2023 Colorado Revised Statutes › Title 19 - CHILDREN'S CODE (§§ 19-1-101 — 19-7-315) › Article 5 - RELINQUISHMENT AND ADOPTION (§§ 19-5-100.2 — 19-5-403) › Part 2 - ADOPTION (§§ 19-5-200.2 — 19-5-217) › Section 19-5-208 - Petition for adoption - open adoption - post-adoption contact agreement

(1)
The petition for adoption shall be filed not later than thirty-five days after the date on which the child is first placed in the home of the adoptive applicants for the purpose of adoption unless the court finds that there was reasonable cause or excusable neglect for not filing the petition. The court shall then fix a date for the hearing.
(2)
Every petition for adoption of a child shall be verified by the petitioner and shall be entitled substantially as follows: "In the matter of the petition of .......... for the adoption of a child." It shall contain:
(a)
The name, date and place of birth, race, and place of residence of each petitioner, including the maiden name of the adopting mother, and the date of marriage, if any, of the petitioners;
(b)
The name, date and place of birth, and place of residence, if known by the petitioner, of the child to be adopted;
(c)
The relationship, if any, of the child to the petitioner;
(d)
The full name by which the child shall be known after adoption;
(e)
The full description of the property, if any, of the child;
(f)
The names of the parents of the child, and the address of each living parent, if known to the petitioner;
(g)
The names and addresses of the guardian of the person and the guardian of the estate of the child, if any have been appointed;
(h)
The name of the agency or person to whom the custody of the child has been given by proper order of court;
(i)
The length of time the child has been in the care and custody of the petitioner;
(j)
Names of other children, both natural and adopted and both living and dead, of the adopting parents;
(k)
The residence and occupation of each petitioner at or about the time of the birth of the child.
(2.5)
(a)
Pursuant to the provisions of section
19-1-126
, the petition for adoption must:
(I)
Include a statement indicating what continuing inquiries the county department of human or social services or child placement agency has made in determining whether the child who is the subject of the proceeding is an Indian child;
(II)
Identify whether the child is an Indian child; and
(III)
Include the identity of the Indian child's tribe, if the child is identified as an Indian child.
(b)
If notices were sent to the parent or Indian custodian of the child and to the Indian child's tribe, pursuant to section
19-1-126
, the postal receipts, or copies thereof, shall be attached to the petition for adoption and filed with the court or filed within ten days after the filing of the petition for adoption, as specified in section
19-1-126 (1)(c)
.
(3)
If the adoption placement is made by the county department of human or social services or a child placement agency, the information required in subsections (2)(b) and (2)(f) of this section must not be included in the petition but transmitted to the court as part of the home study report required in section
19-5-207
.
(4)
The petition shall be accompanied by a standardized affidavit form prescribed by the judicial department disclosing any and all fees, costs, or expenses charged or to be charged by any person or agency in connection with the adoption.
(4.5)
(a)
An agreement entered into pursuant to this subsection (4.5) is considered an open adoption.
(b)
Only the petitioner may request a post-adoption contact agreement for contact between a child or youth and the birth parent or parents; a birth relative, as set forth in section
19-3-605 (1)
; or an Indian tribe if the child or youth is a member of the Indian tribe. A post-adoption contact agreement may include provisions for contact, family time, or the exchange of information, and the grounds, if any, on which the adoptive parent may decline to permit contacts or cease providing contact or information. If a child or youth is available for adoption through an expedited relinquishment pursuant to section
19-5-103.5
, the contact agreement must be limited to contact between the child or youth and the birth parents and the child's or youth's biological siblings.
(c)
If a child is twelve years of age or older, the court shall not order a post-adoption contact agreement unless the child consents to all terms of the contact agreement.
(d)
The court shall include the post-adoption contact agreement in the adoption decree if the court finds the contact agreement is in the child's best interests, after considering the child's wishes and any other relevant information.
(e)
A parent who has relinquished parental rights pursuant to section
19-5-104
, or whose parental rights have been terminated pursuant to section
19-3-604
or
19-5-105
, or any birth relative, as set forth in section
19-3-605 (1)
, must not be a party to the adoption. Access to the adoption file, with the exception of the post-adoption contact agreement and any pleadings or orders made pursuant to this section to enforce the contact agreement, is governed by part 3 of this article 5.
(f)
A post-adoption contact agreement entered into pursuant to this subsection (4.5) must be submitted to the court on a standardized affidavit form prescribed by the judicial department that contains the following warnings acknowledged by all parties to the contact agreement:
(I)
After the entry of a decree for adoption, an adoption, relinquishment, or termination of parental rights cannot be set aside due to the failure of the adoptive parent, biological parent, a birth relative, or the child to follow the terms of the contact agreement or any subsequent modifications of the agreement; and
(II)
A disagreement between the parties or litigation brought pursuant to section
19-5-217
to enforce or terminate the contact agreement does not affect the validity of the adoption, relinquishment, or termination of parental rights and is not a basis for orders affecting the custody of the child.
(g)
Nothing in this subsection (4.5) permits the court to order ongoing contact or other duties for the petitioner when the petitioner does not request a post-adoption contact agreement as set forth in this subsection (4.5).
(h)
In any case where a post-adoption contact agreement is being considered by the court and a guardian ad litem or counsel for youth is currently appointed for the child or youth pursuant to section
19-3-203
, the court shall appoint the guardian ad litem to represent the best interests of the child or youth, or the counsel for youth to represent the position and objectives that the child or youth want, with respect to the contact agreement. The guardian ad litem's or counsel for youth's representation in these proceedings is limited solely to making a recommendation as to whether the agreement proposed by the petitioner is in the best interests of the child and should be adopted as proposed. The court shall not make additions or modifications to the agreement in accordance with the recommendations of the guardian ad litem or counsel for youth unless the petitioner consents to the additions or modifications. The duties of the guardian ad litem or counsel for youth terminate upon the entry of the decree of adoption.
(5)
In all stepparent, second parent, custodial, and kinship adoptions, the petition shall contain a statement informing the court whether the prospective adoptive parent was convicted at any time by a court of competent jurisdiction of a felony or misdemeanor in one of the following areas: Child abuse or neglect; spousal abuse; any crime against a child; any crime, the underlying factual basis of which has been found by the court on the record to include an act of domestic violence, as defined in section
18-6-800.3
, C.R.S.; violation of a protection order, as described in section
18-6-803.5
, C.R.S.; any crime involving violence, rape, sexual assault, or homicide; or any felony physical assault or battery. In addition, the petitioner shall attach to the petition a current criminal history records check paid for by the petitioner.
(6)
In all custodial and kinship adoptions, the petition must contain a statement that the petitioner has consulted with the appropriate local county department of human or social services concerning the possible eligibility of the petitioner and the child for temporary assistance for needy families (TANF), medicaid, subsidized adoption, and other services or public assistance administered by the county department of human or social services.
Amended by 2023 Ch. 284,§ 23, eff. 6/1/2023.
Amended by 2022 Ch. 92, § 28, eff. 1/9/2023.
Amended by 2021 Ch. 481, § 3, eff. 9/1/2021.
Amended by 2018 Ch. 38, § 74, eff. 8/8/2018.
L. 87: Entire title R&RE, p. 808, § 1, effective October 1. L. 97: (4) amended, p. 1165, § 9, effective July 1. L. 99: (3) amended, p. 1025, § 8, effective May 29; (5) and (6) added, p. 1063, § 5, effective June 1. L. 2002: (2.5) added, p. 788, § 9, effective May 30. L. 2004: (5) amended, p. 328, § 1, effective July 1. L. 2007: (5) amended, p. 838, § 2, effective August 3. L. 2012: (1) amended, (SB 12-175), ch. 880, p. 880, § 141, effective July 1. L. 2018: IP(2.5)(a), (2.5)(a)(I), (3), and (6) amended, (SB 18-092), ch. 38, p. 432, § 74, effective August 8. L. 2021: (4.5) added, (HB 21-1101), ch. 3427, p. 3427, § 3, effective September 1.
This section was contained in a title that was repealed and reenacted in 1987. Provisions of this section, as it existed in 1987, are similar to those contained in §
19-4-110
as said section existed in 1986, the year prior to the repeal and reenactment of this title.
2022 Ch. 92, was passed without a safety clause. See Colo. Const. art. V, § 1(3).
For the legislative declaration contained in the 2002 act enacting subsection (2.5), see section 1 of chapter 217, Session Laws of Colorado 2002. For the legislative declaration in SB 18-092, see section 1 of chapter 38, Session Laws of Colorado 2018.