page_title: Office of Children's Issues
section_title: Compliance Reports
hierarchical_section_title: Office of Children's Issues / International child abduction / Compliance Reports
caption_attribution_description: English: Cover of the 2010 Compliance Report on the Hague Abduction Convention
context_page_description: The Office of Children's Issues is an agency of the Bureau of Consular Affairs, which in turn is part of the U.S. Department of State. The Office of Children's Issues was created in 1994 under the leadership of Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Mary Ryan and that of her successor Maura Harty. The Office of Children's Issues develops and coordinates policies and programs related to international child abduction. In this respect, it is the U.S. Central Authority under the terms of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption.
  With respect to international adoptions, the agency coordinates policy and provides potential parents with information on international adoption. It does not intervene on behalf of individuals in foreign courts because, as it claims, adoption is an issue of judicial sovereignty within the country where the child resides. However, it is able to offer general information and help with regard to the adoption process in over 60 countries.
context_section_description: In recognition of the fact that the U.S. State Department would not voluntarily inform Congress, U.S. courts, law enforcement authorities, family law attorneys or the general public about the gross noncompliance of foreign countries in adhering to the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction, Congress enacted an annual reporting requirement obligating the State Department to publish a detailed annual report on the reliability and effectiveness of the Convention in protecting and securing the return of abducted American children in foreign countries.  It was hoped that the law would make available a unique and vitally important source of information to parents, courts, governments and attorneys worldwide.
  The Compliance Reports have been issued for each year since 1999 with years 2002 and 2003 combined in a single report.
caption: 2010 Report Cover
exif: {}