Section R6-5-6614. Placement Determination

A.      An adoption entity shall have and follow a written policy for making placement recommendations and decisions in both direct placement and agency placement adoptions.

B.       Except as otherwise provided in subsection (C), in an agency placement adoption, the placement decision shall be made by a team which shall, at a minimum, include:

1.        The case manager or person who assessed the adoptable child, and

2.        The case manager or person who is knowledgeable about the potential adoptive families for the adoptable child.

C.      In international adoptions, where the case worker who assessed the child is out of the country and unavailable, the agency shall include the person who is most familiar with the adoptable child’s needs.

D.      In an agency placement adoption, an adoption entity shall place an adoptable child in the adoptive setting which best meets the child’s needs. In determining who can best meet the needs, the adoption entity shall consider all relevant factors, including, without limitation:

1.        The wishes of the child’s birth parent;

2.        Family relationships between the child and the adoptive family members;

3.        The racial, cultural, and ethnic background of the child and the family members;

4.        The family’s ability to financially provide for the child and to meet the child’s emotional, physical, mental, and social needs;

5.        The placement of the child’s siblings;

6.        The availability of relatives, the adoptable child’s former foster parents, or other significant persons to provide sup- port to the adoptive family and child; and

7.        All information in the case files of the child and the adop- tive family.

E.       The adoption entity shall document the placement decision.

1.        For adoptions conducted pursuant to the ICPC, the docu- mentation shall comply with the requirements of the ICPC regarding documentation of suitability, as pre- scribed in A.R.S. § 8-548.

2.        For all other adoptions, the documentation shall include the following:

a.        The adoptive child’s critical needs and characteris- tics that weighed most heavily in the placement determination,

b.        The names and general family characteristics of those adoptive parents who most closely matched the child’s needs and who were most seriously con- sidered for placement, and

c.        The reasons why the particular adoptive parent cho- sen for placement best matched the child’s needs and characteristics.

F.       For adoptions not covered by the ICPC, the adoption entity may document the placement decision in a file or placement log that is separate from clients’ case files.

Historical Note

Adopted effective January 2, 1996 (Supp. 96-1).