• 1914 (Stockholm): World’s YWCA resolves to study hardships of immigration.
• 1914: Outbreak of WWI, the resolution is delayed.

• 1920 (Switzerland): A Standing Migration Committee is formed to handle persons displaced after WWI.
• 1921: “The Welfare of Migrants” report is published for the International Emigration Commission of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and widely circulated.
• 1924: The International Headquarters of International Migration Service (now International Social Service) is established in Geneva. International Social Service-USA (ISS-USA), the U.S. branch of the ISS network, is incorporated in NYC in 1926.
• 1924: The U.S. Quota Act of 1924 comes into effect.
• 1928: The Great Depression begins.

• Early 1930s: International Social Service is instrumental in aiding immigrants to understand the global effects of the great depression.
• Early 1930s: Studies lead to International Social Service’s mission of ‘socio-legal’ cooperation.
• 1939: ISS-USA begins finding homes for WWII refugee children.

• Early 1940s: Over 3500 British children are placed in temporary U.S. homes.
• Early 1940s: Over 100,000 refugees are resettled.
• 1946: The organization’s name changed is changed from International Migration Service to International Social Service.

• Family-finding begins for the children of U.S. service men born out of wedlock.
• ISS begins to study the effects of intercountry adoption.
• ISS successfully advocates for the 1951 “United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.”
• International Social Service-USA develops procedures to assist with the 1953 Refugee Relief Act.
• 1955: The U.S. government grants it’s first subsidy to International Social Service-USA as a part of the orphan adoption program.

• A medical social work unit is added to ISS services.
• ISS-USA assists the U.S. Department of State (DOS) and the Children’s Bureau in the recruitment and training of international caseworkers.

• ISS sponsors a forum to focus on the special needs of unaccompanied refugee minors being resettled from Indochina as part of the United States refugee program.
• ISS develops a Task Force on Unaccompanied Refugee Minors.

• ISS-USA increases their global presence by partnering with additional U.S. & international child welfare organizations.
• Advisory roles for ISS-USA now include the U.S. Department of State (DOS) Advisory Committee on the Inter-American Convention on Adoption.
• 1989: ISS participates in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

• 1993: ISS takes part in the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption.
• 1994: The U.S. signs the Hague Adoption Convention.
• ISS-USA is instrumental in understanding and carrying out the Hague Adoption Convention.
• 1994: ISS-USA becomes part of the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, a nonprofit organization based in Baltimore, Maryland.

• 2004: ISS-USA is re-established as an independent nonprofit organization located in Baltimore, Maryland.
• ISS grows to a global network of organizations located in 120 countries.
• 2007: The Arthur C. Helton Institute is established as the research and advocacy wing of ISS-USA.

• 2010: ISS-USA Executive Director, Julie Rosicky, is elected as PAC Chair of the ISS global network.
• 2011: ISS-USA renews their U.S. Repatriation Program’s cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for an additional five years.
• 2014: The ISS Network celebrates 90 years of reuniting families across borders.