Joint Council on International Children's Services, founded in 1976, was a nonprofit child advocacy organization based in Alexandria, Virginia. The organization "work[ed] to end the suffering of children who live every day without the protection and love of a strong permanent and safe family. Our 142 Partners in 52 countries do the same." Advocacy Joint Council advocated for legislation, funding, and aggressive prosecution of corrupt practices in adoption. They promoted domestic adoption around the world, including in China, Africa, and Eastern Europe, while also advocating against the closure of international adoption programs. In April 2010, after an American mother put her unwanted 7-year-old Russian-adopted son on a plane alone to Russia, Joint Council organized a petition to Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev with over 11,000 signatures discouraging Russia from freezing its international adoption program. In 2014 the Council "partnered with 12 non-profits and India’s Central Authority on Child Welfare to assess India’s new child protection and adoption laws." That same year, work with the Indian government, Operation Smile and other partners "allow[ed] for the first time ever, 16,000 children in institutions to be eligible for cleft pallet surgeries if needed." The Joint Council was the head of the (U.S.) Adoption Tax Credit Working Group in at least 2015. The Council was also co-founder and, together with Save the Children, co-chair of the Children in Adversity Policy Partnership (CAPP), which "brings together over 40 organizations to strengthen and implement the US Government Action Plan for Children in Adversity (APCA, a first-ever comprehensive approach to U.S. foreign assistance to children)." First created in 2012, the APCA is “a demonstration of the U.S. Government’s commitment to greater coordinated, comprehensive and effective assistance to prevent and respond to the needs of especially vulnerable children. More than 30 offices across the U.S. Government continue to support programs and policies relevant to the APCA objectives globally.” Media outlets often featured comments from former Joint Council CEO, Tom DiFilipo, on articles related to international adoption. Statements from Joint Council have appeared in the Associated Press, USA Today, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, among others. Education and Research The Council's Emerging Leadership Program "identifie[d], cultivate[d], educate[d] and support[ed] professionals and government officials who are positioned to make ‘a family for every child’ a priority for society… and a reality for all children." In 2015 alone, the Council "provided on-site training and distance learning to