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Hague Convention Accreditation and Approval: What Your Organization Needs to Know


A Guide to 22 CFR Part 96, Accreditation of Agencies and Approval of Persons Under the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000*


* This document provides a general overview of key elements of 22 CFR Part 96, the regulation governing the accreditation and approval of intercountry adoption service providers under the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000. It is not a substitute for the actual regulation, nor is it a comprehensive summary of the regulation. In the case of any inconsistencies between this document and the regulation itself, the language of the regulation governs.  

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS


Part 1:  The Basics


Part 2:  The Process


Part 3:  The Standards

Part 4:  Renewal and Oversight


Part 1:  The Basics

Why may my organization need to be accredited or approved for purposes of intercountry adoptions?
 The United States is joining the Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in respect of Intercountry Adoption, a multilateral treaty done at The Hague on May 29, 1993 (“Convention”).  The Convention sets out internationally agreed-upon rules and procedures for adoptions between countries that have a treaty relationship under the Convention. With limited exceptions, the United States will have a treaty relationship under the Convention with every other country that joins the Convention.  Countries that the United States has a treaty relationship with under the Convention are called “Convention countries” in this summary and in the federal regulations governing adoptions under the Convention. Once the United States has joined the Convention, U.S. adoption service providers that wish to perform intercountry adoptions between the United States and a Convention country will generally need to be accredited, temporarily accredited or approved pursuant to procedures and standards established by the United States to ensure compliance with the Convention.  These procedures and standards have been promulgated as regulations by the U.S. Department of State (“the Department”) in 22 CFR Part 96, and are referred to here as “the accreditation regulations”.

When will my organization need to be accredited or approved under the accreditation regulations?
Once the United States joins the Convention, an adoption service provider handling adoptions between the United States and a Convention country will generally need to be accredited or approved, or to work under the supervision of another provider that is accredited or approved.  This will likely occur in 2007.

Who can apply for Hague Convention accreditation or approval?
Private nonprofit and for-profit organizations and individuals are eligible to apply.  Under the accreditation regulations, nonprofit organizations (called “agencies”) may apply to be accredited or temporarily accredited to provide intercountry adoptions under the Convention.  For-profit organizations and individuals (both called “persons”) may apply to be approved.  (With a few exceptions, there is no difference between the services accredited agencies and approved persons can provide.)

 Agencies = Private nonprofit adoption agencies
Persons = For-profit adoption organizations & individual practitioners

*         *        *
Agencies apply for accreditation or temporary accreditation.
Persons apply for approval.



Does every agency or person engaged in intercountry adoptions have to apply for accreditation or approval?
 An agency or person engaged in intercountry adoptions does not necessarily have to apply for accreditation or approval.  It may instead choose to work under the supervision of another provider that is accredited/approved, or to provide only certain limited services that may be provided in Convention cases without being accredited/approved or supervised.  It may also choose to provide services only in cases not subject to the Convention.

Once the United States joins the Convention, a private U.S. adoption service provider generally will not be permitted to provide adoption services in intercountry adoption cases involving the United States and a Convention country unless it is accredited, temporarily accredited, or approved, or is supervised by an accredited agency, temporarily accredited agency or approved person.  A few exceptions exist and are set forth in subpart C of the accreditation regulations.

If your organization engages only in intercountry adoptions between the United States and another country that is not a Convention country, it will not need to be accredited, temporarily accredited, or approved. 

The Department of State maintains a list of Convention countries at www.travel.state.gov/family.

What are the adoption services for which my organization needs to be accredited, temporarily accredited or approved?

  1. Identifying a child for adoption and arranging an adoption;
  2. Securing consent to termination of parental rights and to adoption;
  3. Performing a home study and report on prospective adoptive parent(s) or a background study and report on a child;
  4. Making a non-judicial determination of a child’s best interests and of the appropriateness of an adoptive placement;
  5. Monitoring a case after a child has been placed with prospective adoptive parent(s) until final adoption; and
  6. Assuming custody of a child and providing childcare or any other social service, when necessary because of a disruption pending alternative placement.

If my organization is already licensed by a State and/or is accredited by a national voluntary accreditation body, does it still have to be accredited or approved under the accreditation regulations to provide adoption services in cases involving the

United States and a Convention country?
Yes.  State licensure and/or voluntary accreditation are not substitutes for accreditation, temporary accreditation, or approval under the accreditation regulations.  An agency or person must be licensed or authorized by State licensing authorities, but it must also meet the additional requirements set forth in the accreditation regulations to be accredited or approved. Similarly, adoption service providers that have undergone a voluntary accreditation process will still have to obtain Convention accreditation or approval under the accreditation regulations. 

What does it mean to be supervised?
In every Convention adoption case, an accredited agency or approved person must be identified as responsible for ensuring that the six adoption services are provided.  This agency or person is called the primary provider.  If the primary provider relies upon an outside individual or another organization to carry out one or more of the adoption services, that individual or organization must generally operate under the supervision of the primary provider.  These individuals and organizations are called supervised providers.  Supervised providers may be agents, facilitators, attorneys, or other organizations working either in the United States or a foreign country.  Supervised providers are not required to be accredited, temporary accredited, or approved; however, they must be supervised by a primary provider.

There are some exceptions to the supervised provider rule.  The following are not required to be accredited, temporarily accredited, or approved, or to operate as a supervised provider to provide some or all of the six adoption services:

  1. State, local or tribal governmental authorities in the United States (called “public domestic authorities” in the accreditation regulations);
  2. Central Authorities or other public authorities in Convention countries;
  3. Prospective adoptive parent(s) acting on their own behalf;
  4. A social work professional or organization that performs a home study or a child background study in the United States in connection with a Convention adoption, but that has not provided and is not currently providing any of the other five adoption services in the case (an exempted provider) (the study must be approved in accordance with the accreditation regulations, however); and
  5. Any foreign provider obtaining consents or performing a child background study and report (in incoming cases) or a home study and report (in outgoing cases), if its work is verified in accordance with the accreditation regulations. (This exception recognizes that some services will often be performed overseas before a U.S. primary provider has been identified, making contemporaneous supervision of the provider impractical.)
Exempted Provider= A social work professional or organization that performs a home study on prospective adoptive parent(s) or a child background study (or both) in the United States in connection with a Convention adoption, but that is not providing and has not provided any other adoption services in the case.  Exempted providers are not required to be accredited, approved, or supervised by an accredited agency or approved person, but the studies they perform must subsequently be approved (section 96.14).

Organizations or individuals that do not provide any of the six adoption services may also work on a Convention case without being accredited, approved or supervised, for example:
  1. Attorneys or organizations that provide legal services in connection with a Convention case, such as drawing up contracts and powers of attorney, but that provide none of the six adoption services; and
  2. Individuals or organizations that provide child welfare services in connection with a Convention adoption case (e.g., recruiting and identifying adoptive parent(s) in the case of a disruption, arranging or providing temporary foster care for a child, or education, social, cultural, medical, psychological assessment, mental health, or other health-related services).

Examples of who must be accredited, temporarily accredited, approved, or supervised, can be found in section 96.15 of the accreditation regulations.

If my organization is accredited or approved, can it automatically operate in all Convention countries?
 A Convention country is not required to permit accredited agencies or approved persons to operate in its territory – it may insist that adoption services be handled by governmental authorities instead.  An adoption service provider may not provide adoption services in another Convention country unless it is authorized to do so under that country’s laws.

When will the United States begin processing adoptions under the Convention? 
 The start-up date has not yet been determined, but is likely to be in 2007. The publication of the accreditation regulations is one of a number of steps to be completed before the United States joins the Convention.  The other steps include designating one or more accrediting entities and the accreditation and approval of adoption service providers.  The Department will announce several dates, including: the date when adoption service providers may begin applying for accreditation/approval; the initial deadline for applications from providers who wish to complete the accreditation/approval process before the United States joins the Convention; the date on which the first round of accreditation and approval decisions will be announced; and the date on which adoption processing under the Convention will begin.


Part 2:  The Process

Who will accredit/approve my organization?  
The Department will designate one or more accrediting entities to accredit, temporarily accredit, and approve adoption service providers.  Each accrediting entity will be either a nonprofit organization with experience in accreditation or a State licensing body.   

How will the Department choose accrediting entities?
The Department will follow criteria spelled out in the accreditation regulations to designate accrediting entities.  To be chosen as an accrediting entity, an applicant must demonstrate, among other things, that it can carry out a fair and timely process, and that it can effectively monitor the agencies and persons it has accredited/temporarily accredited/approved.  For more information about the performance criteria for accrediting entities, please refer to section 96.6 of the accreditation regulations.

What will accrediting entities do?
Accrediting entities will make accreditation and approval decisions based upon the standards and procedures in the accreditation regulations. In furtherance of this, they will perform a number of tasks, including:

  1. Determining whether agencies or persons are eligible for accreditation/temporary accreditation/approval;
  2. Monitoring the performance of accredited agencies, temporarily accredited agencies, and approved persons;
  3. Investigating and responding to complaints about accredited agencies, temporarily accredited agencies, and approved persons;
  4. Taking disciplinary action against accredited agencies, temporarily accredited agencies, and approved persons, when appropriate;
  5. Determining whether accredited agencies and approved persons are eligible for renewal of their accreditation/approval;
  6. Collecting data from accredited agencies, temporarily accredited agencies, and approved persons, maintaining records, and reporting information; and,
  7. Assisting in the transfer of Convention adoption cases and adoption records if an agency or person loses its accreditation, temporary accreditation, or approval. 

When can my organization apply to be accredited or approved?
The Department anticipates designating one or more accrediting entities in 2006.  After the accrediting entities have prepared for the accreditation process, adoption service providers will be able to apply for accreditation, temporary accreditation, or approval.  To be accredited, temporarily accredited or approved at the time the Convention enters in force for the United States, your organization will have to apply for accreditation, temporary accreditation, or approval by the transitional application deadline.  This date will be announced by the Department and published in the Federal Register and on the Department’s website. 

The accreditation process has been designed to give adoption service providers that apply by the transitional application deadline a reasonable opportunity to complete the process and become accredited, temporarily accredited or approved before the United States joins the Convention.  If your agency is not accredited, temporarily accredited or approved by this time, it may still obtain accreditation or approval later, as accrediting entities will accept applications on a rolling basis. 

How long will my accreditation or approval last?
Initial accreditations and approvals will be granted for three, four, or five years, in order to stagger the future dates by which accredited agencies and approved persons will need to apply for renewal of their accreditation or approval status.  After the initial round of applications, accreditation or approval and renewal of accreditation or approval will last four years.   Temporary accreditation will be granted for a more limited period of time (one or two years).

What is temporary accreditation?  
Temporary accreditation is available to agencies that have provided adoption services in fewer than 100 intercountry adoption cases in the calendar year preceding the year in which the transitional application deadline falls.  (Thus, if the transitional application deadline is in 2006, the number of adoption cases handled in 2005 will govern.)  Temporary accreditation will last for one year for agencies that provided adoption services for 50-99 intercountry adoption cases and two years for agencies that provided adoption services in fewer than 50 intercountry adoption cases.   It is not renewable; a temporarily accredited agency that wishes to continue to provide adoption services in Convention cases will have to attain full accreditation by the time its temporary accreditation expires or thereafter work as a supervised or exempted provider.

 Temporary Accreditation

Number of Intercountry Adoption Cases

Length of Temporary Accreditation

50-99

One year

0-50

Two years

Only non-profit organizations licensed by a State to provide adoption services may apply for temporary accreditation; for-profit organizations and individuals are not eligible.  If your agency is eligible, it must apply by the transitional application deadline. An accrediting entity may permit an agency to convert its application for temporary accreditation to an application for full accreditation; however, the agency will be treated as if it had applied after the transitional application deadline if the application is converted after that date.    For more information about temporary accreditation, please refer to Subpart N of the accreditation regulations.

Will the Department monitor accrediting entities?
 The Department will monitor accrediting entities to ensure that each performs its functions consistent with the Convention, the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 (IAA), regulations implementing the IAA, other applicable law, and its agreement with the Department.  The Department has the authority to suspend or cancel an accrediting entity’s designation if it determines the accrediting entity is substantially out of compliance. For more information about the Department’s authority to suspend or cancel a designation, please refer to section 96.10 of the accreditation regulations.

How much will accreditation and approval cost?
The cost for accreditation, temporary accreditation, and approval may vary, depending on factors such as the relative size, caseload and geographic location of the agencies and persons each accrediting entity expects to serve.  The accrediting entity’s fees may not exceed its costs of accrediting/temporarily accrediting/approving agencies and persons, and must be approved by the Department.  For more information about limitations on accrediting entity fees, please refer to section 96.8 of the accreditation regulations.

How will the accreditation and approval process be conducted?
 Subparts D and E of the accreditation regulations set forth the basic parameters of the accreditation and approval process.  (Separate procedures, described in Subpart N, apply to temporary accreditation.)  For example, the accrediting entity must assign at least two evaluators to each applicant and must:
  1. Review the written application and supporting materials, verifying the information;
  2. Consider any complaints received about the applicant pursuant to the Hague Complaint Registry; and,
  3. Conduct at least one site visit, which may include interviews with birth parent(s), adoptive parent(s), adult adoptee(s), prospective parent(s), employees, and others knowledgeable about the agency or person, and a review of onsite documents.

More specific information will be provided to your organization by the accrediting entity you select.

Is there any recourse for an adoption service provider that is denied accreditation or approval?
Before deciding whether to accredit an agency or approve a person, an accrediting entity may use its discretion to provide the agency or person an opportunity to correct any deficiencies that may hinder or prevent accreditation or approval, as described in section 96.24 of the accreditation regulations.  The IAA does not provide for judicial or administrative review of an accrediting entity’s decision to deny an application.  If an applicant is denied accreditation or approval, it may petition for reconsideration using the accrediting entity’s internal review procedures as provided in section 96.59 of the accreditation regulations.  The accreditation regulations do not provide a parallel petition procedure for temporary accreditation applicants. 

What will the public know about the results of the accreditation/approval process?
 Accrediting entities must make information about each agency and person it has accredited, temporarily accredited or approved, as well as information about those that it has denied, available to the public on a quarterly basis.  The Department will develop and maintain an up-to-date list of accredited agencies and approved persons on its website.


Part 3:  The Standards

What kinds of issues do the standards address?
The accreditation regulations set standards for accreditation and approval that are designed to ensure that U.S. accredited agencies and approved persons perform their duties in accordance with the Hague Convention and the IAA.

 Key Convention Principles:

  (1) Ensuring that intercountry adoptions take place in the best interests of children.
  (2) Preventing the abduction, sale, or trafficking of children in connection with
       intercountry adoption.


Subpart F of the accreditation regulations contains the standards that accrediting entities will use in evaluating applicants for accreditation and approval. (The standards for temporary accreditation appear in Subpart N of the accreditation regulations.)

The standards in Subpart F are organized into nine major divisions, addressing nine broad areas, which may be summarized as follows:

Licensing and Corporate Governance.   These standards relate to the adoption service provider’s compliance with state licensing and similar requirements and to its corporate and internal structure and internal oversight mechanisms. They include standards on issues such as the organization’s authority to act under applicable law in the jurisdictions in which it operates and its board composition.   The standards also address disclosure to the accrediting entity of information relating to prior names under which the provider has operated, organizations it is associated with, and personnel it employs.

Financial and Risk Management.   These budget, audit, insurance, risk assessment and compensation standards address issues such as disclosure of financial information, financial soundness, safeguards to prevent charitable donations from influencing child placement decisions, contingency planning, risk assessment, professional liability insurance, bonding of organization officials, disclosure of vendor relationships, and compensation methods and levels.  Ethical Practices and Responsibilities.  These standards relate to the suitability of the organization to provide adoption services consistent with the Convention and to the manner in which the organization prohibits child buying by its employees and agents.  Included are standards that address disclosure of information related to current and past practices of the organization and its individual directors, officers and employees and standards that address payments to birthparents and others in connection with adoptions.

Ethical Practices and Responsibilities. These standards relate to the suitability of the organization to provide adoption services consistent with the Convention and to the manner in which the organization prohibits child buying by its employees and agents. Included are standards that address disclosure of information related to current and past practices of the organization and its individual directors, officers and employees and standards that address payments to birthparents and others in connection with adoptions.

Professional Qualifications and Training for Employees.   These standards address the education, experience, and training of various personnel of the organization. The education and experience standards include standards relating to social work supervisors, certain non-supervisory social service employees, and home study and child background study preparers.  The training standards for social service personnel include standards on orientation training, initial training, and continuing education. 

Information Disclosure, Fee Practices, and Quality Control Policies and Practices.    Standards on information disclosure primarily address disclosure to prospective clients of information such as agency policies and practices, supervised providers to be used, and the adoption services contract that the adoptive parent will be asked to sign.  The standards on fee policies and procedures focus on fee-related disclosures to prospective adoptive parents, including fee levels, purposes for which the fees are paid, and fee collection and refund policies and practices.  The standards also address issues such as the organization’s capacity to transfer funds abroad and its handling of unforeseen expenses.  Standards related to quality control relate to issues such as preferential treatment of organization insiders, liability waivers, use of the Internet, and cooperation with the accrediting entity and the Department of State.

Responding to Complaints and Records and Reports Management.   The standards on complaints primarily address complaint procedures and methods of improving adoption service delivery.  They work in tandem with the Hague Complaint Registry outlined in Subpart J of the accreditation regulations.  The standards on retention, preservation, and disclosure of adoption records include standards on how adoption records are to be retained, safeguarded, accessed and, when necessary, transferred.  The standards on case tracking, data management, and reporting focus on reporting of both case-specific and general information to the accrediting entity and the Department that is relevant to the IAA-mandated Congressional reporting and case registry functions.

Service Planning and Delivery. These standards address the responsibilities of a primary provider, the use of U.S. and foreign supervised providers, and, where permissible in accordance with section 96.14, the use of other private foreign providers. The standards on primary providers relate primarily to the organization’s capacity to supervise.  Standards on the use of supervised providers include several standards related to ensuring supervised provider compliance with key standards appearing elsewhere in subpart F.  Standards on use of other foreign providers address verification of compliance with relevant Convention articles and applicable foreign law in the absence of a supervisory relationship.

Standards for cases in which a child is immigrating to the United States in connection with an adoption (incoming cases).   The standards relating to the preparation of home studies generally reflect Convention and Department of Homeland Security requirements and procedures.  Standards on preparation and training of prospective adoptive parents incorporate training on a wide range of subjects, including issues specific to the particular child being adopted.  Standards on the provision of medical and social information include standards on information disclosure to prospective adoptive parents and on the length of time before a referral may be withdrawn from a prospective adoptive parent.  Standards on placement, post-placement monitoring until final adoption, and post-adoption services relate to the duties of the agency from the time of placement forward, including transfer of the child, required reporting, and handling of problems that may arise following placement.  (The limited standards relating to post-adoption services reflect the fact that post-adoption services are not adoption services under the IAA.)  Standards on Convention communication and coordination functions in incoming cases focus primarily on the organization’s performance of various procedural steps that the Convention requires in individual adoptions.

Standards for cases in which a child is emigrating from the United States in connection with an adoption (outgoing cases).   There are standards on child background studies and consents that largely mirror the corresponding Convention requirements.  Standards on placement reflect the Convention and IAA’s priority for domestic placement, as well as other factors, and include standards associated with preparation and transfer of the child and post-placement duties, where applicable. Standards on Convention communication and coordination functions in outgoing cases largely reflect the various procedural steps required by the Convention and IAA in outgoing cases.

Does my organization need to meet every standard in the accreditation regulations to be accredited or approved? 
 Applicants for accreditation or approval should strive to satisfy every applicable standard.  Less than full compliance with some standards may not be a bar to accreditation or approval, however.  Accrediting entities will determine whether an applicant may be accredited or approved by using a substantial compliance system approved by the Department, as outlined in section 96.27 of the accreditation regulations.  (Temporary accreditation involves different standards and procedures and is addressed separately, in Subpart N of the accreditation regulations.)


Part 4:  Renewal and Oversight


When will my organization need to renew its accreditation or approval?
Accreditation or approval granted for the initial start-up under the Convention will be on a staggered basis for three, four, or five years. Subsequent granted accreditations/approvals will be for four years.  As the end of the period of accreditation/approval approaches, your accrediting entity must advise your organization of the date by which it will need to apply for renewal of accreditation or approval so that the process can be completed before the previously granted accreditation/approval expires.  The accrediting entity must process your renewal request in a timely fashion.  If your organization does not wish to be renewed, it will be required to notify the accrediting entity immediately and complete or transfer its pending Convention adoption cases and records to an accredited or approved adoption service provider, under the oversight of the accrediting entity, before accreditation or approval expires.  Temporary accreditation may not be renewed, but a temporarily accredited agency may apply for accreditation.  For more information, please see subpart H of the accreditation regulations.

Once my organization is accredited or approved, what oversight is there of my organization?
 Your accrediting entity is required to monitor your organization at least annually after it has been accredited or approved, as outlined in Subpart I of the accreditation regulations, to ensure that your organization remains in substantial compliance with the accreditation and approval standards.  Your organization will be required to attest annually that it has remained in substantial compliance with the standards in subpart F and to provide supporting documentation.  Your accrediting entity may also choose to conduct a site visit of your organization to verify continued substantial compliance.  Additionally, accrediting entities are required to investigate any complaints filed against the agencies and persons it oversees, as provided in subpart J.  Subpart N of the rule addresses oversight of temporarily accredited agencies.

How are complaints handled?
When a party to a specific adoption case has a complaint about your organization, he or she must first submit the complaint in writing directly to your organization, as well as to the primary provider in the case (if different).  If the complaint raises an issue of compliance with the Convention, the IAA, or its implementing regulations and cannot be resolved through your organization’s complaint process, the party to the adoption case will then be able to file the complaint with the Hague Complaint Registry (HCR), a web-based system that the Department is establishing.  Federal, State, or local government officials, foreign Central Authorities, or individuals who are not party to a specific Convention case will be permitted to file complaints directly with the HCR without first submitting them to the accredited agency or approved person. For more information about complaints, please see subpart J of the accreditation regulations.  Once a complaint is filed with the HCR, it will be available to the accrediting entity for appropriate action, and the Department will be able to monitor the handling of the complaint.

 The Hague Complaint Registry (HCR) will:

  1. Record complaints about accredited agencies, temporarily accredited agencies and approved persons;
  2. Make complaint information available to the accrediting entity that has oversight and the U.S. Department of State;
  3. Record information about action taken to resolve each complaint;
  4. Track compliance with any deadlines applicable to the resolution of complaints;
  5. Generate reports to show possible patterns of complaints; and,
  6.  Perform any other functions the Secretary of State assigns.

What action can an accrediting entity take against my organization because of a complaint or other negative information?
Your accrediting entity is required to take adverse action if it determines that your organization is not in substantial compliance with the accreditation/approval standards.  As outlined in subpart K of the accreditation regulations, it must decide what adverse action to take based on the seriousness and type of the violation as well as the extent to which your organization has corrected or failed to correct deficiencies of which it has been previously informed.  Such actions may include:
  • Suspending or canceling accreditation or approval;
  • Refusing to renew accreditation or approval;
  • Requiring specific corrective action to bring your organization into compliance; and
  • Imposing other sanctions, including requiring your organization to stop providing adoption services in a particular case or in a specific Convention country.

Accrediting entities are further required to refer certain types of substantiated complaints to State licensing authorities, the Attorney General, or other law enforcement authorities, as described in section 96.72 of the accreditation regulations.  The Department may also take adverse action against accredited agencies and approved persons in certain circumstances, as discussed in subpart L of the accreditation regulations.  Different procedures may apply to temporarily accredited agencies, as described in subpart N of the accreditation regulations.

If the accrediting entity takes an adverse action against my organization, how will my organization be able to terminate the adverse action?
Each accrediting entity must maintain internal petition procedures that provide an opportunity to terminate an adverse action against an accredited agency or approved person on the grounds that the relevant deficiencies have been corrected.  Also, an accrediting entity may withdraw an adverse action at any time if it concludes that the action was based on a mistake of fact or was otherwise in error. (The accrediting entity must provide your organization an opportunity, either before the adverse action is imposed or afterwards, to demonstrate that adverse action would be or was unwarranted.)  Your organization may also petition the United States district court in the judicial district where it is located to set aside the adverse action.  Any claim that deficiencies that led to the adverse action have been corrected, however, must first be raised through the accrediting entity’s internal petition procedures.  Different procedures may apply to temporarily accredited agencies, as described in subpart N of the accreditation regulations.

Can my organization reapply for accreditation or approval if its accreditation or approval has been cancelled or not renewed?
An agency or person must generally obtain permission from its accrediting entity to reapply for accreditation or approval after the accrediting entity has cancelled or refused to renew its accreditation or approval.  The accrediting entity may grant permission to reapply only if the agency or person demonstrates to the accrediting entity’s satisfaction that the specific deficiencies that led to the cancellation or refusal to renew have been corrected.  Temporarily accredited agencies whose temporary accreditation has been withdrawn may not reapply for temporary accreditation but may seek full accreditation under the conditions set forth in Subpart N of the accreditation regulations.