Jewish Family & Career Services (JFCS) has has achieved Hague Accreditation through the Council on Accreditation (COA) as authorized by the U.S. Department of State. The accreditation attests that JFCS is in substantial compliance with the Hague Convention Accreditation Standards for its adoption services.
Adoption Services at JFCS provides practical and emotional support to families when they decide to expand their families. JFCS Executive Director Judy Freundlich Tiell oversees Adoption Services, which include home studies for domestic and international adoption, education and counseling, post-placement support and service, and parenting groups.
The Hague Convention is an international treaty created to ensure that intercountry adoptions are in the best interests of children and to prevent abduction, exploitation, sale or trafficking of children. In 1994 the United States signed this treaty and agreed to develop regulations and a monitoring process for adoption service providers in the U.S. that worked with agencies in countries that signed onto the Convention.
For more information about the Hague Convention, including a full list of participating countries, please visit the Hague Conference on Private International Law’s website at www.hcch.net.
Congress passed The Intercountry Adoption Act (IAA) in October 2000, which serves as the implementing legislation for the United States. The IAA names the U.S. Department of State (State Department) as the Central Authority for the United States and the federal agency responsible for implementing the Convention.
The IAA requires agencies and persons providing adoption services in cases involving Convention countries to be accredited or approved. In July 2006, the U.S. Department of State named COA as the only national accreditor for adoption service providers under the Hague Convention.
Founded in 1977, COA is an independent, not-for-profit accreditor of the continuum of community-based behavioral health care and social service organizations. COA’s mission is to partner with human service organizations worldwide to improve service delivery outcomes by developing, applying and promoting accreditation standards. COA envisions excellence in the delivery of human services globally, resulting in the well-being of individuals, families and communities.