413-110-0340 When Adoption is an Appropriate Permanency Plan (1) When the Department determines that adoption is an appropriate permanency plan for the child, and in legal risk situations the legal assistance specialist has approved placement planning for the child, the child's worker must accomplish the following: (a) The child's worker begins the process to locate an appropriate approved family while proceeding with efforts to free the child for adoption. (b) The child's worker requests that either a Local Office Permanency/Adoption Committee or a Permanency/Adoption Council Committee review the decision that adoption is an appropriate permanency plan for the child if the child's worker has not been able to find an appropriate approved family for the child within four months of the initial staffing. (c) If a child is placed for adoption and the adoption disrupts, the child's worker follows the procedures in OAR 413-120-0870. The child's worker requests that either a Local Office Permanency/Adoption Committee or a Permanency/Adoption Council Committee review the decision determining that adoption is an appropriate permanency plan for the child if the child's worker has not been able to find an appropriate approved family for the child within six months of the disruption date. (d) If an adoptive placement disrupts and there is question as to whether adoption is currently an appropriate permanency plan for the child, the question is referred by the worker to either a Local Office Permanency/Adoption Committee or a Permanency/Adoption Council Committee within three months of the disruption. (2) In the case of a child for whom the permanency plan is adoption, the worker must document in the permanency plan the child's specific needs and the steps the Department is taking to find an adoptive family for the child who can respond to those needs, to place the child with an adoptive family, and to finalize adoption. At a minimum, such documentation must include comment on the child-specific recruitment efforts employed by the Department such as the use of state, regional, or national adoption exchanges, including electronic exchange systems, as well as efforts to identify potential adoptive families from the neighborhood and community in which the child resides. (3) Out-of-state adoptions. The Department will not delay or deny placement of a child for adoption when an approved family is available outside of Oregon. If the out-of-state placement is a legal risk placement, the worker must obtain approval from the legal assistance specialist as required by OAR 413-110-0010 to 413-110-0060. Once the legal risk placement is approved, the worker must notify the court and obtain approval of the plan prior to placing the child out of state. If the out-of-state adoption is supervised by a private agency, the Department will not make the placement of the child into the adoptive home until the Department has a signed contract with the placing agency. Out-of-state adoptions are further regulated by OAR 413-040-0200 to 413-040-0330. Statutory/Other Authority: ORS 418.005 Statutes/Other Implemented: ORS 418.005 History: CWP 24-2015, f. & cert. ef. 10-26-15 CWP 47-2003, f. 12-31-03, cert. ef. 1-1-04 SOSCF 21-2001, f. 6-29-01, cert. ef. 7-1-01 SOSCF 11-2000, f. & cert. ef. 4-28-00