We are pleased to announce that Journeys of the Heart Adoption Services located in Hillsboro, Oregon joined a distinguished group of Hague Convention certified international adoption agencies on Febuary 29th! (see www.travel.state.gov/family/adoption/convention/convention_4169.html# for a complete list)
Sam has worked with the Journey’s staff and Board for the past 14 months on the Agency’s challange of facing a dual accreditation crisis. Not only did Journeys need to be reaccredited by the governing authority, the Council on Accreditation (COA), during 2007, but it faced the need to achieve a higher, potentially agency closing benchmark.
2007 marked the move by the US State Department to enact the rules need to comply with the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoptions to fully implement the Convention on April 1, 2008. All American adoption agencies that wanted to continue to work internationally are required to meet new tougher standard and achieve a certification by COA and the US State Department as “Hague Accredited.”
Sam’s leadership and work with Journeys on both accreditations included:
- Coordination of staff efforts
- Coordination of leadership team effort
- Internal auditing of Agency compliance with policy
- Review, clarifying, streamlining and updating of all agency policies
- Review and completion of two 430 page internal self-studies
- Coordination of Stakeholder surveys
- Coordination of the On-Site visit by the COA Review Team
- Writing the agency’s new Hague Policy Manual
- Board briefings
- Agency Liaison to the accrediting body - the Council on Accreditation
