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 5.08 - Services to Birth Parents and Expectant Parents

Universal Citation: 606 MA Code of Regs 606.5

Current through Register 1531, September 27, 2024

(1) Intake Assessment. Upon referral or request for placement services the licensee shall complete an assessment of the parent'(s) circumstances, including:

(a) the social, medical, and mental health histories of the parent(s);

(b) an assessment of the strengths, resources and needs of the family including, but not limited to, financial needs, in order to determine the best plan for the child and family, and the likely duration of placement.

(2) Services to Parents During Temporary Placements. The following regulations apply whenever the goal for the child and family is reunification.

(a) Initial Service Plan. Upon completion of the intake and prior to placement except in cases of emergency, the licensee shall develop a written service plan for the child's family. In developing the plan, the licensee shall consider the needs of the child for stability and permanency. The service plan shall include:
1. the goals for the family:

2. the services to be provided for the family to achieve reunification within the shortest possible period of time. Such services may include information on alternatives to placement or types of placement, supportive family services, psychological and psychiatric services, medical, dental and ancillary services, educational and vocational services, and post-placement services;

3. persons responsible to arrange the services identified; and

4. a plan for the nature and frequency of parental contacts and visits with the child.

(b) Emergency Placement. In emergency situations necessitating immediate foster care or residential placement, the licensee shall initiate the intake and development of the service plan within one week of placement. The intake and service plan shall be completed within six weeks of placement. Upon completion of the intake and service plan, the licensee shall review the services planned and provided to the child and family and the provisions for parental contacts and visits and shall revise the plan, as necessary.

(c) Updated Service Plan. Within six weeks of family foster home or residential placement, the social worker responsible for the parents shall review the initial service plan and update the plan if necessary.

(d) Consultation with Appropriate Persons. All service plan reviews and updates shall be completed by the parent(s)' social worker following consultation with the worker's supervisor, the social worker assigned to the child, if different, and/or any other professionals providing services to the family, as appropriate.

(e) Periodic Review of Service Plan.
1. Periodically and at least every six months from the date of placement, until family reunification or termination of parental rights, the licensee shall review the service plan for the family. The review shall include an assessment of the child's and his or her family's progress and needs; a review of the services being provided to the child and his or her family; and reconsideration of the child's legal status with the goal of establishing a permanent plan for the child and an examination of alternatives to any temporary placement. The service plan shall be revised if necessary.

2. If after six months of foster care or residential care (or earlier if the licensee deems it to be appropriate), the licensee determines that the child's family has not been interested and involved in maintaining a relationship with their child or in assuming parental responsibility, or has made insufficient progress toward the goals of the service plan, the licensee shall consider adoption as an alternative to foster care and shall make a decision whether to petition for termination of parental rights under Massachusetts General Laws. The licensee shall file such a petition, or document the reasons why that course was not chosen in the child's record. Such a consideration of adoption as an alternative to foster care shall take place at least every six months thereafter.

3. The required reconsideration of the child's legal status and consideration of adoption as an alternative to foster care and any subsequent petitions may be completed by the licensed placement agency having legal custody of the child, in accordance with the provisions of the interagency agreement specified at 606 CMR 5.06(2)(f).

(f) Agreements with Parents for Voluntary Foster or Residential Placement.
1. Initial Agreement. The licensee initially accepting a child for foster or residential placement (and the licensee placing a child in foster or residential care, if different) shall enter into a written agreement with the parents of the child, or shall note the reason for failure to enter such an agreement in the child's record. Such agreement shall be in the language spoken by the parents or as interpreted by an interpreter and shall be consistent with any court order transferring custody of the child to the licensee. The agreement shall be signed prior to placement of the child, when possible. It shall include the following:
a. the name and address of the agency, of each parent signing the agreement, and of the child to be placed in foster or residential care;

b. the legal basis for placement, if any;

c. the reason for placement;

d. a statement of the responsibilities of the licensee for the child. The licensee shall require every parent placing his child to authorize any foster parent of the child or residential program in which the child is placed to authorize routine medical care, other medical care identified in the child's service plan, and any emergency medical care for the child, subject to the exception in 606 CMR 5.07(1)(a)4. No parent shall be deemed to have made any delegation of responsibilities unless it is specified explicitly in the agreement;

e. a summary of the service plan, including a statement of the services which the agency agrees to provide to the child and to the parents, and identification of any services to be provided by another agency;

f. a statement describing the frequency, duration and location of the social worker's visits to the parents;

g. a statement of the parents' responsibilities to the child which continue during foster or residential care, including the frequency, duration, location and purpose of the parents' visits with the child;

h. the date placement will begin and the expected duration of placement of the child;

i. a statement of any financial payments required of the parent for the foster care or residential care of the child;

j. a statement that the agency will notify the parents in the event of serious illness or accident to the child; and

k. a statement of the rights of the parent and the agency to terminate the agreement.

2. Review and Termination of Agreements with Parents. The agreement shall be reviewed and changed, if necessary, not more than six months after the date of the initial agreement. It shall automatically end at the end of one year from the date of the initial agreement, or at a specified date, whichever comes first. The agreement may be renegotiated or renewed. In the event the parents are unavailable or unwilling to renegotiate the agreement or to assume parental responsibilities, the licensee shall obtain an appropriate court order in order to retain custody of the child.

(g) Return of Child upon Termination of Agreement with Parents. If the agreement is terminated, the licensee may retain custody of the child for a maximum of seven days, (if consistent with the agreement under 606 CMR 5.08(2)(f)), during which time the child shall be prepared for return to the parents, or the agency shall obtain an appropriate court order.

(3) Services to Birth Parents and Expectant Parents Considering Permanent Placement. 606 CMR 5.08(3)(a) through (f) shall apply whenever the parents express an interest in adoption placement for their child.

(a) Intake Assessment. The licensee shall complete an assessment of the parent's circumstances, as provided at 606 CMR 5.08(1), if such an assessment has not already been completed.

(b) Information at Intake. The licensee shall provide the following information to parents in writing when they first express an interest in considering adoption placement:
1. information regarding alternatives to adoption, including temporary foster care, and resources to support parenting;

2. a statement that they have the right not to be coerced by any person into relinquishing a child for adoption;

3. information in writing about financial support available through the agency, including a statement that such financial support, if provided, is not contingent upon placement of their child for adoption and does not obligate them to relinquish their child or to repay the licensee;

4. the agency's policies and procedures to prevent the abduction, exploitation, sale or trafficking of children including, but not limited to, the agency's prohibition of employees or agents from giving money or other consideration, directly or indirectly, to a child's parent(s) or other individuals or entities as payment for a child or as inducement to release the child for adoption;

5. a statement that they have the right to change their plans for their child at any point in the process until they sign the legal surrender;

6. a statement that the licensee has the sole discretion to determine the placement of the child. Nothing in 606 CMR 5.00 shall prohibit an agency from considering a birth parent's request for an identified placement;

7. information about the different types of adoption, e.g., identified, open, inter-country, interstate, infant, special needs, and the variety of arrangements for communication and visitation that are possible in such adoptions;

8. information regarding the legal result of voluntary surrender or involuntary termination of parental rights;

9. information about the court's authority to incorporate agreements regarding communication or visitation between birth and adoptive parents into the final adoption decree;

10. a statement that the expectant parents/parent(s) have the right to their own attorney, and that the licensee's attorney does not represent the expectant parents/parent(s);

11. a statement that the parents have the right to designate the religious denomination of their child's adoptive home, as set forth in M.G.L. c. 210, § 5B;

12. a copy of the agency's complaint and grievance and appeal procedures;

13. a statement that the licensee cannot enforce any voluntary agreements (written and/or unwritten) entered into between parents or birth parents and adoptive parents.

(c) Initial Service Plan. Upon completion of the intake and prior to placement except in cases of emergency, the licensee shall develop a written service plan for the expectant parents/parents, if such has not already been completed, or shall update the service plan previously developed in accordance with 606 CMR 5.08(2)(a). Services may include psychological and psychiatric services, medical services, educational and vocational services, other social services as needed, and financial assistance, as determined by the evaluation required by 606 CMR 5.05(4)(b)(3). The service plan shall include sufficient counseling and education regarding their options to assist the expectant parents/parents in reaching an informed decision regarding the surrender of their child for adoption. Such counseling shall:
1. be provided by a person with an advanced degree, with appropriate licensure, in social work, psychology or a closely related field;

2. be provided by a person who is not concurrently assigned responsibility for services to the prospective adoptive parents of the child for whom placement is being considered;

3. include, but not be limited to:
a. Review and exploration of the parent(s)'/expectant parent(s)' motivation for adoption;

b. Review and exploration of options, including alternatives to adoption;

c. Review and exploration of the responsibilities associated with parenting and of the resources available to support parenting;

d. Discussion of the importance of prenatal and post-partum health care, for parents who are pregnant;

e. Discussion of available resources to prevent future unintended pregnancies and the advantages of doing so;

f. Discussion of resources to develop self-sufficiency;

g. Review and exploration of the lifelong implications of placing a child for adoption;

h. Planning for participation in the adoption process when it is appropriate and desired;

i. Discussion of changing roles and relationships when the birth parents will have an ongoing relationship with the adoptive family;

j. Counseling and support to cope with voluntary or involuntary termination of parental rights, grief, separation, loss, and the lifelong implications of placing a child for adoption;

k. Education on issues related to search and reunion; and

l. Planning for the immediate future and referral for needed services.

(d) In lieu of providing such services directly, the licensee may meet the requirements of 606 CMR 5.08 pursuant to a written agreement with other licensed adoption agencies with social workers or individuals with the education and experience required by law in the state where the services are provided. However, in no case shall these services be provided by an individual who is also working with the prospective adoptive parents who have been identified for the child.

(e) Information Prior to Surrender. In no case shall descriptions of waiting families be provided to expectant parents/parents prior to the second trimester of pregnancy, completion of the intake and development of the required service plan. If the expectant parents/parents choose to make a plan for the adoption of their child, the licensee shall provide the following information to the expectant parents/parents in writing prior to surrender of their child for adoption, but not prior to the second trimester of pregnancy, completion of the intake and development of the required service plan:
1. a description of the adoptive parent(s) identified for the child including:
a. their first names and ages;

b. all information available regarding their current or recurring medical and mental health conditions and their race, religion and national origin;

c. members of their household and extended family;

d. their interests, talents, and lifestyle. If the adoptive parents have not been identified prior to surrender, the licensee must inform the expectant parents/parents as soon as adoptive parents have been identified.

2. information regarding the birth parents' right and responsibility to update the information in their case record at the agency at any time, and the procedure to do so;

3. the processes that children may use to locate their birth parents and that birth parents may use to locate their children. The information shall include, but not be limited to, a description of the rights of adoptive children to obtain certain information pertaining to their birth families upon reaching majority age, as set forth in M.G.L. c. 210, § 5D, Release of Certain Information Concerning Adoptive Persons;

4. the licensee's policy regarding contacting birth parents in cases of adoption disruption or dissolution. The licensee shall document parents' requests regarding such future contact.

5. copies of all documents they would typically be asked to sign.

(f) Post-adoption Services. The licensee shall make available at no cost to the birth parents, either directly or by referral, any necessary social services to the birth parent(s) following adoption placement of their child. These services shall include the following:
1. factual information pertaining to any adoption services provided at the agency, including those permitted by M.G.L. c. 210, § 5D;

2. counseling concerning adoption related issues such as identity, roles, grief and loss, and relationships and communication with the adoptive family, if applicable;

3. counseling and other services which support placements;

4. assistance in joining or developing support groups;

5. general information regarding current adoption issues, practices and laws.

Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Massachusetts may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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