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Policy
Manual
ADOPTIONS
48-3
| Department Adoption | All children have a right to a permanent plan for their care.
Adoption is one method for the Department to carry out this permanent plan following
termination of parental rights. Not all children removed from their parent's care are removed permanently. Many children will be returned to their family. For some, the tie to their own family cannot or should not be broken. [Most of the children freed for adoption have some special need(s)]. Every effort must be made to find adoptive families for the children under the Department's care. Application for adoption of an unrelated child may be presented to a Probate Court only when the child has been placed by the Commissioner or by a licensed private child-placing agency. |
| When to Free the Child Legally | The Department helps the parents to participate to the extent
that they are able to make a sound plan for the future of their child. There will be
variations to the degree to which individual parents can fulfill their role for the child
who cannot be returned. Where the parents are unable to provide an adequate home for the child and where adoption appears in the child's best interests, if the parents are unwilling to release or cannot be located, other means must be taken promptly to free the child legally. |
| Steps Towards Termination | The decision to move toward adoption should be made as soon
as practical as an early decision has advantages to the child, the birth family, and the
adoptive family. The use of time limits in decision making can be helpful to both the
parent and the child. The dignity and well-being of parents are best served when they participate in the plan and believe that they have made the right decision for themselves and their child. It helps to give the children security and acceptance of their adoptive status if they have some assurance that their parents made this decision for them with thought and care. Whenever possible, the parents should explain to the child why they made this decision. |
| Placement | The decision of the adoptive placement of an available child is the result of the participation of many professional persons regarding the appropriateness of the placement, including consideration of the needs of the child, the capacity of the prospective family to meet their needs and the selection of a particular home for a particular child. |
| Adoption Services | Adoption services are geared to finding appropriate adoptive homes for children being considered for adoption. Adoptive applicants seeking children from the Department can be assured of the confidential nature of the services offered. They have an opportunity to discuss their request and to determine if their needs meet the Department's need for adoptive homes. If they are licensed and a child is placed with them, post-adoption services are available to help them resolve particular problems in evolving into a family unit. |
| Records | Complete records are kept on each adoption under proper safeguards and are treated in strict confidence. This information may be made available later to the child and his adoptive family in accordance with state statutes. |
Connecticut Department of Children and Families Issued: March 1, 1994
