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Some major agencies came up for accredidation in the month of May – Frank and Children’s Hope International among the list – and did not receive automatic re-accredidation. Because of a new law instituted just days before the re-accredidation of these agencies they were unable to comply in time.
Here is a list of agencies currently accredited in Russia, and this is what JCICS (theJoint Council of International Children’s Services) says about the re-accredidation mess:
May 5, 2006
JCICS has learned the following from the U.S. Department of State. The Russian Ministry of Education has confirmed that foreign adoption service providers are subject to the new NGO law. (Previously it was thought that adoption agencies would be exempt but now we have learned that is not the case). This means the following:Agencies that are already accredited under the old rules will be allowed to operate until their accreditation expires.
Agencies seeking new accreditation or renewal (including the large number we know are scheduled for re-accreditation on May 17) will be prohibited from operating until they both register with the Ministry of Justice under the new NGO law and receive accreditation from Ministry of Education once implementing procedures are in place. We do not know exactly when the implementing procedures will be in place but the timeframe of June/ July has been mentioned.
NGO registration, once implemented, will likely add thirty days to the accreditation process.
The Embassy was assured that adopting parents who have already submitted applications to Russian authorities will be allowed to complete their adoptions independently if their agency loses accreditation.
As I’ve posted before, it’s hoops and more hoops, all of which, ostensibly, are to safeguard the process of adoption from Russia but which actually put up more barriers to children getting out of the institutions and into families.
Now, what do I think you should do if you are signed with, or thinking of signing with an agency that’s not been reaccredited? Not sure, but I do firmly believe that most of the agencies whose accreditation has lapsed will regain their status. If you sign with an agency now your process could take a year to a year and a half – by then the agencies will have satisfied the new requirements for reaccreditation and you can probably go forward without a hitch. The agencies that are already accredited now may have lost their accreditation…so maybe the best thing to do is find an agency that has an excellent reputation and one which you feel comfortable with and go from there.
