Today the new International Adoption Regulation, that establishes new guidelines for coordination between the General State Administration and the autonomous communities. The rule reinforces the legal security of adoption procedures and reduces processing times.
One of the novelties is that from now on the Ministry of Health, Consumption and Social Welfare, through the General Directorate of Services for Families and Children, will establish the number of new files that may be processed with each country. For this, previously it will have consulted the autonomous communities.
The objective is to rationalize the system, avoiding the accumulation of files in the countries of origin and adapting the offers of the people who want to adopt to the real needs of the minors. This quantitative and qualitative adaptation of the offers will generate a decrease in processing times.
Another of the changes that the new regulation supposes is that it establishes that the Ministry of Health, Consumption and Social Welfare will be the one that accredits the collaborating entities of international adoption, that will have to present a report of the autonomous communities on their actions and guarantee the fulfillment of the requirements established in said legal text.
When the Ministry accredits an organization, in its resolution it will specify the country of origin for which it is accredited, and, where appropriate, the region or state thereof in which it may mediate. In the same way, it will indicate the authorized costs of the processing of an offer of adoption directed to that country, previously approved by the autonomous communities.
Once accredited, these entities will have the obligation to periodically send information about their activities.
The agencies of intermediation in international adoption may request their accreditation from the Ministry of Health, Consumption and Social Welfare as of today. They must complete all their procedures through electronic means. For this, the necessary functionalities have been implemented in the Electronic Registry located in the Electronic Office of the website of the Ministry of Health, Consumption and Social Welfare.
Free election throughout Spain
Another new feature of the Regulation is that the agencies, once accredited by the Ministry, will be able to carry out their activity throughout Spain. Thus, families can freely choose the agency with which they want to carry out their adoption process. The contract model will also be unique, as well as the costs of the procedures. In this way, the principles of equality and legal security are met.
The control of the operation of these organisms will be shared by the autonomous communities and the General State Administration. The former will control the activities carried out in their territory and the State will do so with the activities they carry out outside the national territory. A technical monitoring and control committee will implement quality systems and performance audits.
In addition, once the Organisms have been accredited by the Ministry, the National Registry of Accredited Organizations of International Adoption and of Claims and Incidents will be launched. This registry will be unique and will consist of two sections. The first will be dedicated to the registration of accredited bodies and can be consulted by any interested person. A second section will be referred to the registration of claims and incidents. The access and processing of these data will be regulated according to the current regulations regarding the protection of personal data.
The new Regulation makes it easier for citizens to submit their claims or report any incident, in relation to the activity of the agencies in the country of origin or in Spain. In the first case, the citizen may contact the General Directorate of Services for Families and Children, and, in the second case, the Public Entities or the intermediation agency. On the Ministry's website you will have an application form.
The Royal Decree that enters into force today was approved last March 22 by the Council of Ministers. Develops, through a Regulation, the aspects of the Law 26/2015 of modification of the protection system for children and adolescents.