Pact, An Adoption Alliance - Agency-Assisted Adoption: Process

Agency-Assisted Adoption: Process

Definitions:

Agency-Assisted, Identified Adoption is an arrangement in which the adoptive parents (or parent) and birth parents (or parent) select one another but the baby is legally relinquished to the custody of an agency, which then places the baby.
Agency-Assisted, Non-Identified Adoption is an arrangement in which the baby is legally relinquished by the birth parents (or parent) to the custody of an agency, which then places the baby in the home of a family selected by the agency.

Characteristics Of Identified Adoptions Involving Pact:

The birth parents can choose the family that will raise their child. This means that the birth parents transfer legal custody of their child to an agency, which retains the legal responsibility of placement but is committed to placing the child with the family chosen by the birth parents.
The adoptive family's home-study must be completed by a licensed agency before the baby can be placed in the home.
- If the adoptive family so requests, the agency will provide Pact with a copy of the home-study.
- Pact will present birth-parent information to the prospective adoptive parents.
- Pact will inform the hospital of labor and delivery preferences for the pending adoption.
- Pact will help the birth parents and adoptive parents reach financial agreements.
- Pact will help birth parents and adoptive parents reach ongoing contact agreements. The agency will arrange counseling for the birth parents regarding relinquishment.
- At necessary intervals, Pact and the agency will together review the progress of the adoption plan to ensure that all aspects are addressed.
The birth parents can usually place the child in the physical and medical custody of the adoptive parents immediately after the birth, if they choose to do so. The adoptive parents can usually take the baby home directly from the hospital.
After the baby's birth (within the legal limits of the agency's state, usually 24 to 72 hours after birth), the birth parents can relinquish to the agency all parental rights as soon as the they feel ready, assuming that they have had prior counseling concerning relinquishment.
When birth parents reside in a different state from the adoptive parents, the agency serving the adoptive parents can coordinate with a second, cooperating agency (usually a private agency) based in the birth parents' state, who will meet with the birth parents and take the relinquishment on behalf of the adoptive parents' local agency. The adoptive parents' local agency is usually responsible for obtaining the consent of the birth father or, if he is unavailable to sign a relinquishment, for establishing the termination of his parental rights. Once the birth parental rights have been relinquished or terminated, the birth parents' local agency will initiate contact with the Interstate Compact offices of both states to arrange for approval of the baby's transport from one state to the other. If there is a delay in terminating parental rights, the adoptive parents may take the baby home after signing a "legal risk" waiver acknowledging that the parental rights have not yet been terminated.
The adoptive parents' local agency will complete post-placement home visits and assist the adoptive family in finalizing the adoption, in accordance with legal and statutory requirements of their state.