96.100—Procedures for evaluating applicants for temporary accreditation.
(2)
Verify the information provided by the agency, as appropriate. The accrediting entity may also request additional documentation and information from the agency in support of the application as it deems necessary.
(b)
The accrediting entity may also decide, in its discretion, that it must conduct a site visit to determine whether to approve the application for temporary accreditation. The site visit may include interviews with birth parents, adoptive parent(s), prospective adoptive parent(s), and adult adoptee(s) served by the agency, interviews with the agency's employees, and interviews with other individual(s) knowledgeable about its provision of adoption services. It may also include a review of on-site documents. The accrediting entity must, to the extent possible, advise the agency in advance of documents it wishes to review during the site visit. The provisions of §§ 96.25 and 96.26 will govern requests for and use of information.
(c)
Before deciding whether to grant temporary accreditation to the agency, the accrediting entity may, in its discretion, advise the agency of any deficiencies that may hinder or prevent its temporary accreditation and defer a decision to allow the agency to correct the deficiencies.
(d)
The accrediting entity may only use the criteria contained in § 96.96 when determining whether an agency is eligible for temporary accreditation.
(e)
The eligibility criteria contained in § 96.96 and the standards contained in § 96.104 do not eliminate the need for an agency to comply fully with the laws of the jurisdictions in which it operates. An agency must provide adoption services in Convention cases consistent with the laws of any State in which it operates and with the Convention and the IAA.