"Agency" means any public or private
association, corporation, or individual licensed or certified by the department
as a child placing agency under
chapter
74.15 RCW or as an
adoption agency.
"Adoptee" means a person who is to be
adopted or who has been adopted.
"Adoption" means the legal granting of the
adoption decree consistent with
chapter
26.33 RCW.
"Adoptive parent" refers to a person or
persons who seeks to adopt or who has adopted.
"Alleged father" refers to a person whose
parent-child relationship has not been terminated, who is not a presumed father
under chapter 26.26
RCW, and who alleges himself or whom a party alleges to be the father of the
child. It includes a person whose marriage to the mother was terminated more
than three hundred days before the birth of the child or who was separated from
the mother more than three hundred days before the birth of the child.
"Approved adoptive home" refers to any
person or persons who has been approved for adoption in a preplacement report
completed pursuant to
RCW
26.33.190.
"Birth parent" means the biological mother
or biological or alleged father of a child, including a presumed father under
chapter
26.26 RCW, whether or not
a court of competent jurisdiction has terminated the person's parent-child
relationship.
"Child placing agency" means an agency
licensed by the department to place children for temporary care, continued
care, or adoption.
"Children's administration" (CA) means the
cluster of programs within the department of social and health services
responsible for the provision of child welfare, adoption, child protective,
child care licensing, and other services to children and their families.
"Department" means the department of social
and health services (DSHS).
"Department placement" refers to the
placement of a child for whom the department has placement authority in an
approved adoptive home.
"Division of children and family services"
(DCFS) is the division of children's administration that provides child
welfare, child protective, family reconciliation, and support services to
children in need of protection and their families.
"Division of licensed resources" (DLR) is
the division of children's administration responsible for licensing or
certifying child care homes and facilities under the authority of
chapter
74.15 RCW.
"Foster-adopt" refers to families that are
interested in adoption who have an approved adoptive home study and who have
also been granted a foster home license in accordance with chapter 388-148
WAC.
"Independent placement" refers to the
placement of a child in an adoptive home by a doctor, attorney, or other
individual acting as a facilitator.
"Inter-country placement" refers to the
placement of a child for adoption who is not a resident and/or citizen of the
United States.
"Relative" means a person related by blood,
marriage, or legal adoption, as defined in
RCW
74.15.020.
"Voluntary adoption plan" means an agreement
by the birth parent(s) to the termination of parental rights with a specific
proposal for adoptive placement for the child.
