A. Eligibility
The eligibility requirements of the PNMI- Child Placing
Agency shall be explained to persons wishing to apply to adopt. These
eligibility requirements shall include such factors as residence, age,
religion, health, make up of the family, and financial ability to provide for
the child.
B. Application
All of the information requested below shall be obtained
prior to beginning the Adoption Study in accordance with Section 12(C) of these
rules.
In the application process the PNMI- Child Placing Agency
shall obtain:
1 A formal signed
application.
2 A medical statement
from a duly licensed physician on each applicant based on an examination within
the six months prior to the date of application on forms provided by the PNMI-
Child Placing Agency.
3 Financial
data.
4 Religious data.
5 A minimum of three personal references
unrelated to the applicants who have known the family a sufficient length of
time to make a judgment about them.
6 Releases signed by each adult member of the
household permitting the child placing PNMI- Child Placing Agency to request
criminal history records from the Department of Public Safety, State Police,
Bureau of Identification, and to request child protective screenings from the
Department of Health and Human Services, or releases signed by each adult
member of the household directly to the Departments named above authorizing
release of criminal history records to the PNMI- Child Placing Agency and to
the Department of Health and Human Services authorizing release of child
protective information to the PNMI- Child Placing Agency and shall obtain those
reports.
7 Releases signed by each
adult member of the household permitting the PNMI- Child Placing Agency to
request any adoptive and foster home studies from other child placing agencies
and the Department of Health and Human Services. The PNMI- Child Placing Agency
shall obtain those studies.
C. The Adoption Study
1 The adoption study may be done individually
or in groups.
Minimally it shall include the following which shall be
evidenced in the adoption study:
a At
least one visit to the applicant(s) home,
b Individual interviews must be seen
individually. Individual interviews with the applicants and, if husband and
wife, they must be seen individually as well as jointly,
c If there are children in the family, they
must be involved in the study,
d A
minimum of three references must be contacted at least one of whom must be seen
in person if living in the geographic area served by the PNMI- Child Placing
Agency,
e Date and type of each
contact,
2 The PNMI-
Child Placing Agency shall reach a decision within six months of the receipt of
all the materials specified in section 12.B. and the decision shall be recorded
and dated in the adoption study. The applicants shall receive written
confirmation of the decision and, if not accepted, shall be given the
reason.
3 The adoption study must
be recorded and must contain considerations and assessment of the following and
the basis for conclusions on each item:
a
Applicants' motivation to adopt.
b
The stability of the marriage of a couple or the stability of the single
applicant.
c How the adoptive
applicant(s) feel about adoption and how it will be handled with the
child.
d Philosophy and practice on
discipline and child rearing.
e
Expectations of the child.
f
Attitudes about birth parent(s) and the possibility of children contacting
birth parent(s) when they become adults.
g Applicant(s) life style and acceptance in
the community, degree of isolation and ability and willingness to gain access
to necessary support.
h
Applicant(s) handling of earlier life situation.
i If infertile, how the problem has been
dealt with.
j Applicant(s) feelings
toward birth parent(s), including race and color of the birth parent(s) if
different from the applicants and the background of the child.
k Data on the religion of the applicant(s)
and how it affects applicants' lifestyle.
l Financial data and management of
money.
m Relationship with extended
family and attitude of extended family toward adoption.
n Autobiographical information including
education and employment.
o
Experience with children.
p Methods
and effectiveness of communication.
q Applicant(s) physical, mental and emotional
health.
r Applicant(s) attitude
toward the child's background and willingness and commitment to provide
cultural supports for children of different cultural and/or racial
backgrounds.
4 Minimal
requirements for acceptance shall include:
a A
settled conviction on the part of each member of the prospective adoptive
family that they wish to adopt.
b
The applicant must have established a stable lifestyle with adequate support
systems for a minimum of two years.
c Physical health shall be sufficiently good
that the adoptive parents can meet the needs of the child to be placed.
For couples wishing to adopt whose good health may not
continue throughout the minority of the child or whose life expectancy may be
shorter than the minority years of the child, there shall be established a plan
for guardianship of the child in the event that incapacity or death precedes
the child's reaching majority age.
d Good mental and emotional health.
e There shall be sufficient space in the home
for the child.
f The applicants
must have sufficient income to support the existing family and the child they
wish to adopt except where the family is seeking subsidized adoption.
g The applicant(s) must be at least 21 years
of age.
h The applicant(s) must be
legal residents of Maine. (For interstate placements, see 13(D)).
5 When a child has not been placed
within a year of the date of approval of the study, an assessment of the family
and any changes in the family circumstances must be considered, assessed and
recorded.
6 The PNMI- Child Placing
Agency shall give adoptive applicants a signed and dated copy of their
acceptance study upon request.
D. Placement
1 No PNMI- Child Placing Agency shall
approach a family under supervision by another Child Placing Agency about
placement for adoption without the written agreement of the supervising Child
Placing Agency.
2 The prospective
adoptive parent(s) shall be informed of pertinent facts about the child's
health, development and background. The child must be seen by both prospective
parents. Both must want the child. There shall be a time lapse between seeing
the child and taking the child so that the PNMI- Child Placing Agency and the
adoptive couples are sure about their decision of placement. With a child
beyond infancy, the adoptive applicants and child shall meet more than once to
become acquainted and comfortable with one another, except when an
international or interstate placement prohibits.
3 All interstate placements shall be in
compliance with the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children.
4 The PNMI- Child Placing Agency shall have a
written signed agreement with the adoptive applicants stating the length of the
probationary period; the right of the PNMI- Child Placing Agency to remove the
child; the right of the adoptive applicants to have the child removed; and that
the child will be fully supported by the adoptive family with no charge to the
adoption agency during the probationary period except in the case of subsidized
adoption.
5 When a child is placed
for adoption, written information concerning health, background and
development, diet, and daily routine shall be given to the adoptive
parents.
6 There shall be a
probationary period of at least six months. If the probationary period is
extended beyond one year a new written agreement must be formulated between the
applicants and the PNMI- Child Placing Agency which includes the reason for the
extension and the length of the extension.
7 The child and family shall be seen within
three weeks of placement and at least within each two months thereafter during
the probationary period. At least two of the visits shall be in the adoptive
home and shall include both parents. Written reports of these supervisory
contacts and visits shall be dated and placed in the PNMI- Child Placing Agency
record.
8 The PNMI- Child Placing
Agency shall ensure that the applicants understand the importance of telling
the child he is adopted and shall review with the applicant(s) how that will be
done.
9 By the end of the
probationary period a decision must be made as to whether or not the PNMI-
Child Placing Agency will consent to the adoption. The decision shall be based
on the following factors:
a The physical and
emotional adjustment and development of the child.
b The capacity of the adoptive parent(s) to
assume the role of parent with respect to the needs of the child.
10 When the PNMI- Child Placing
Agency decides that it will consent to the adoption, it shall give to the
adoptive parents in writing pertinent facts about the child's health,
development and background.
11 If
the PNMI- Child Placing Agency consents to the adoption, the adoption shall not
be considered final until a certificate of adoption and an amended birth
certificate have been obtained by the adoptive parents.
12 If the PNMI- Child Placing Agency does not
consent to the adoption the PNMI- Child Placing Agency shall immediately make
an alternate plan for the child. This plan and its implementation shall be in
the best interest of the child.
13
Prior to the legalization of the adoption all available medical and genetic
information on the child and the biological parents shall be placed in the
probate court records and shall be supplied to the adoptive parents.
E. Post Adoption Services
The PNMI- Child Placing Agency shall continue to be available
to provide post adoption services as part of their total adoption program and
the services shall be related to matters of adoption.
F. Application for Second or Additional
Children
1 Applications for a second or
additional child shall not proceed for a minimum of six months after the
previous child was placed and a decision has been made that the adoptive
parents have demonstrated the capacity to assume the role of parent with
respect to meeting the physical and emotional needs of the child previously
placed.
2 The requirements
contained in rules 12(A) through 12(E) of these Rules shall apply to
applications and studies for second or additional children.