| Required Information | Description of Discussion, Assessment, and Documentation Requirements |
|---|---|
| (1) The age of the adoptive parents, and the ages of all other members of the household. |
All adoptive parents must be at least 21 years old. You must document the ages of all household members and include documentation verifying the age of the adoptive parents. |
| (2) History of current and previous interpersonal relationships, including common-law marriages, and other relationships between people who share or have shared a domestic life without being married. |
You must document information regarding the marital status of the adoptive parents, including present marital status, as well as a history of previous marriages or significant interpersonal relationships. You must include a description of the marriage or relationship, including reasons why any previous marriages or significant interpersonal relationships ended. If the adoptive parents are married, you must review the marriage license or declaration of marriage record. |
| (3) A history of the adoptive parents' residence and their citizenship status. |
You must document the: (A) Length of time spent at each residence for the past 10 years (street address, city, state); and (B) Citizenship of the adoptive parents. |
| (4) The financial status of the adoptive parents. |
Adoptive parents must be able to meet the child's basic material needs. You must document the family's employment history, income, and expenses. You must assess the family's ability to manage money, support their current family, and support the addition of a child. You must verify income and prospective medical insurance for the child. |
| (5) The results of the criminal history and central registry background checks conducted on the adoptive parents and any person 14 years of age or older that regularly or frequently stays or works in the home. |
Adoptive parents and any person 14 years of age or older (excluding foster children or children in adoptive placement) who regularly or frequently stays or works in the adoptive home must request a fingerprint-based criminal history and central registry background check. The results of those checks must be documented. |
| (6) Health status of the adoptive parents. |
Document information about the physical, mental, and emotional status (including substance abuse history) of all persons living in the home in relation to the family's ability to adopt the child and to assume parenting responsibilities. You must discuss whether any health-related issues noted may affect the adoptive parents' ability to care for the child. You must also observe these persons for any indication of problems and follow up, where indicated, with a professional evaluation. Document the information obtained through your observations and, if applicable, professional evaluations. Consideration must be given to the health and age of the adoptive parents. There must be a plan in place to ensure the child will be raised in a stable and consistent environment to adulthood. |
| (7) Any disabilities of the adoptive parents. |
An adoptive parent who has a disability may not be prohibited from adopting the child solely based on the parent having a disability. You must evaluate the parent's adjustment to the disability and any limits the disability imposes on the adoptive parents' ability to care for the child. |
| (8) The adoptive parents' motivation for adoption. |
Discuss and assess the adoptive parents' motivation for adoption. You must assess the adoptive parents' motivation and its effect on their ability to accept and parent the child. |
| (9) The fertility of the adoptive parents. |
Discuss and assess information about the couple's fertility. The adoptive parents' fertility is important only in relation to any unresolved feelings about their infertility and their ability to accept and parent the child. |
| (10) The quality of the adoptive parents' current interpersonal relationship, including marriage, common-law marriage, or a relationship between people who share a domestic life without being married, and family relationships. |
Discuss and assess the quality of any current interpersonal and family relationships in relation to the family's ability to adopt and parent the child. You must discuss and assess the stability of a couple's relationship, the strengths and problems of the relationship, and how those issues will relate to the child. You must discuss and assess the quality of the relationships between the adoptive parents and their biological and/or previously adopted children, living in or out of the home, strengths and problems of those relationships, and how those issues will relate to the child. |
| (11) The adoptive parents' feelings about their childhood and parents. |
Discuss and assess the adoptive parents' feelings about their childhood and parents, including any history of abuse or neglect and their resolution of the experiences. |
| (12) The adoptive parents' attitude about the child's religion. |
Assess the adoptive parents on: (A) Their willingness to respect and encourage the child's religious affiliation, if any; (B) Their willingness to provide the child the opportunity for religious and spiritual development, if desired; and (C) The health protection they plan to give the child if an adoptive parent's religious beliefs prohibit certain medical treatment. |
| (13) The adoptive parents' values, feelings, and practices in regard to child care and discipline. |
Discuss and assess the adoptive parents' knowledge of child development and their child-care experience. Discuss and assess the ways the adoptive parents were disciplined as children and their reactions to the discipline they received. Discuss and assess the adoptive parents' discipline styles, techniques, and their ability to recognize and respect differences in children and use discipline methods that suit the individual child. If the adoptive parents' current discipline methods are different than those that you believe are appropriate for the child, discuss and assess whether the adoptive parents' would change child care practices to conform to more appropriate discipline methods. |
| (14) The adoptive parents' sensitivity to and feelings about children who may have been subjected to abuse or neglect. |
Discuss and assess the adoptive parents' understanding of the dynamics of child abuse and neglect. Discuss and assess their understanding of how these issues and experiences affect them, their families, and the child. Assess the adoptive parents' ability to help the child who may have been abused or neglected. If an adoptive parent experienced abuse or neglect as a child, assess the handling of those experiences and assess the impact of those experiences on the adoptive parents' ability to help the child deal with their own experiences. Assess the availability of family and community resources to meet the needs of the child. |
| (15) The adoptive parents' sensitivity to and feelings for the child's experiences of separation from and loss of their biological families. |
Discuss and assess the adoptive parents' understanding of the dynamics of separation and loss and the effects of these experiences on the child. Discuss and assess their personal experiences with separation and loss and their processing of those experiences. Assess the adoptive parents' acceptance of the process of grief and loss for children and assess their ability to help the child through the grieving process. |
| (16) The adoptive parents' sensitivity to and feelings about the child's biological family. |
Discuss the adoptive parents' feelings about the child's biological family, including the issue of abuse or neglect of the child by the child's biological parents or other family members. Discuss and assess their sensitivity and reactions to the child's biological parents. Discuss and assess their sensitivity to and acceptance of a child's feelings about the child's biological parents and assess their ability to help the child deal with those feelings. Discuss and assess the adoptive parents' sensitivity to and acceptance of the child's relationships with the child's siblings. Discuss and assess their reactions to the possibility of contacts between the child and the child's biological family in the future. |
| (17) The attitude of other family and household members regarding adoption. |
Discuss and assess the attitudes of other family and household members toward the plan of adoption. Discuss and assess their involvement in the care of the child, their attitudes toward the child, and their acceptance of the adoption plan. |
| (18) The attitude of the adoptive parents' extended family regarding adoption. |
Discuss the extended family's attitude toward adoption and the involvement the family will have with the child. Discuss and assess their involvement in the care of the child, their attitudes toward adoption, and the child. |
| (19) Support systems available to adoptive parents and the child. |
Discuss and assess the support systems available to the adoptive parents and the support they may receive from these resources. |
| (20) The adoptive parents' expectations of and plans for the child. |
Discuss and assess the adoptive parent's expectations of the child and the flexibility of their expectations in relation to the child's actual needs and abilities. Assess their capacities to recognize and emphasize the strengths and achievements of the child and their capacities to adjust their expectations according to the abilities of the child. |
| (21) Adoptive parents' ability to work with the child's specific behaviors and background. |
Discuss and assess the adoptive parents' ability to work with and/or willingness to accept the child's specific behaviors, background, special needs, disabilities, and other characteristics. |