Arizona Administrative Code › Title 21 - CHILD SAFETY › Chapter 5 - DEPARTMENT OF CHILD SAFETY - PERMANENCY AND SUPPORT SERVICES › Article 3 - DEPARTMENT ADOPTION SERVICES › Section R21-5-301 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 30, No. 28, July 12, 2024
In addition to the definitions in A.R.S. §
									8-101, the following
				  definitions apply in this Article, Article 4 of this Chapter, and 21 A.A.C.
				  9:
1. "Adoptable child" means a child
				who is legally available for adoption but who has not been placed for
				adoption.
2. "Adoptee" means a
				child who is the subject of a legal petition for adoption.
3. "Adoption agency" means an individual or
				entity, including a corporation, company, partnership, firm, association, or
				society, other than the Department, licensed by the Department to place a child
				for adoption.
4. "Adoption entity"
				or "entity" means the Department and includes an adoption agency, but does not
				include a private attorney who is licensed to practice law in the state of
				Arizona and who is only assisting in a direct placement adoption to the extent
				allowed by A.R.S. §
									8-130(C).
5. "Adoption placement" or "placement" means
				the act of placing an adoptable child in the home of an adoptive parent who has
				filed, or is contemplating filing, a petition to adopt the child.
6. "Adoption Registry" means the electronic
				database described in A.R.S. §
									8-105.
7. "Adoption services" means activities
				conducted in furtherance of an adoption and includes the activities listed in
				A.A.C. R21-5-303 and R21-9-201(B).
8. "Adoptive parent" means an individual who
				has successfully completed the application process and has been certified by
				the court to adopt. An adoptive parent includes an individual who does not have
				a child placed in their home.
9.
				"Agency placement" means the child is placed in an adoptive home chosen by the
				adoption agency.
10. "AHCCCS" means
				the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, which is the State's program
				for medical assistance available under Title XIX of the Social Security Act and
				state public insurance statutes under A.R.S. Title 36, Chapter 29.
11. "Applicant" means an individual who has
				applied to become an adoptive parent.
12. "Birth parent" means the biological
				mother or father of a child.
13.
				"Central Registry" means the information maintained by the Department of
				substantiated reports of child abuse or neglect for the purposes of A.R.S.
				§
									8-804.
14. "Certification application" means the
				form that an applicant submits to an adoption entity or to the court to request
				a certification investigation to become certified as an adoptive
				parent.
15. "Certification
				investigation" means the process referred to in A.R.S. §
									8-105(C)
				 by which an adoption entity determines if an
				applicant is a fit and proper person to adopt.
16. "Certification order" means a judicial
				determination that an applicant is acceptable to adopt children.
17. "Certification report" or "adoptive home
				study" means the written report described in A.R.S. §
									8-105,
				in which an adoption entity summarizes the results of a certification
				investigation and makes a recommendation for or against certification of an
				applicant.
18. "Child with special
				needs" means a child who has one of the special needs listed in A.R.S. §
									8-141.
19. "Department" or "DCS" means the Arizona
				Department of Child Safety.
20.
				"Developmentally appropriate" means an action that takes into account:
a. A child's age and family
				background;
b. The predictable
				changes that occur in a child's physical, emotional, social, cultural, and
				cognitive development; and
c. A
				child's pattern and history of growth, personality, and learning
				style.