval of persons in the United States engaged in providing adoption services under the Convention.
A list of countries that established or maintained a significant law or regulation that prevented or prohibited adoptions involving immigration to the United States, regardless of whether such adoptions occurred under the Convention.
For each country listed under paragraph (9), the date on which the law or regulation was initially implemented.
Information on efforts taken with respect to a country listed under paragraph (9) to encourage the resumption of halted or stalled adoption proceedings involving immigration to the United States, regardless of whether the adoptions would have occurred under the Convention.
Information on any action the Secretary carried out that prevented, prohibited, or halted any adoptions involving immigration to the United States, regardless of whether the adoptions occurred under the Convention.
For each country listed pursuant to paragraph (12), a description of—
what policies, procedures, resources, and safeguards the country lacks, or other shortcomings or circumstances, that caused the action to be carried out;
what progress the country has made to alleviate those shortcomings; and
what steps the Department of State has taken in order to assist the country to reopen intercountry adoptions.
An assessment of the impact of the fee schedule of the Intercountry Adoption Accreditation and Maintenance Entity on families seeking to adopt internationally, especially low-income families, families seeking to adopt sibling groups, or families seeking to adopt children with disabilities.
The Secretary shall make the information contained in the report required under subsection (a) available to the public on the website of the Department of State.
Source credit: (Pub. L. 106–279, title I, § 104, Oct. 6, 2000, 114 Stat. 829; Pub. L. 109–288, § 6(f)(9), Sept. 28, 2006, 120 Stat. 1248; Pub. L. 116–184, § 2(a), (b), (d), Oct. 30, 2020, 134 Stat. 897, 898.)
- 2000Enacted · Pub. L. 106-279 · 114 Stat. 829
- 2006Amended · Pub. L. 109-288 · 120 Stat. 1248
- 2020Amended · Pub. L. 116-184 · 134 Stat. 897, 898
A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 106-279 on 2000-10-06.
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