Code of Massachusetts Regulations
606 CMR - DEPARTMENT OF EARLY EDUCATION AND CARE
Title 606 CMR 5.00 - Standards for the Licensure or Approval of Agencies Offering Child Placement and Adoption Services
Section 5.02 - Definitions
As used in 606 CMR 5.00, the following words shall have the following meanings unless the context otherwise requires:
51A Report. A report alleging abuse or neglect of a child filed with the Departent of Children and Families pursuant to M.G.L. c. 51A.
Adoptee. A person who has become the legal child of persons other than his or her genetic or biological parents.
Adoption. The establishment of the legal relationship of parent and child in accordance with the provisions of M.G.L. c. 210.
Adoption Agency. A corporation organized in accordance with M.G.L. c. 180 that is licensed by the Department of Early Education and Care to provide family support, family reunification and permanency planning for children.
Adoptive Home. Any family home selected and approved by a licensed placement agency for the placement of a child with the intent of adoption.
Adoptive Parent. An individual who has been granted parental rights to a child pursuant to M.G.L. c. 210.
Adoptive Parent Applicant. An individual who has applied to a licensed or approved adoption agency to be an adoptive parent.
Background Record Check. The process of requesting, receiving and evaluating information provided by the Department of Criminal Justice Information Services, the Department of Children and Families, the Sex Offender Registry Board, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation related to prospective foster and adoptive parents.
Birth Parent. A woman who has given birth to a child and/or the biological father of the child who has subsequently surrendered the child for adoption, or whose parental rights have been terminated in accordance with M.G.L. c. 210.
Child. Any person younger than 18 years old.
Children with Special Needs. Children who, because of temporary or permanent disabilities arising from intellectual, sensory, emotional, physical, or environmental factors, or other specific learning disabilities are or would be unable to progress effectively in a regular school program.
Country of Origin. In international adoption, the country where the child resides prior to adoption.
Department. Unless otherwise specified, the Department of Early Education and Care.
Director of Social Services. An individual who shall have overall responsibility for all social services, clinical and casework decisions made by the agency. Such person shall have an advanced license in social work (LCSW, LICSW) or advanced licensure in a closely related clinical field and a minimum of five years of experience in providing foster care or adoption services.
Expectant Parent. A pregnant woman and/or the biological father of her expected child.
Family Foster Care. Substitute parental care in a family given in a private residence for up to six foster children on a regular, 24-hour a day, residential basis by an approved foster parent. In order to place siblings in the same residence in emergency situations, this definition shall not prohibit the placement of more than six foster children in a home which, prior to the placement of the sibling group, contains fewer than six foster children. Nothing in Family Foster Care shall prohibit a licensee from considering a child's relatives for approval as foster parents. Family Foster Care shall not mean placement in an adoptive home other than a legal risk adoption placement.
Fingerprint-based Check. A scan of a candidate's fingerprints submitted to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for matching against state and national criminal history databases.
Foster Care. Placement of a child or children in family foster care.
Foster Parent. An individual who provides temporary substitute parental care for a child or children under an agreement with a licensed or approved placement agency.
Group Care Program. A program or facility that provides care and custody for one or more children by anyone other than a relative by blood, marriage or adoption on a regular 24-hour a day, residential basis, notwithstanding that the care may include educational instruction. Group care program shall not mean family foster care; a hospital, ward or comprehensive center licensed under M.G.L. c. 19, § 19 or c. 19B, § 15; a hospital, ward or comprehensive center operated by the Commonwealth or any subdivision thereof; a hospital, institution for unwed mothers, convalescent or nursing home, rest home or infirmary licensed under M.G.L. c. 111 or any program licensed under M.G.L. c. 123. Group care program shall not be limited to a facility defined as a group residence under 780 CMR: The Massachusetts State Building Code.
Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Inter-country Adoption (Hague). An international agreement to which the United States ascribes, that sets standards and procedures to protect children, birth parents and adoptive parents involved in inter-country adoptions.
Home Study Assessment. The comprehensive assessment process and the written summary and conclusion thereof used to evaluate the suitability of individuals or couples to foster or adopt a child. A home study assessment includes, but is not limited to, evaluation of the applicant's parenting abilities, medical, criminal, and employment histories and financial status, and inspection of his or her residence.
Identified Adoption. A type of adoption which involves the location by a potential adoptive parent, or someone on his or her behalf, of a parent who is willing to consider releasing his or her child for adoption. The child is surrendered directly to an agency licensed or approved by the Department in accordance with 606 CMR 5.00 or the child is surrendered in another state in accordance with the laws of such state with the intent that the child be placed in a previously designated adoptive home. An agency retains the right to thereafter refuse to place a child in the designated home based on the results of a completed adoptive parent assessment. The identity of birth parents and adoptive parents need not be known to one another.
Independent or Private Adoption. Any placement of a child for adoption in Massachusetts made by anyone other than an adoption placement agency licensed or approved by the Department. Such adoptions are illegal unless made pursuant to M.G.L. c. 210, § 11A.
Internal Investigation. The process undertaken by a licensed or approved placement agency of reviewing documents and interviewing individuals to determine the veracity of allegations of noncompliance with EEC's licensing regulations. The internal investigation must be documented in a written report that states the allegations, describes the investigative activities, states the findings and draws relevant conclusions. The report must also describe any corrective action taken by the licensee and recommendations to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.
Interstate Compact. Compact on the placement of children from one state to another. M.G.L. c. 119, Appendix, §§ 2-1 et seq.
Legal Risk Adoption Placement. A placement of any child in a foster home which has been approved for pre-adoptive placement, who has not been surrendered for adoption or has not been the subject of a completed petition pursuant to M.G.L. c. 210, § 3 and whose permanent plan is adoption.
Licensee. A person holding a license or approval from the Department of Early Education and Care.
Open Adoption. A type of adoption in which the birth and adoptive parents are identified to one another, and which may include ongoing communication between birth and adoptive parents.
Placement Agency. A department, agency, or institution of the Commonwealth, or any political subdivision thereof, or any organization incorporated under the laws of the Commonwealth, one of whose principal purposes is providing custodial care and social services to children, which receives by agreement with a parent or guardian, by contract with a state agency or as a result of referral by a court of competent jurisdiction, any child younger than 18 years old, for placement in family foster care or in a residential facility, except that for the purposes of adoption placement, a "placement agency" shall be a department, agency, or institution of the Commonwealth, or any political subdivision thereof, or any organization incorporated under M.G.L. c. 180, one of whose principal purposes is providing custodial care and social services to children, which receives by agreement with a parent or guardian, by contract with a state agency or as a result of referral by a court of competent jurisdiction, any child younger than 18 years old, for placement in adoption.
Post-adoption Services. Services provided to adopted persons and/or their adoptive families to support them at any time after legalization of the adoption. Post-adoption services may be provided directly by the licensee or by referral to a qualified community provider. They may include, but are not limited to, education, counseling, search and reunion services, and interventions intended to preserve the family and prevent adoption dissolution, as well as education and counseling about any issues and milestones relevant to the lifelong journey of adoption.
Post-placement Supervision. Assessment by the licensee of the adjustment of parents and child to a new placement prior to or after finalization of an adoption.
Residential Program. A group care facility, temporary shelter facility, transition to independent living program or transitional housing program serving teen parents.
Self-preserve. The physical, emotional or cognitive ability to take reasonable and appropriate actions to protect oneself when faced with adverse or threatening circumstances including, but not limited to, fire, severe weather, medical emergency, or emotional crisis.
Sibling. A child who has one or both parents in common with another child or children.
Social Worker. An individual who is a licensed social worker or licensed in a closely related field.
Supervisor. An individual who has a license in social work or licensure in a closely related clinical field, a master's degree in the field of licensure or other closely related field, and can demonstrate knowledge and understanding of assessment, placement, family reunification, foster care and/or adoption services, and the effects of trauma, as appropriate to the services provided.
