Shaohannah's Hope : How To Adopt

Glossary

Adoption and Foster Care Terminology

This glossary includes terms you are likely to hear or read as you pursue your adoption or foster care journey. It includes child welfare and legal/court terms that might be unfamiliar to some.

Abuse, or Child Abuse:

An injury or pattern of injuries to a child that is non-accidental and the result of acts or omissions of a child's caretaker. Types of abuse include physical abuse, sexual abuse and denial of critical care. Child abuse and neglect, or maltreatment, are defined in both federal and state law. Federal law provides a foundation for states by identifying a minimum set of acts or behaviors that define physical abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse. The Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act defines child abuse and neglect, at a minimum, as "any recent act or failure on the part of a parent or caretaker which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation; or an act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm" to a person under age 18.

Adoption:

The creation of a new, permanent legal family for a child or youth. The adoption process involves the termination of the parents' rights and the creation of parental rights in a new caregiver(s). Adoptive families may or may not be related to the child or youth before the adoption. Adoptions must be approved by a judge and finalized in court.

Adoption Assistance or Subsidy:

Financial assistance available to families who adopt children from foster care. This assistance is designed to help the family meet the regular and special needs of the young person.

Advocate, or Child Advocate:

This term is often used to describe an attorney assigned to represent the child or youth in all legal matters and court proceedings related to her case.

Adjudication or Adjudicatory Hearing:

A hearing to determine the veracity of allegations of child abuse or neglect in a petition presented to the court.

AFCARS:

Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System—State-by-state data on children in foster care compiled by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). All states are required to participate in the AFCARS data collection process.

Agency:

An organization that has met certain standards and is allowed by law to provide services to children and families. In many jurisdictions, private agencies, also called "contract" or "provider agencies" share many responsibilities with the public child welfare agency for the care, protection and supervision of children and youth in foster care.

Aging Out:

When a youth leaves foster care because they have reached a certain age (typically 18, 19 or 20) without obtaining permanence through returning home, adoption or guardianship or kinship care.

Another Planned Permanent Living Arrangement (APPLA):

A permanency alternative permitted under ASFA that allows a young person to have a "permanent home" that is not his home of origin, adoption, guardianship or kinship care. This generally is not considered as legally or emotionally secure as the three principle permanency options.

ASFA:

The Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997, which requires permanency hearings within 12 months of initial placement, sets deadlines for filing termination of parental rights petitions, and establishes the right of foster and adoptive parents to receive notice of, and appear in, juvenile and family court proceedings.

Appeal:

A request to a higher court to change a lower court's decision. Anyone who is unsatisfied with a judge's verdict has the right to appeal the verdict. When parents' rights are terminated involuntarily, they sometimes appeal the decision.

Biological Parents or Birth Parents:

The child/youth's family of origin: the person(s) who gave birth to, or fathered the child.

CASA:

Court Appointed Special Advocates are volunteers who receive special training to bring information about an abused or neglected child's welfare to the attention of the court. Different programs have varying requirements, but most CASAs visit their assigned children on a regular basis, write reports to the court, and inform the judge of what they consider to be in the best interests of the child. In some states they may be referred to as Guardians ad Litem, even though they are not attorneys.

Case Plan:

Once a child has been adjudicated dependent, the child welfare agency works with the parents and youth, and their legal advocates, to develop a plan that outlines the types of services that the child and his family will receive, such as parenting classes, mental health or substance abuse treatment, and family counseling; reunification goals, including visitation schedules and a target date for a child's return home; as well as concurrent plans for an alternative permanent placement options should reunification goals not be met. The agency agrees to provide the services and the parents must agree to work on their assigned tasks. Case plans typically include requirements parents must meet before their children can return to them. The court reviews and may modify the recommended case plan.

Case Reviews:

Federal law requires states to review a child's case at least every six months after placement in foster care to determine whether the placement is still necessary and appropriate, whether the case plan is being properly and adequately followed, and whether progress has been made toward reunifying the family. The case review must also set a target date for the child's return home, adoption, or other permanent placement. Many times the child welfare agency holds these reviews (also called administrative reviews) within the child welfare agency, but the law requires that periodically, the court must conduct these reviews (called judicial reviews).

Child Protective Services:

Usually a division within the child welfare agency that responds to and investigates child abuse and neglect allegations and provides initial services to stabilize a family.

Concurrent Case Plan, or Concurrent Planning:

A process that allows the child welfare agency and the child's permanency planning team to work on two or more permanency plans at the same time. For example, while primarily focusing on reunifying a child with her parents, the team may also begin to consider and plan for adoption or guardianship if reunification is not successful within desired and/or legally required time frames.

Confidentiality:

Protection of information related to a child's identity, life and circumstances, and that of her family, from inappropriate disclosure to other parties.

Continuance:

When a court hearing is not completed, it can be "continued" to another date. For example, this may occur when someone whose presence is needed does not come to court, or when the judge does not have sufficient information to act on the case.

Dependent Child:

Once the child is removed from his home, he and his parents become formally involved with the juvenile or dependency court system, and the child is considered in state custody and generally a ward or dependent of the court.

Dependency Court:

Also known as juvenile and family courts that have specific jurisdiction over child maltreatment and court protection cases including foster care and adoption. In jurisdictions without a designated family court, general trial courts hear child welfare cases along with other civil and criminal matters.

Disposition:

This is the court decision about where a child or youth should live (such as in state custody), as well as what the parents, the child welfare agency and the youth must do to change the problems that brought the young person into care.

Dossier:

The dossier is a compilation of documents which is assembled for an international adoption and presented to the foreign government. Every country is unique and each has different document requirements. Typically, the dossier will include such items as Birth Certificates of both parents, Marriage licenses and divorce decrees from previous marriages, health statements,Letters of reference, Financial statements and tax records, employment verification, police records, state background and child abuse clearances, Approved Adoption Home Study and Pictures of your home and family.

Emancipation:

When the court declares that a youth legally is an adult prior to age 18. A youth who is emancipated from foster care is no longer a ward of the court (or in foster care), and is likely to lose eligibility for other services including independent living and tuition vouchers.

Family Group Conferencing:

Also known as Family Group Decision Making or Family Team Meetings, these are model approaches to child welfare practice in which all those people concerned about a child's welfare meet to develop a plan for that child. Generally facilitated by professionals, most plans must be approved by a judge if the child has already been adjudicated dependent. In some cases, the conference takes place before any court action and prevents court involvement while providing services to the family.

Foster Care:

Temporary care provided to children or youth who are removed from their biological/birth family's custody and are placed in state custody. Foster care is 24-hour care of a child by a person or agency approved by the state to provide this care and includes placement with relatives, foster families, group homes, shelters and other placements for children under the age of 18. Foster care provides food and housing to meet the physical needs of children who are removed from their homes.

Foster Home:

A temporary home where a youth may live while in the custody of the state.

Group Home:

A home that cares for many foster youth, often using caseworkers or other staff for supervision instead of foster parents. Often group homes are designed to serve children with a higher level of emotional, behavioral, developmental or medical needs than children who are placed in foster homes. In some jurisdictions, these may also be known as congregate care homes, residential placements or treatment facilities.

Guardian ad Litem (GAL):

A person appointed by the court to represent the best interested of the child or youth in any legal proceedings involving the young person Often but not always an attorney. GALs may be paid or may serve in a pro-bono (unpaid) capacity. In some areas CASAs are called GALs even though they are not attorneys.

Guardianship:

Federal law defines legal guardianship as a judicially created relationship between child and caregiver intended to be permanent and self-sustaining. The following parental rights with respect to the child are transferred to the caretaker: protection, education, care and control, custody, and decision-making. This form of permanency may be used when adoption is not the preferred option, as determined by a court in conjunction with the agency recommendation and input from the child and caregivers.

Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption:

The Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption is a multilateral treaty designed to apply to all international adoptions between countries that ratify it. Developed under the Hague Conference on Private International Law, the Convention is the result of a five-year process involving participants from 66 prospective member countries.

Independent Living Program (or ILP):

Also know as the Chafee Foster Care Independence Program, this is a federally-funded program providing services to foster youth to prepare them for adulthood, including development of life skills such as money management, job readiness, menu planning and preparation, etc. The federal program also provides funds for college scholarships, and in some cases may provide for room and board assistance for youth over the age of 18. Independent living is not a permanency plan for a young person, but rather a set of services related to preparation for adulthood.

Interstate Compact on Adoption and Medical Assistance (ICAMA):

An agreement between states to ensure that children who are placed for adoption across state lines are able to receive medical care and medical coverage through Medicaid.

Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC):

An agreement among states to ensure protection and services to children and youth when they are placed across state lines for foster care, adoption or living with a relative. Both states ("sending state" - the state the child currently lives in, and "receiving state" – the state the child is going to) must complete required paperwork to demonstrate that the legal protections and requirements of the ICPC have been met before a child can be moved across state lines.

Kinship or Relative Care:

24-hour care for children and youth provided by relatives such as grandparents, aunts, uncles or even older (adult) siblings. In many jurisdictions, kinship caregivers are required to be approved by the same standards as non-relative foster parents when providing care for a child in state or court custody.

Mandatory Reporter:

A person designated by law who must report suspected abuse or neglect of a minor child. Nearly all parties involved in a child welfare case, including foster parents, are mandatory reporters.

Maintenance Payment:

The monthly payment issued to foster parents by the public child welfare agency for the child's care and covers basics costs such as food, clothing, shelter, school supplies, grooming, transportation, and recreation.

Mediation:

An attempt to settle a legal dispute through active participation of a third party (mediator) who works to find points of agreement and help those in conflict agree on a fair result. Mediation may occur at any time during a dependency case from the decision about where a child will live, to what will be in the case plan, to making a permanency decision. The court must approve the decision the parties have reached if the child had been adjudicated dependent.

Neglect:

The failure of the person responsible for the care of a child to provide adequate food, shelter, clothing, medical care or supervision necessary for the child's health and welfare. See also Abuse, above for further legal definitions of both child abuse and neglect.

Non-adversarial Approaches (also referred to as Problem-Solving Approaches):

The use by courts of mediation and other approaches to resolving a child welfare case including family group conferencing. By virtue of bringing all parties together, these approaches are less adversarial than traditional courtroom approaches. Attorneys and other advocates may or may not be involved in non-adversarial approaches. The court must approve the decision the parties have reached if the child has been adjudicated dependent.

Non-relative Placement:

Placement of a child with people who are not related to the child. They are usually licensed foster care providers paid by the child welfare agency, although sometimes they are interested families in the community who undergo background checks and are supervised by the child welfare agency.

Notice of Hearings:

The required notification of everyone involved in a young person's case of the date, time, and place of a court hearing. People required to receive notice include the youth, birth parents, foster parents, the agency with custody, and legal advocates assigned to all parties. A foster parent has a right to notice, but is not considered a "party" to the case and therefore, does not necessarily have the right to speak in court or to have a legal advocate of his own.

Orphan:

A child without parents.

Orphanage:

An orphanage is an institution dedicated to caring for orphans (children without parents). Orphanages often attempt to find homes for children in their care. They may be privately or publicly funded.

Party to a Case:

People who either file a complaint with the court or are the ones who are the subject of the complaint. Parties in a dependency case typically include the child, parents, and child welfare agency.

Permanency Hearing:

A court hearing to consider a child or youth's need for secure and permanent placement in a timely manner. Under ASFA, This hearing must be held within 12 months of a child's placement in foster care, and revisited thereafter until permanence is achieved.

Reunification:

Return of a child to the family from which she was removed. Most often, reunification involves the child's birth family, but in cases where a child was removed from an adoptive family or other legal guardian, reunification can also occur.

Sibling or Sibling Group:

A sibling is a person's brother or sister. A sibling group is a group of two or more siblings. Most child welfare agencies have a policy to keep siblings together when in foster care, and for the purpose of permanency planning, although this does not always happen in practice.

Special Needs Child:

Child welfare workers sometimes use this term to refer to a child who faces challenges that may make it harder to find the child a permanent family if reunification or kinship care is not possible. Special needs children often include those over the age of 5, members of a minority racial group or sibling group, and/or a child with a physical, mental or emotional disability. Children with special needs generally are eligible for additional services as well as financial assistance if they are adopted from foster care.

Substantial Compliance:

This term is most often used to describe a parent who has satisfied the terms and conditions of his or her case plan, to a significant degree, by successfully addressing the issues that caused the child to come into care. For example, a parent may be in substantial compliance with a case plan if she obtains suitable housing or completes a drug treatment program.

Termination of Parental Rights (TPR):

A judicial proceeding freeing a child from all custody and control by a parent so that others may adopt the child. A judge determines that a parent has failed to provide a safe home and that the parent has not substantially complied with the case plan in the time allotted by law. A parent my surrender parental rights voluntarily or a judge may revoke them in a judicial procedure. Federal law requires states to initiate TPR proceedings for children who have been in foster care for 15 of the most recent 22 months, infants determined to be abandoned, or cases in which a parent has killed another of his/her children, or certain other egregious situations. States may opt not to initiate TPR if the child is in a relative's care, the child welfare agency has documented a compelling reason that TPR would not be in the child's best interest, or the state has not provided necessary services to the family.

Therapeutic Foster Home:

A special type of foster home for children with a higher degree of emotional, behavioral, physical or medical needs who may also require a higher level of supervision and treatment. Therapeutic foster parents often receive more extensive training and higher compensation than traditional foster parents do.

USCIS:

United States Department of Immigration and Naturalization Services - Parents must meet strict requirements and be approved by USCIS in order to bring a child into the United States which begins with the completion of the Foreign Adoption form known as the I-600.