	Adoption Services

Introduction

Administration and Management

Service Delivery Administration Standards

Service Standards

AS 9: Placement

The organization identifies adoptive families who can meet the needs of waiting children and facilitates timely placements.

Interpretation: An organization that has responsibility for placing an Indian child should work closely with the child's tribe to identify adoptive homes within the tribal community. Families from all tribes to which the child has ties should be considered as placement options.

Note: Foster Care to Adoption programs will implement FC 6 and AS 9.

NA The organization provides homestudy services only.

NA The organization provides post placement services only.

AS 9.01

A process that examines the child’s needs and interests, and the prospective adoptive parents’ interpersonal and parenting skills, identifies an adoptive family that:

is most suitable to meet the child’s needs; and
can advance the child’s best interests.

Interpretation: Children are encouraged to participate in the decision-making process to the greatest extent possible given their age and developmental level.

AS 9.02

The child’s and prospective family’s religious, cultural, racial, linguistic, and ethnic identities are considered when identifying a family, provided such consideration:

does not delay placement of the child for adoption;
is in the best interest of the child; and
is consistent with applicable legal requirements.

Interpretation: Organizations should follow guidelines set forth in the Multi-Ethnic Placement Act.

Research Note: The original language in the Multi-Ethnic Placement Act (MEPA) was updated by the Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996 to eliminate confusion about whether race, color, or national origin could be considered in making placement decisions. These amendments, known as Removal of Barriers to Interethnic Adoption, explicitly state that they have no effect on placement preferences for Indian children under the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). The protection granted under ICWA is based upon the child's political affiliation to the tribe and this is distinct and separate from the racial classifications outlined in the amendments.

AS 9.03

The organization takes into account, whenever feasible and appropriate, birth parents' expressed desires regarding the child's placement, and when this consideration can delay placement, the organization:

acts in accordance with applicable law;
tries to resolve the conflict in the best interest of an expeditious and permanent placement; and
promptly seeks legal counsel regarding resolution of such differences, if necessary.

AS 9.04

Prospective adoptive parents are provided with sufficient information and time to make an informed decision about the placement, and assurance that the child is legally available for adoption.

Interpretation: Information includes all available non-identifying child and birth parent information, and information about the general circumstances leading to the decision to place the child for adoption. Prospective adoptive parents should be given sufficient time to comprehend large amounts of information about a child. If the organization develops a process to share information over time with parents, it should carefully consider what information must be shared prior to the decision to adopt. Intentional misrepresentation or concealment and negligent disclosure or withholding of information can put the organization at risk for wrongful adoption lawsuits. Practices that may limit exposure to liability include: informing prospective adoptive parents of limits on information gathering and disclosure, provision of information in writing, and training staff on procedures for collecting and disclosing information.

Research Note: Literature suggests that adoptions are more successful when adoptive parents have realistic expectations about the adopted child. This is of particular importance for children with special needs or children at greater risk for disruption.

AS 9.05

When a child is placed prior to termination of parental rights, the organization:

informs the prospective adoptive parents of the substantial risks involved and limitations on confidentiality;
requires written agreements between the organization and the prospective adoptive parents, stating the mutual intention that the adoption take place, if legal matters are resolved; and
makes diligent efforts to remove barriers to the adoption.

Interpretation: This standard does not apply in the case of customary adoption, when parental rights will not be terminated.

NA The organization does not place children prior to the termination of parental rights.

AS 9.06

The child is placed as soon as the family and child are prepared, and adoptive parents receive assistance:

with the child’s transition to the home;
obtaining available subsidies and medical insurance for the child;
obtaining resources for the child’s special needs; and
completing the legal adoption.

AS 9.07

Indian children are placed according ot the placement preferences specified in the Indian Child Welfare Act as applicable.

Research Note: The Indian Child Welfare Act requires that preference be given to adoptive placements in the following order: (1) a member of the child's extended family; (2) other members of the child's tribe; and (3) other Indian families. As evidence of compliance with these placement preferences, a record of each placement must be maintained by the state in which the placement was made. These records are made available upon request of the United States Secretary of Interior or the Indian child's tribe.

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	PURPOSE: Adoption Services establish a permanent family for children and youth awaiting adoption, and increase the well-being and functioning of birth parents, adoptive families, and adopted individuals.

RELATED FILES


	SERVICE One or more organization-operated programs or activities that have a common general objective and deploy the organization's material and human resources in a planned and systematic manner. An organization that publicly promotes or identifies itself in writing as offering a service, is licensed to deliver a service, assigns personnel and/or space to a service, or allocates financial resources to a service is considered to offer that service.


	FAMILY Two or more people who consider themselves family and who assume obligations, functions, and responsibilities generally essential to healthy family life. Child care and child socialization, income support, long-term care, and other caregiving are among the functions of family life. The definition of "family" will rest with an individual's indication of who plays a family member role, including current or former foster family, adoptive family, extended family members, fictive kin, or significant others. Organizations that believe family is the central constellation in a child's life, and that family attachments are of primary importance for human development, will strive to work with professional staff to develop a common understanding of "family."


	PARENTS Parents can include: birth, foster, kinship, and adoptive parents. Please see service standards for more specific information about use of this term.


	INDIAN CHILD As defined in the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), "Any unmarried person who is under age eighteen and is either (a) a member of an Indian tribe or (b) eligible for membership in an Indian tribe and is the biological child of a member of an Indian tribe." For purposes of compliance with ICWA, the definition provided in the Act shall apply. For purposes of access to services and resources, other more inclusive definitions may apply (e.g. Indian Education Act, tribal definitions, etc.).


	COMMUNITY A specific group of people living in the same locality and who may share a common culture, values, and norms. Communities can also be defined by race, religion, ethnicity, age, occupation, political status, tribal affiliation, interest in particular problems or outcomes, or other common bonds. The term "community" encompasses worksites, schools, tribes, residential neighborhoods, business districts, recreational areas, and health and human service sites.


	PROGRAM A system of services offered by an organization. For example, an organization providing a mental health service may offer several mental health programs to different populations, e.g., a mental health program for adolescent teens. The word "program" can be used interchangeably with the word "service" or to describe specific programs.


	PRACTICE Established actions or ways of proceeding in the regular performance of organizational duties. Policies and procedures often guide practice.


	TRAINING Instruction so as to make fit, qualified, or proficient in a skill or body of knowledge.


	SPECIAL NEEDS A designation used in reference to conditions or characteristics of a person that reflect a need for special care, services, or treatment. When the term is used in the context of adoption services, special needs refers to conditions that make a child harder to place for adoption. This includes children who are members of sibling groups, older children, children with disabilities, children of certain racial /ethnic backgrounds, etc. When the term is used in the context of foster care it refers to the need for a higher degree of specialized case services and attention due to mental and physical disabilities. When the term is used in the context of out-of-school time services, a child or youth may have special physical, behavioral, medical, emotional, or cognitive needs that should be addressed or accommodated. The term is also used in other contexts. See also DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES.


	CONFIDENTIALITY An ethical and practice principle that requires the protection of information shared within a professional-client relationship. An organization that upholds confidentiality prohibits personnel from disclosing information about persons served without their written consent.


	LIABILITY An obligation, responsibility, or debt.


	TERMINATION See CASE CLOSING


	CASE A general term used to designate clients (including individuals, families, and groups) served by an organization for purposes of monitoring the provision of services. A foster care case is generally based on the placement of an individual child, although casework for the child may include services to the child's family. A child protective services case is based on an entire family household if a family assessment model is used; otherwise a case is defined as a child.


	INDIAN CHILD'S TRIBE As defined in ICWA, "The Indian tribe in which a child is a member or is eligible for membership or in the case of an Indian child who is a member or eligible for membership in more than one tribe, the Indian tribe with which the Indian child has more significant contacts."