Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Hello. I'm Janice Jacobs, the Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs at the Department of
State and I'd like to take a moment to talk to you about our work in support of intercountry
adoption.
The Obama Administration, Secretary Kerry, and all of us here at the Department of State
believe that family is the bedrock of any society, and that children need the permanent
love, care, and protection of a family to grow into healthy, productive adults capable
of experiencing the other joys of life. When a child's birth family can't provide that
home and when another home close by can't be found, intercountry adoption becomes one
answer. To this end, we promote ethical, transparent intercountry adoptions, and support the efforts
of our partners to create a fully developed child welfare system to ensure this.
One key part of our efforts to promote ethical, transparent intercountry adoption are standard
rules followed by countries where adopted children are born and countries where those
children come to live. For some time now, we have had a widely accepted set of such
rules established in the Hague Adoption Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation
in Respect of Inter-Country Adoption. We have been a party to the Adoption Convention since
April 2008. The Adoption Convention lays out specific procedural requirements for adoptions
abroad. The Department of State is the Central Authority in the United States for Hague adoptions,
which means that we are responsible for ensuring that the requirements of the Adoption Convention
are followed for adoptions to and from the United States.
The Department performs this function through its Office of Children's Issues. On behalf
of the Department, this office works to encourage countries to join and implement the Adoption
Convention, and to monitor the accreditation of U.S. adoption service providers working
on intercountry adoptions.
In addition to these responsibilities, this office provides prospective adoptive families
and adoptions service providers with general information on adoption procedures in specific
countries. We know that adopting a child from abroad is a big decision and we understand
that it is important to have accurate, up-to-date information available to families thinking
about expanding their family in this way.
I invite you to take a look at the information that we provide on this website and listen
to the stories of our country officers about the work that they do. They provide an important
service, and I am proud to bring their good work to your attention. Last but not least,
let's continue the conversation on twitter where you can find us under the handle @childrensissues.
Thank you.