Human Trafficking

The United States has moved closer to its goal of ratifying the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption with the publication of proposed rules related to adoption and custody proceedings, and with the designation of two entities to handle the accreditation of adoption service providers. The State Department has named the Council on Accreditation and the Colorado Department of Human Resources as entities responsible for accrediting nonprofit agencies or other providers to handle adoptions between countries that have implemented the Hague Convention.

The designation of accrediting entities is one of the steps necessary for the United States to ratify the convention. Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Maura Harty has said that implementing the Hague Convention for the United States is among her “highest priorities.” The convention sets minimum international standards and procedures for adoptions that occur between implementing countries. It aims to prevent abuses such as the abduction, sale or trafficking of children, and to help prevent the exploitation of children, birth parents and adoptive parents.