Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 38, September 20, 2024
a) Legal
risk placements are selected for children for whom the Department deems such
placements are appropriate as described in this Section. Prior to making a
legal risk placement, the Department shall conduct a legal screening in
accordance with Section
309.80
to determine whether a legal risk placement is in the child's best interests.
Legal risk placements may be appropriate, when pursuit of adoption is in the
child's best interests, because:
1) any one
of the circumstances listed in Section
309.50(b)
is present; and
2) placement in a
prospective adoptive home willing to adopt the child if the child should become
legally free will reduce the necessity of multiple placements of the child or
eliminate the length of time the child must wait for an adoptive home;
and
3) any one of the following
conditions exists:
A) one parent has
surrendered parental rights and the identity of the other parent is
unknown;
B) one parent has
surrendered parental rights and a diligent search for the absent parent has
been unsuccessful;
C) one parent
has surrendered parental rights and the identity and whereabouts of the other
parent is known and that parent has either made statements indicating a desire
to surrender the child or grounds for termination of parental rights
exist;
D) the identity and
whereabouts of the parents are unknown;
E) termination of parental rights is under
judicial appeal;
F) the child comes
from a family in which other siblings have been freed for adoption and there is
a strong indication that this child will also become free for
adoption;
G) the court having
jurisdiction over the child formally or informally requires that the child be
placed with a potential adoptive family prior to considering a petition for
involuntary termination of parental rights; or
H) the child is currently in a substitute
care placement where the foster parents are not seeking to adopt and the
State's Attorney has agreed to proceed with a petition to terminate parental
rights.
b)
Prior to placing a child in a legal risk placement, the Department shall inform
prospective adoptive parents of the risks and enter into a written agreement
with the prospective adoptive parents which:
1) informs the prospective adoptive parents:
A) that the child is not yet legally free for
adoption and may never be available for adoption;
B) of the residual parental rights retained
by the biological parents until the child is free for adoption, unless
termination of parental rights is under appeal. Such residual rights, as
defined by the Juvenile Court Act of 1987, include the right to reasonable
visitation, the right to consent to adoption, the right to determine the
child's religious affiliation, and the responsibility for the child's support
[705
ILCS 405/1-3] ;
C) of the possibility of the biological
parents regaining custody of the child;
D) of the current status of efforts to
terminate parental rights; and
E)
of the status of a diligent search for missing parents, if
applicable;
2) states
the intent of the prospective adoptive parents to adopt the child and the
intent of the Department to seek adoption as a goal for the child if parental
rights are terminated;
3) contains
the prospective adoptive parents agreement to cooperate with a new permanency
plan for the child if termination of parental rights is not achieved.
c) The Department will provide any
necessary financial, medical and supportive counseling and services before,
during, and after placement of the child in the prospective adoptive parents'
home unless:
1) the prospective adoptive
parents refuse such assistance; or
2) the supportive couseling and services are
unnecessary to the placement of the child; or
3) the child becomes free for adoption and
the child will not be eligible for adoption assistance after the adoption is
finalized.
