Tracking #2009-01025
FA/P 12/4/2009, eff. 2/1/2010

I:/09072301.rtf
[I:/09072301.doc]

(12 CCR 2509-1)

[Note: statement of basis and purpose is incorporated with Tracking# 2009-01027 (Rule-making# 09-7-20-1/ 09072001.rtf)] 

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(12 CCR 2509-6)

[Instructions:  replace lines 1430331 through 1430332.] 
7.500.351  Applications and Adoption Services [Rev. eff. 2/1/10]
A.  Recruiting and Inquiries
1.  The county department recruits adoptive homes for waiting children. The county shall make reasonable efforts to recruit families of the same ethnic, cultural and racial background as the children waiting adoption.
2.  The county department provides information about adoption services within the county department and services available through other adoption agencies and organizations. Requests for studies for children from private sources shall be referred to private agencies.
3.  Families approved for international adoption and waiting for adoptive placement can be simultaneously approved for adoption with public and private adoption agencies as long as both agencies are aware of the arrangement. 
a.  The family shall inform the public agency of its current relationship with the private agency that approved it for an international adoption. 
b.  The family shall sign a release for information from the private agency to be provided to the county department of their choice. The released information shall include, but not be limited to, the following: 
1)  Current home study completed in the Structured Analysis Family Evaluation (SAFE) format by the private agency; 
2)  Documentation of training completed by the family. 
c.  The county shall do an update of the home study using the SAFE home study format and clarify the type of child for whom the family would be approved via the county’s approval process. 
d.  The county must obtain the following new information from the family: 
1)  References; 
2)  Physicals; 
3)  CBI background checks; 
4)  FBI background checks; and, 
5)  Trails abuse/neglect background checks. 
e.  The county shall continue to follow its regular policies and procedures in considering the family for potential placements. 
f.  The family shall sign an agreement with both the public and private agency stating that the family shall inform either agency when there is a potential placement. The agreement shall state the following: 
1)  All parties understand and agree that the agency not placing the child will put the family “on hold” for a minimum of six months following the date that the child is placed in the family’s home; 
2)  At the end of the six month period “on hold”, all parties including the family, the two agencies and any other person or persons who have a vested interest in the adoptive placement of the child, shall meet to discuss whether or not the “on hold” period should continue and the reason(s) behind that decision;
3)  The placing agency shall complete a home study update using the SAFE format regarding the progress and appropriateness of the new placement and make recommendations for further adoptive placements in the future; 
4)  The non-placing agency shall update its home study using the SAFE format, with the same criteria such that the non-placing agency has made its own recommendations for further placements. 
g.  The public agencies shall advise families that home studies completed for public agencies are not suitable to determine the appropriateness for placement with children from other countries. 
h.  The public agency shall assure that the required information is included in either the private agency’s home study or in the update completed by the public agency.
B.  Applications
1.  The county department accepts applications for the adoption of children only from persons who meet the requirements of the Colorado statute, who have expressed an interest in the placement of the type of child who might be available at the time of the application.
2.  The applicants shall be informed that submitting an application does not guarantee that an assessment shall be performed or a child placed with them.
3.  The county notifies the adoptive parent(s) of the disposition of the application in a timely manner.
4.  The county department of human/social services shall require verification of an individual’s lawful presence in the United States, as provided in general eligibility requirements as found in Section 3.140.11 (9 CCR 2503-1), in order to approve an application for a child’s adoption.
5.  The county department of human/social services shall require the individual applying to adopt a child(ren) to notify the Department when the Structure Analysis Family Evaluation (SAFE) home study will be used in the next six months for a second parent adoption. 

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