# If Your Adoption Service Provider Is No Longer Accredited or Approved

An adoption service provider (ASP) is not allowed to act as a primary provider if it loses its accreditation or approval or allows its accreditation or approval to lapse. This can occur if the ASP permanently closes or fails to renew its accreditation or approval. It can also occur when the Department of State (DOS) or the accrediting entity decides to take adverse action against an accredited agency or approved person, including temporarily or permanently debarring an accredited agency or approved person, suspending or canceling the accreditation or approval, or refusing to renew the accreditation or approval.

Please visit the Intercountry Adoption Accreditation and Maintenance Entity (IAAME) website for information about the status of a particular ASP, including the timeframe of any adverse action.

If you are an adoptive parent or a prospective adoptive parent (PAP) working with an ASP whose accreditation or approval was lost or lapsed, you may need to:
                - Take additional steps with USCIS,
                - Seek help from another ASP to provide any remaining  adoption services , and/or
                - Identify another accredited agency or approved person to act as your primary provider and/or home study preparer or reviewer.

What you need to do will depend on where you are in the intercountry adoption process. Use the chart below to help determine what your responsibilities and next steps are as an adoptive parent or PAP.

The Six Adoption Services

The Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 identifies six adoption services:
                    - Identifying a child for adoption and arranging an adoption;
                    - Securing necessary consent to termination of parental rights and to adoption;
                    - Performing a background study on a child or a home study on a prospective adoptive parent, and reporting on such a study;
                    - Making determinations of the best interests of a child and the appropriateness of adoptive placement for the child;
                    -  Post-placement monitoring of a case until final adoption; and
                    - Where made necessary by disruption before final adoption, assuming custody and providing child care or any other social service pending an alternative placement.

Note: The preparation of post-adoption reports that may be required by a child’s country of origin is not considered an adoption service under U.S. law.

Evidence of a Primary Provider

Only accredited agencies or approved persons can act as a primary provider. Evidence of a primary provider may include, but is not limited to:
                    - A letter from the accredited or approved ASP stating that it is acting as the primary provider
                    - A copy of the service plan that details the six adoption services
                    - A copy of a contract between the PAP and the ASP demonstrating that the accredited agency or approved person is acting as the primary provider

Finding a New Accredited or Approved Primary Provider

You may visit the IAAME website for information on currently accredited agencies or approved persons.

Keeping the Same Supervised Provider

If you have been working with supervised providers, either in the U.S. or abroad, who were supervised by an ASP whose accreditation or approval was lost or lapsed, the supervised provider must immediately stop providing adoption services on the date the ASP’s accreditation or approval was lost or lapsed. The supervised provider may enter into a new supervised provider agreement with another accredited or approved ASP to continue providing you with adoption services in the U.S. or abroad. Laws in the child’s country of origin or your place of residence may require you to update your adoption paperwork to reflect the new primary provider.

## Find Your Responsibilities and Next Steps

*Note: The below chart is intended to provide general guidance for adoptive parents and PAP(s) who were working with an ASP that has lost its accreditation or approval or has allowed its accreditation or approval to lapse. More than one scenario below may apply to you. If additional evidence is required in your specific case, USCIS will generally issue you a request for evidence (RFE).*

10/02/2018

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