Iowa Administrative Code › Agency 441 - Human Services Department › Title XVI - Alternative Living › Chapter 200 - Adoption Services › Rule 441-200.1 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 3, July 24, 2024
"Adoption"
means a legal and social process
				  through which a child becomes a member of a family into which the child was not
				  born. Adoption provides the child the same rights, privileges and duties as a
				  birth child.
"Adoption selection"
means the process of
				  making adoption placement decisions. The adoption selection committee team,
				  tasked with making the final adoption placement decision, is made up of
				  department of health and human service professionals. These professionals are
				  brought together to review the child(ren)'s needs and the family's abilities to
				  meet those needs, to make the best adoption match available and to ensure
				  compliance with applicable adoption laws.
"Adoption selection committee team"
means
				  department staff members designated to assist in the adoption selection
				  process. The adoption selection committee team consists of the adoption
				  supervisor and a minimum of two adoption workers. The social work administrator
				  (SWA) may elect to be part of the team if there is more than one family seeking
				  to adopt the child, and the SWA may select additional department staff to serve
				  as members of the team on a case-by-case basis.
"Adoption service"
means a service directed
				  toward children who are legally available for adoption, the birth family,
				  prospective adoptive family, and adoptive family.
"Adoptive family"
means an approved person
				  or persons who have a child placed in their home and are being supervised prior
				  to finalizing the adoption; or who have a child in their home who is legally
				  adopted and entitled to the same benefits as a child born into the
				  family.
"Adoptive home study"
includes an assessment
				  of the family's parental attributes and a written report stating approval or
				  nonapproval of the family for adoptive placement of a child or children.
"Child study"
includes a written description
				  of the child, including strengths and needs; medical, mental, social,
				  educational, placement and court history; a description of the child's
				  relationships with the birth family, foster family, and significant others; a
				  summary of the child's understanding and feeling about adoption; and
				  recommendations as to the type of family that can best meet the child's
				  needs.
"Child with special needs"
means a child who
				  meets one or more of the criteria set forth in 441-subrule 201.3(1).
"Court-ordered studies"
means home studies
				  ordered by a judge for the purpose of determining custody of a child or
				  placement of a child for the purpose of adoption.
"Department"
means the Iowa department of
				  health and human services and includes the local offices of the
				  department.
"Family-centered services"
means services
				  and other support intended to safely maintain a child with the child's family
				  or with an adult relative; to safely and in a timely manner return a child to
				  the home of the child's parent or relative; or to promote achievement of
				  concurrent planning goals by identifying and helping the child secure placement
				  for adoption, with a guardian, or with other alternative permanent family
				  connections. Family-centered services include services adapted to the
				  individual needs of a family regarding the specific services and other support
				  provided to the child's family and the intensity and duration of service
				  delivery and services intended to preserve a child's connections to the child's
				  neighborhood, community, and family and to improve the overall capacity of the
				  child's family to provide for the needs of the children in the family.
"Foster family adoption"
means the adoption
				  of a child by a licensed foster family that has cared for the child.
"Guardianship record"
means a case record
				  regarding a child, established and retained by the department, when the
				  department is named guardian of the child by court order. The purpose of the
				  guardianship record is to collect and maintain information about the child and
				  the birth family, legal documents, and other information that will assist in
				  fulfilling the responsibility of guardian.
"Life book"
means a compilation of
				  information about the child, including birth information, photographs of the
				  child; placement history, including dates of placement, names of caretakers,
				  and reasons for leaving the placement; relationships; school reports; social,
				  medical, mental health developmental history; and awards received, important
				  events, letters from significant persons, and other information that the child
				  wishes to include. The life book will assist the child in dealing with
				  separation and loss issues and provide background and genealogy data.
"Placement services"
includes the activities
				  and travel necessary to plan and carry out the placement of a child or children
				  into the adoptive family.
"Postadoption services"
includes those
				  services that an adoptive family may access after the adoption is finalized to
				  assist the family in coping with and resolving problems within the
				  family.
"Postplacement services"
includes the
				  supervision, support and intervention necessary prior to finalization to assist
				  in maintaining the adoptive placement.
"Preadoptive family"
means an approved
				  adoptive family with a child placed in the home for adoption whose adoption has
				  not been finalized.
"Preparation of child"
includes activities
				  necessary to ready the child for placement into an adoptive family.
"Preparation of family"
includes the
				  activities necessary to assist the family in adding an adoptive child as a new
				  member of their family.
"Preplacement visits"
means contacts,
				  activities, and visits between the child and adoptive family prior to the
				  adoptive placement.
"Procedendo"
means an order issued by the
				  Iowa Supreme Court returning jurisdiction to the district court after a final
				  appellate decision regarding an appeal.
"Recruitment and retention contractor"
or
"contractor"
means the entity that contracts with the
				  department statewide to recruit foster and adoptive parents, complete home
				  studies, and perform activities to support and encourage retention of foster
				  and adoptive parents, or any of its subcontractors.
"Relative"
means an individual related to a
				  child within the fourth degree of consanguinity or affinity, by marriage, or
				  through adoption.
"Selection of family"
means reviewing
				  approved home studies to match a family's strengths with a specific child's
				  needs.