Code of Massachusetts Regulations › 606 CMR - DEPARTMENT OF EARLY EDUCATION AND CARE › Title 606 CMR 5.00 - Standards for the Licensure or Approval of Agencies Offering Child Placement and Adoption Services › Section 5.02 - Definitions

Current through Register 1525, July 5, 2024
As used in 606 CMR 5.00, the following words shall have the
				following meanings unless the context otherwise requires:
51A Report
. A report alleging abuse or
				neglect of a child filed with the Departent of Children and Families pursuant
				to M.G.L. c. 51A.
Adoptee
. A person who has become the
				legal child of persons other than his or her genetic or biological
				parents.
Adoption
. The establishment of the
				legal relationship of parent and child in accordance with the provisions of
				M.G.L. c. 210.
Adoption Agency
. A corporation
				organized in accordance with M.G.L. c. 180 that is licensed by the Department
				of Early Education and Care to provide family support, family reunification and
				permanency planning for children.
Adoptive Home
. Any family home
				selected and approved by a licensed placement agency for the placement of a
				child with the intent of adoption.
Adoptive Parent
. An individual who has
				been granted parental rights to a child pursuant to M.G.L. c. 210.
Adoptive Parent Applicant
. An
				individual who has applied to a licensed or approved adoption agency to be an
				adoptive parent.
Background Record Check
. The process
				of requesting, receiving and evaluating information provided by the Department
				of Criminal Justice Information Services, the Department of Children and
				Families, the Sex Offender Registry Board, and the Federal Bureau of
				Investigation related to prospective foster and adoptive parents.
Birth Parent
. A woman who has given
				birth to a child and/or the biological father of the child who has subsequently
				surrendered the child for adoption, or whose parental rights have been
				terminated in accordance with M.G.L. c. 210.
Child
. Any person younger than 18
				years old.
Children with Special Needs
. Children
				who, because of temporary or permanent disabilities arising from intellectual,
				sensory, emotional, physical, or environmental factors, or other specific
				learning disabilities are or would be unable to progress effectively in a
				regular school program.
Country of Origin
. In international
				adoption, the country where the child resides prior to adoption.
Department
. Unless otherwise
				specified, the Department of Early Education and Care.
Director of Social Services
. An
				individual who shall have overall responsibility for all social services,
				clinical and casework decisions made by the agency. Such person shall have an
				advanced license in social work (LCSW, LICSW) or advanced licensure in a
				closely related clinical field and a minimum of five years of experience in
				providing foster care or adoption services.
Expectant Parent
. A pregnant woman
				and/or the biological father of her expected child.
Family Foster Care
. Substitute
				parental care in a family given in a private residence for up to six foster
				children on a regular, 24-hour a day, residential basis by an approved foster
				parent. In order to place siblings in the same residence in emergency
				situations, this definition shall not prohibit the placement of more than six
				foster children in a home which, prior to the placement of the sibling group,
				contains fewer than six foster children. Nothing in
Family Foster
				Care
shall prohibit a licensee from considering a child's
				relatives for approval as foster parents.
Family Foster
				Care
shall not mean placement in an adoptive home other than a
				legal risk adoption placement.
Fingerprint-based Check
. A scan of a
				candidate's fingerprints submitted to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for
				matching against state and national criminal history databases.
Foster Care
. Placement of a child or
				children in family foster care.
Foster Parent
. An individual who
				provides temporary substitute parental care for a child or children under an
				agreement with a licensed or approved placement agency.
Group Care Program
. A program or
				facility that provides care and custody for one or more children by anyone
				other than a relative by blood, marriage or adoption on a regular 24-hour a
				day, residential basis, notwithstanding that the care may include educational
				instruction. Group care program shall not mean family foster care; a hospital,
				ward or comprehensive center licensed under M.G.L. c. 19, § 19 or c. 19B,
				§ 15; a hospital, ward or comprehensive center operated by the
				Commonwealth or any subdivision thereof; a hospital, institution for unwed
				mothers, convalescent or nursing home, rest home or infirmary licensed under
				M.G.L. c. 111 or any program licensed under M.G.L. c. 123. Group care program
				shall not be limited to a facility defined as a group residence under 780 CMR:
The Massachusetts State Building Code
.
Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and
				Co-operation in Respect of Inter-country Adoption (Hague)
. An
				international agreement to which the United States ascribes, that sets
				standards and procedures to protect children, birth parents and adoptive
				parents involved in inter-country adoptions.
Home Study Assessment
. The
				comprehensive assessment process and the written summary and conclusion thereof
				used to evaluate the suitability of individuals or couples to foster or adopt a
				child. A home study assessment includes, but is not limited to, evaluation of
				the applicant's parenting abilities, medical, criminal, and employment
				histories and financial status, and inspection of his or her residence.
Identified Adoption
. A type of
				adoption which involves the location by a potential adoptive parent, or someone
				on his or her behalf, of a parent who is willing to consider releasing his or
				her child for adoption. The child is surrendered directly to an agency licensed
				or approved by the Department in accordance with 606 CMR 5.00 or the child is
				surrendered in another state in accordance with the laws of such state with the
				intent that the child be placed in a previously designated adoptive home. An
				agency retains the right to thereafter refuse to place a child in the
				designated home based on the results of a completed adoptive parent assessment.
				The identity of birth parents and adoptive parents need not be known to one
				another.
Independent or Private Adoption
. Any
				placement of a child for adoption in Massachusetts made by anyone other than an
				adoption placement agency licensed or approved by the Department. Such
				adoptions are illegal unless made pursuant to M.G.L. c. 210, § 11A.
Internal Investigation
. The process
				undertaken by a licensed or approved placement agency of reviewing documents
				and interviewing individuals to determine the veracity of allegations of
				noncompliance with EEC's licensing regulations. The internal investigation must
				be documented in a written report that states the allegations, describes the
				investigative activities, states the findings and draws relevant conclusions.
				The report must also describe any corrective action taken by the licensee and
				recommendations to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the
				future.
Interstate Compact
. Compact on the
				placement of children from one state to another. M.G.L. c. 119, Appendix,
				§§ 2-1
et seq
.
Legal Risk Adoption Placement
. A
				placement of any child in a foster home which has been approved for
				pre-adoptive placement, who has not been surrendered for adoption or has not
				been the subject of a completed petition pursuant to M.G.L. c. 210, § 3
				and whose permanent plan is adoption.
Licensee
. A person holding a license
				or approval from the Department of Early Education and Care.
Open Adoption
. A type of adoption in
				which the birth and adoptive parents are identified to one another, and which
				may include ongoing communication between birth and adoptive parents.
Placement Agency
. A department,
				agency, or institution of the Commonwealth, or any political subdivision
				thereof, or any organization incorporated under the laws of the Commonwealth,
				one of whose principal purposes is providing custodial care and social services
				to children, which receives by agreement with a parent or guardian, by contract
				with a state agency or as a result of referral by a court of competent
				jurisdiction, any child younger than 18 years old, for placement in family
				foster care or in a residential facility, except that for the purposes of
				adoption placement, a "placement agency" shall be a department, agency, or
				institution of the Commonwealth, or any political subdivision thereof, or any
				organization incorporated under M.G.L. c. 180, one of whose principal purposes
				is providing custodial care and social services to children, which receives by
				agreement with a parent or guardian, by contract with a state agency or as a
				result of referral by a court of competent jurisdiction, any child younger than
				18 years old, for placement in adoption.
Post-adoption Services
. Services
				provided to adopted persons and/or their adoptive families to support them at
				any time after legalization of the adoption. Post-adoption services may be
				provided directly by the licensee or by referral to a qualified community
				provider. They may include, but are not limited to, education, counseling,
				search and reunion services, and interventions intended to preserve the family
				and prevent adoption dissolution, as well as education and counseling about any
				issues and milestones relevant to the lifelong journey of adoption.
Post-placement Supervision
. Assessment
				by the licensee of the adjustment of parents and child to a new placement prior
				to or after finalization of an adoption.
Residential Program
. A group care
				facility, temporary shelter facility, transition to independent living program
				or transitional housing program serving teen parents.
Self-preserve
. The physical, emotional
				or cognitive ability to take reasonable and appropriate actions to protect
				oneself when faced with adverse or threatening circumstances including, but not
				limited to, fire, severe weather, medical emergency, or emotional
				crisis.
Sibling
. A child who has one or both
				parents in common with another child or children.
Social Worker
. An individual who is a
				licensed social worker or licensed in a closely related field.
Supervisor
. An individual who has a
				license in social work or licensure in a closely related clinical field, a
				master's degree in the field of licensure or other closely related field, and
				can demonstrate knowledge and understanding of assessment, placement, family
				reunification, foster care and/or adoption services, and the effects of trauma,
				as appropriate to the services provided.