Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 39, September 25, 2024
Except when a waiver of referral is authorized pursuant
to subdivision (d) of this section, each legally freed child who has received
foster care from an authorized agency for a period of three months or more
(including any period of foster care immediately preceding the date on which
the child was legally freed for adoption) and who is not in an adoptive
placement as defined by section
421.1(d)
of this Title must, and any other legally freed child may, be referred by an
authorized agency to the State Adoption Service within 10 working days
following the end of that three-month period.
(a) Photo listing. Except where a waiver of
photo listing is authorized pursuant to subdivision (c) of this section, for
each child being referred, the authorized agency must submit to the department
the referral form issued by the department with a recent photograph and a
written description of the child to be photo listed.
(b) Delay in photo listing.
(1) Upon referral, the photo listing of a
child may, upon request of the referring agency, be delayed where the
department determines that the photo listing of the child is not in the child's
best interests because the child is not emotionally prepared for an adoptive
placement as demonstrated through a written statement from a psychiatrist,
psychologist or certified social worker verifying that the child is not
emotionally prepared for an adoptive placement.
(2) A delay in photo listing when the child
is not emotionally prepared for an adoptive placement will be given for a one
time period of six months starting from the date of the referral of the child
by the authorized agency to the department. Any child not placed in an adoptive
home at the end of the six month period will be immediately photo
listed.
(3) The authorized agency
requesting such delay will be informed of the approval or disapproval of their
request. Upon request, the authorized agency must supply additional information
within 15 working days of notification from the department.
(c) Waiver of photo listing.
(1) The photo listing of a child may be
waived where:
(i) the child has been placed
with a relative within the third degree of consanguinity of the parents of the
child and the child does not have a permanency goal of adoption if the
department determines that the photo listing of the child continues to be
contrary to the child's best interests. Such child must be referred to the
State Adoption Service in accordance with subdivision (a) of this section if
the child's goal changes to adoption; or
(ii) the child is 14 years or older and will
not consent to his or her adoption. Such child must be referred to the State
Adoption Service in accordance with subdivision (a) of this section when the
child agrees to his or her adoption.
(2) The authorized agency must enter the
appropriate code in the Child Care Review Service (CCRS) when photo listing is
waived pursuant to this subdivision.
(3) The department will review on an annual
basis the status of those children who were referred to the State Adoption
Service but not photo listed.
(d) Waiver of referral. An authorized agency
may not refer a child to the State Adoption Service where:
(1) the child has been placed with a foster
parent who has expressed, in writing, an interest in adopting the child. Such
child must be referred in accordance with subdivision (a) of this section when
the foster parent has withdrawn his or her interest in adopting the child or
has been disapproved as an adoptive parent; or
(2) the agency has identified two or more
potential placements for the child or a family has been selected to adopt the
child. Such child must be referred to the State Adoption Service in accordance
with subdivision (a) of this section when the child has not been placed into an
adoptive home within nine months of having been freed for adoption.
The authorized agency must enter the appropriate code in
the CCRS when the child does not have to be referred to the State Adoption
Service for the purpose of photo listing.
