Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 9, September 1, 2024
In addition to compliance with the records and documentation
requirements of OAR 419-400-0140 and 419-420-0110:
(1) Permanent record in a domestic adoption.
An adoption agency must maintain a permanent record on each birth parent who
has consented to and has surrendered a child to the adoption agency. Except as
authorized by section (2) of this rule, the record must include all of the
following documents or information:
(a) The
date and place of the birth parent's initial inquiry with the adoption agency
and the persons present when the inquiry was made.
(b) The date, place, and purpose of each
subsequent contact between the adoption agency and the birth parent.
(c) Evidence that the following adoption
agency forms were provided to the birth parent:
(A) Consent for Service;
(B) Receipt of Grievance
Procedures;
(C) Clients' Rights and
Responsibilities, including the notice required by ORS
109.346 when applicable;
and
(D) Service Plan.
(d) Each alternative to adoption
discussed with the birth parent.
(e) A description of each discussion relating
to fees, expenses, or other consideration or thing of value relating to the
adoption.
(f) The date, time, and
place of birth of the child, the name and address of the hospital or birthing
center if the child was born in one, and all pertinent prenatal
information.
(g) The names, dates
of birth, physical description of the birth parents at the time of the child's
birth, including age, height, weight, and color of eyes, hair and
skin.
(h) Personality traits of the
child's birth parents, siblings, and members of the child's extended
family.
(i) A medical history of
the birth parents, siblings, and extended family of the child, including
medical, mental, and emotional history, including the history of the use of
drugs or alcohol, gynecologic and obstetric history of the birth mother, and a
record of inheritable genetic or physical traits or tendencies of the birth
parents or their families.
(j) The
ethnicity of the child's birth parents and the members of the child's extended
family.
(k) Documentation of the
efforts of the adoption agency to determine whether the child is an Indian
child, whether the ICWA applies, and if it applies, documentation demonstrating
compliance with the ICWA.
(l) The
religious background of the child's birth parents and the members of the birth
parents' extended family.
(m) The
educational level and functioning, employment history, criminal history, and
social and emotional functioning of the birth parents, siblings, and the
members of their extended family.
(n) A notation that identifies the adoptive
parents sufficient to cross-reference the file of the adoption agency on the
adoptive parents.
(o) A copy of the
placement agreement.
(p)
Post-adoption communication agreements.
(q) Details about any termination of parental
rights.
(r) A copy of the general
judgment of adoption.
(s) Copies of
any documents signed by the birth parent.
(2) If the adoption agency is unable to
include in the permanent record a document or information required by
subsections (1)(f) to (1)(m) of this rule, the adoption agency must include in
the record a description of its reasonable effort to obtain the document or
information.
(3) Preservation and
retention of adoption records for adoptions. An adoption agency giving legal
consent to the adoption of a child must permanently retain, to the extent
allowed by law, the records concerning the child's adoption, as follows:
(a) The record must include all of the
following:
(A) Adoptive parent orientation
documentation.
(B) Evaluation
documentation of both the birth and adoptive parents.
(C) Placement documentation.
(D) Post-placement supervision
documentation.
(E) Originals of
photographs, letters, and other personal items provided by the child's birth
family.
(b) The adoption
agency must store the records in fire-retardant, locked files kept in a secure
location.
(c) If more than one
adoption agency is involved in an adoption, the adoption agency that placed the
child must preserve the permanent case record.
Statutory/Other Authority: ORS
409.050, ORS
418.005 & ORS
418.240
