New Adoption Statute Basics for Children under State Guardianship March – April 2013

1. New Adoption Statute Basics for Children under State GuardianshipMarch – April 2013 Ann Ahlstrom CJI Staff Attorney and Manager

2. Minn. Stat. § 260C Adoption • What is adoption? • Creation of parent and child relationship through legal process

3. Minn. Stat. § 260C Adoption • Preferred for children who cannot return to birth or previous legal parent • If adoption is not possible or in the child’s best interests, then transfer of permanent legal and physical custody to a relative • Note: a preference is not a legal absolute • A finding that TPR and adoption is not in the child’s best interests is required in order to order transfer of custody to relative. Minn. Stat. §§ 260C.001, subd. 3, and 260C.513 (a)

4. Minn. Stat. § 260C Adoption Consistent with concurrent permanency planning, planning for adoption starts at child’s removal Minn. Stat. § 260C.001, subd. 2, requires appropriate permanency planning for all children in foster care: • Plan A and Plan B; • Identifying, locating, and assessing both parents of the child, offering services to both parents • Relative search • Making a placement in a home that will commit to being the legally permanent home for the child at the earliest possible time while at the same time supporting the reunification plan • Returning the child home with supports and services, as soon as is safe, or when safe return cannot be timely achieved, moving to finalize another legally permanent home for the child

5. Minn. Stat. § 260C Adoption • Planning from the very beginning of child’s placement key to achieving timely adoption • 6 month permanency progress review hearing • Freeing the child for adoption • Guardianship Reviews • Finalizing adoption (next week’s segment)

6. Planning from the Very Beginning: Concurrent Permanency Planning

7. Planning from the Very Beginning: Concurrent Permanency Planning

8. Planning from the Very Beginning: DevelopingPlan B Minn. Stat. § 260C.219

9. Planning from the Very Beginning: Developing Plan B • Who is committed to the child, if the child cannot go home – but who will support reunification?

10. Planning from the Very Beginning: Developing Plan B Minn. Stat. § 260C.221

11. Agency’s Reasonable Efforts in regard to Relatives Minn. Stat. § 260C.221

12. Notification of Relatives Minn. Stat. § 260C.221

13. Court Review: Relative Search • Not later than 90 days after child’s placement • Agency must report to court: • Reasonable efforts to identify, notice, and engage relatives • Document the placement decisionvis-à-visrelatives; • Document decision about relatives’ visitation/contact with child in order to support family connections for child • Court finding: RE have or have not been made to identify and notify relatives GAL practice tips: • Review agency’s report for required decisions about placement and about visitation/contact; • Are 4 grandparents of the child identified by agency? Who else? Minn. Stat. §260C.221

14. Agencies Duties in Considering Child’s Placement

15. Planning from the Very Beginning: Child Well-being • Permanency planning requires focusing on the child’s needs from the beginning of the child’s placement: • Physical health • Mental health and development • School stability and achievement GAL practice tip: • Know if the child has had a physical, mental health screening, and where the child is going to school, if school age; • Pay attention to school achievement or school readiness as long as child is in placement

16. Early Assessment: Child’s Well-being • Required under case planning requirements Minn. Stat. § 260C.212, subd 1 • Required to achieve timely, successful adoption • Prevents delays attendant to finalizing the amount of AA • Also helps prevent re-entry, both after reunification and adoption • GAL practice tip: What are child’s needs and what services are in place at the time the child goes home or to adoptive placement? Ask the court to order thorough physical, follow-up on any mental health screening needs, and ask if screening includes trauma?

17. Six Month PPRH • Applies to: all children in foster care or in the care of a noncustodial/nonresident parent • Content: • Parents' progress on the case plan • Agency’s RE/AE for reunification and its provision of services • Agency’s RE to finalize the permanent plan for the child • Agency's RE to make a placement considering relatives and using the 10 placement factors • Agency’s AE to prevent the breakup of the Indian family Minn. Stat. § 260C.204

18. Six Month PPRH: RE to Finalize Permanent Plan for Child • Reunification efforts • Noncustodial/nonresident parent assessed and offered services, if needed • Relative search completed and placement made using relative consideration and 10 placement factors; • If ICWA, place with relatives • Siblings placed together • What are Plan B options Minn. Stat. § 260.012(e)

19. Six Month PPRH: Notice to Relatives • Who gets notice? • Relatives who responded to agency’s initial notice and kept court apprised of whereabouts; and • Any relative who has asked for notice of court proceedings

20. Six Month PPRH: Outcomes • If the parent or guardian has maintained contact with the child and is complying with the court-ordered out-of-home placement plan, and if the child would benefit from reunification with the parent, the court may either: • return the child home, if the conditions which led to the out-of-home placement have been sufficiently mitigated that it is safe and in the child's best interests to return home; or • continue the matter up to a total of six additional months. If the child has not returned home by the end of the additional six months, the court must conduct a hearing according to sections 260C.503 to 260C.521. Minn. Stat. §260C.204

21. Six Month PPRH: Outcomes If parent is not complying or visiting: • Agency must develop a plan for legal permanency; • Consider one or more permanency resources for the child; Note: Relatives can ask to be considered and then must cooperate with background study, if the relative hasn’t already done so. Court can order referrals through the ICPC. • Court can order agency to file permanency petition. GAL practice tip: Are there relatives the agency should consider? Encourage them to let the court know and to ask to be considered. Ask the court to order ICPC referrals if there are out of state relatives.

22. Second Notification of Relatives • Notice required: • For ICWA matters • Where not relieved of duty by court • Notice NOT required: • When court relieves agency of duty Minn. Stat. § 260C.221 (f) and (g) Note confusion in statute. Best practice for agencies: Always ask the court to address the “second notice” requirement. GAL tip: Talk to agency/county attorney.

23. Freeing a Child for Adoption Both parents legal rights must be addressed • TPR: • Voluntary • Involuntary • Consent to adopt • If there is no father with legal relationship, that fact must be established and contained in court findings. • Resulting order: guardianship of the child to the commissioner of human services GAL tip: Be sure both parents of the child are addressed in findings and the order.

24. Guardianship Reviews • Agency has duty to plan adoption and is the only entity that can make an adoptive placement for a child under state guardianship; also: • Child must be “appropriately” involved • Diversity of Minnesota’s population and diverse needs of those affected by adoption are recognized and respected • Court has the information it needs to make a decision that is in the best interest of the child Minn. Stat. §260C.601

25. Guardianship Reviews • Background studies are always required for children under state guardianship Minn. Stat. § 260C.601, subd. 3.

26. Guardianship Reviews • Reasonable efforts to finalize the adoption begin NOT LATER THAN the PPRH. • RE include: • Age appropriate planning with the child; • Identifying a prospective adoptive parent (IPAP); • Making an adoptive placement that meets the child’s needs: • By completing or updating relative search; • Updated search is required when there is no IPAP; • The child is removed from the home of an adopting parent; • When in the best interests of the child • Engaging child’s relatives or foster parent to commit to being adoptive resource • Recruiting an adoptive home when there is no adoptive resource or relative Minn. Stat. § 260C.605 GAL tip: Ask about: Plan B and other required step to adoption as early as the PPRH.

27. Guardianship Reviews: Recruitment Efforts • Register child on state adoption exchange (required within 45 days unless IPAP) • GAL practice tip: talk to the agency about this • Reviewing adoption home studies • Talking to other agencies about child • Newspapers and other media • PPAI – child specific recruitment contracts • Any other efforts calculated to find a IPAP

28. Guardianship Reviews: More agency tasks • Social/medical history (begin no later than PPRH; 260C.609) • GAL practice tip: talk to the agency about this. Raise it at CJI team meetings. • ICPC • Talking to IPAPs about their responsibilities • Adoption Assistance – offering and documenting declinations • GAL practice tip: Talk to the agency about this; encourage early assessment of the child so special needs are known • Certifying the child for AA; assessing the amount; ascertaining commissioner’s decision about amount • Keeping siblings together • Working to file adoption petition (county attorney or adoptive parent) and get hearing date

29. Guardianship Reviews: More agency tasks • Gathering documents for finalization: • Birth record • TPR order or order accepting parent’s consent and for guardianship • Contact agreement • FAR certification, if not in TPR findings • Any consents to adopt unless filed in permanency file (child, age 14 or over must consent) • Post placement assessment report • Adoption study report including background study (with petition) • Social and medical history (with petition) • Document that establishes for court administrator who must be given notice by the court (with petition) • APA (with petition; omitted from statute)

30. Guardianship Reviews Court reviews agency’s RE to finalize adoption at least every 90 days • Notice: • Agency • Child, age ten or over • GAL • Relatives of the child who have kept court informed of address and who responded to agency’s notice unless ruled out by the court as a suitable foster parent or permanency resource • Current foster parent • Foster/adopting parents of siblings • Indian child’s tribe

31. Guardianship Reviews: Content • RE as appropriate to the stage of the case • OHPP to ensure child is receiving appropriate services: • Placement • Visitation with siblings and relatives • Medical, mental, and dental health • Education; and • ILP for children age 16 and over

32. Guardianship Reviews: Asking for adoptive placement consideration • Relative, child, GAL can ask the court to order the agency to take appropriate action to consider relative or foster parent for adoption Minn. Stat. § 260C.607, subd. 5

33. Guardianship Reviews: “adoptive placement” “Adoptive placement” means there is a fully executed adoption placement agreement (APA) among: • the IPAP (who becomes the adopting parent by signing the APA) • local agency, and • DHS

34. Guardianship Reviews: “adoptive placement” Notice of APA must be sent by the agency to: • Court • Child, if the child is age ten and older • GAL • Relatives of the child: • who have kept the court informed of their whereabouts as required in section 260C.221 and • who have responded to the agency's notice under section 260C.221, indicating a willingness to provide an adoptive home for the child unless the relative has been previously ruled out by the court as a suitable foster parent or permanency resource for the child; • Current foster or adopting parent of the child; • Any foster or adopting parents of siblings of the child; • Indian child's tribe The APA is a time trigger for: • Filing motion to contest the adoptive placement Minn. Stat. § 260C.607, subd. 6 • Filing the adoption petition (9 months)Minn. Stat. § 260C.623

35. Next Segment of Adoption Statute Basics for Children under State Guardianship: 4-3-13 • Adoption proceedings: petition and hearing • Contested adoptive placements • Contact agreements • Sibling separation • Working through sample vignettes Send me your questions: ann.ahlstrom@courts.state.mn.us