Illinois Administrative Code › Title 89 - SOCIAL SERVICES › Part 309 - ADOPTION SERVICES FOR CHILDREN FOR WHOM THE DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVICES IS LEGALLY RESPONSIBLE › Section 309.170 - Post-Adoption Services

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 28, July 12, 2024
a) Purpose
			 of Post-Adoption Services
Services after adoption of a child are often essential in
				maintaining the adoptive family unit and empowering families to be advocates in
				the community for their children's needs. Consequently, the Department will
				provide post-adoption services in order to reduce the risk of adoption
				dissolution and to support the goal of permanency in adoption.
b) Post-Adoption Services
The Department provides the following post-adoption services
				either directly or through purchase of service providers:
1) Adoption preservation services will be
			 provided to families with adopted children under age 18. These services are
			 provided in accordance with 89 Ill. Adm. Code 302 (Services Delivered by the
			 Department) Subpart D: Intensive Family Preservation Services, and through
			 other contracts with service providers.
2) Services to families receiving adoption
			 assistance as described in 89 Ill. Adm. Code
			 302.310
			 (Adoption Assistance). These services include:
A) assisting families to utilize and access
			 services available to them through adoption assistance;
B) assisting adoptive parents of children
			 with developmental disabilities to access services available through the
			 Illinois Department of Human Services;
C) assisting families who are eligible for
			 conditional adoption assistance to access benefits at such time as their
			 children's condition warrants treatment or professional intervention.
3) Search and on-going sharing of
			 information among members of the adoption triad. This service includes:
A) providing to adults who had been the legal
			 responsibility of the Department or to biological families of adult adoptees
			 adopted through the Department, when they have requested information in
			 writing:
i) non-identifying information
			 regarding their biological background when requested;
ii) attempts to locate biological family
			 members for purposes of updating social history and/or medical information, if
			 desired;
iii) identifying
			 information upon the successful completion of a search, when consents that have
			 been witnessed by an adult third party from all members of the adoption triad
			 are received. The Department will provide names, addresses, and telephone
			 numbers so that they may arrange a reunion provided that consents that have
			 been witnessed by an adult third party from all birth parents and adult
			 adoptees are received;
iv) updated
			 medical and psychosocial information between members of the adoption triad,
			 when consents from all birth parents and adult adoptees that have been
			 witnessed by an adult third party have been received.
B) acting as or cooperating with confidential
			 intermediaries appointed by the court in accordance with the Adoption Act
			 [750 ILCS
			 50/18.3a ]. In addition, the Department will maintain
			 a list of confidential intermediaries who have been trained and certified by
			 the Department.
C) providing to
			 adoptive parents of minor children, if requested, non-identifying information
			 on a child's background, if this information is available. The Department will
			 also facilitate the exchange of updated medical and psychosocial information
			 between members of the adoption triad and facilitate contact when members of
			 the triad have signed consents that have been witnessed by an adult third
			 party.
D) facilitating contact
			 between adoptees and their siblings when one or more is still in the
			 Department's care or adopted elsewhere with the consent of the adoptive parents
			 of a minor child that has been witnessed by an adult third party
E) facilitating contact, with the consent of
			 the adoptive parents that has been witnessed by an adult third party, between
			 adoptees who are minors and significant relationships in the minor adoptee's
			 past when such contact has been established to be necessary to the adoptee's
			 best interests, when all involved parties have provided written consent
			 witnessed by an adult third party for release of such identifying
			 information.
4)
			 Information and referral to services available in the community which would be
			 of benefit to the adoption triad. These services would include, but not be
			 limited to: adoption preservation services, therapists sensitive to the issues
			 of adoption, education advocates to assist families to obtain special services,
			 mental health agencies, support groups, respite care, financial services and
			 professional search groups. The Department, through its agent, will maintain a
			 listing of post-adoption services and will make this information available to
			 persons upon request.
5) The
			 Department will also provide to any interested adult adoptee, biological
			 parents and siblings information regarding the Illinois Adoption Registry
			 described in Section
			 309.190 of this
			 Part.