New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 3A - CHILDREN AND FAMILIES › Chapter 50 - MANUAL OF REQUIREMENTS FOR ADOPTION AGENCIES › Subchapter 1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 3A:50-1.6 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, shall
				  have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Adoptee" means a person who has been placed in an adoptive home
				  and whose adoption has been legally finalized.
"Adoption agency" or "agency" means a Department-certified public
				  or private entity organized for all or part of its purpose to provide adoption
				  services to children, adoptees, adoptive applicants, birth parents, or adoptive
				  parents.
"Adoption Complaint Investigation" means an investigation ordered
				  by the court to determine the circumstances of a non-agency placement and to assess
				  the suitability of the prospective adoptive parents. The investigation is conducted
				  by a court-appointed State-approved adoption agency in response to the filing of an
				  adoption petition on behalf of the prospective adoptive parents. Such investigation
				  includes a home study and post-placement services unless otherwise specified by the
				  court.
"Adoption services" means services related to the preparation,
				  execution, and finalization of an adoption in New Jersey, including, but not limited
				  to, pre-placement, home study, placement, post-placement, or post-adoption services
				  or other related activities, including those requested by courts and other adoption
				  agencies and organizations, whether or not the agencies and organizations are
				  certified in New Jersey.
"Adoptive applicant" means a prospective adoptive parent who has
				  applied to adopt a child but who has not yet received a child for adoption
				  placement.
"Adoptive parent" means a person with whom a child has been
				  placed for adoption or who has adopted a child.
"Branch office" means a Department-certified adoption program
				  that is a geographically separate but administratively dependent part of an agency.
"Certificate of approval" or "certificate" means a document
				  issued by the Office of Licensing to an agency indicating that the agency is in
				  substantial or full compliance with all applicable provisions of this chapter, and
				  that there is no serious or imminent hazard to the health, safety or well-being of
				  the children, birth parents, adoptive parents or adoptive applicants being served by
				  the agency.
"Child" means any person under 18 years of age.
"Commissioner" means the Commissioner of the Department of
				  Children and Families.
"Conditional surrender" means a voluntary relinquishment of all
				  parental rights by a birth parent, adoptive parent, or other person or agency
				  authorized to exercise these rights by law, court order or otherwise for purposes of
				  allowing a child to be adopted by a person(s) specified by the surrendering parent.
"Custody" means the general right to exercise continuing control
				  over the person of a child derived from court order or otherwise.
"Denial of a certificate" means the withholding of a certificate
				  of approval for which an agency has applied, based on the agency's failure or
				  inability to comply with requirements of
				  N.J.S.A.
				  9:3-37 et seq., or of this chapter.
"Department" means the New Jersey Department of Children and
				  Families.
"Division" means the Division of Child Protection and Permanency
				  of the New Jersey Department of Children and Families.
"Executive director" or "administrator" means the person in a
				  certified agency responsible for the overall administration and direction of the
				  agency and its staff.
"Finalization" means the entry of a legal order of adoption
				  issued by a court of competent jurisdiction, pursuant to
				  N.J.S.A.
				  9:3-37 et seq.
"Foster care" means the temporary placement in an agency-approved
				  private home of a child who is in the care or custody of an agency.
"Governing board" means the public or private body which has
				  final legal responsibility for or authority over a certified adoption agency.
"Guardianship" means the right to exercise continuing control
				  over the person or property or both of a child, including any specific right of
				  control over an aspect of the child's upbringing derived from court order.
"Home study" means the agency's formal assessment of the capacity
				  and readiness of prospective adoptive parents to adopt a child, including the
				  agency's written report and recommendation.
"Intermediary" means any person, firm, partnership, corporation,
				  association, agency, or adoption facilitator, whether located in New Jersey or not,
				  who acts for, between, or on behalf of any parent and any prospective adoptive
				  parent.
"Manual of Requirements for Adoption Agencies" or "Manual of
				  Requirements" means the rules promulgated in this chapter, which constitute minimum
				  requirements for adoption agencies placing children for adoption in New Jersey.
"Office of Licensing" or "Office" means the Office of Licensing
				  of the New Jersey Department of Children and Families.
"Parent" means an expectant mother or a birth parent or birth
				  parents, including the biological father of a child born out of wedlock who has
				  acknowledged the child or to whom the court has ordered notice to be given, or a
				  parent or parents by adoption.
"Placement services" means any and all services offered by a
				  certified agency to prospective adoptive children and families ranging from
				  selection of a particular family for a particular child through the physical arrival
				  of the child in the adoptive home.
"Post-adoption services" means any and all services offered by or
				  through the auspices of an agency to any party involved in an adoption after
				  finalization of the adoption.
"Post-placement services" means any and all services offered by
				  or through the auspices of an agency to any member of an adoptive family from the
				  placement of the child to finalization of the adoption.
"Pre-placement services" means any and all services offered by or
				  through the auspices of an agency to birth parent(s) and child(ren) to evaluate and
				  prepare them for an adoptive placement.
"Private and professional setting" refers to a location conducive
				  to quiet conversation and affording confidentiality during verbal discussions.
"Referring agency" means an agency or organization with which a
				  New Jersey-certified agency has a written agreement regarding the provision of
				  adoption-related services in New Jersey.
"Revocation of a certificate" means a rescinding of an agency's
				  current certificate to operate because of the agency's failure or refusal to comply
				  with the requirements of
				  N.J.S.A.
				  9:3-37 et seq., or of this chapter.
"Satellite office" means an office that is utilized by, but is
				  geographically separated from, a Department-certified adoption agency and lacks its
				  own certification.
"Shall" denotes a requirement of this chapter that an adoption
				  agency must meet to qualify for a certificate.
"Should" denotes a recommendation reflecting goals towards which
				  an adoption agency is encouraged to work.
"Social worker" means a professional staff member of an agency
				  who possesses the required qualifications specified in this chapter and who works
				  directly with children, adoptees, birth parents, or adoptive parents and other
				  relevant individuals.
"Social work supervisor" means a staff member of an agency who
				  possesses the qualifications specified in this chapter and who supervises the
				  professional staff who work directly with children, adoptees, birth parents, or
				  adoptive parents and other relevant individuals.
"Staff member" means any person employed by or working for or
				  with an agency on a regularly scheduled basis, whether for compensation or not. This
				  shall include full-time, part-time, voluntary, substitute, contract or consulting
				  personnel, and paid and unpaid individuals utilized by the agency to provide
				  temporary foster care for children.
"Subsidy" means the financial or other material support provided
				  directly or made available to an adoptive family to assist in the adoptive
				  placement, legal expenses of adoption, or continuing care of a child placed for
				  adoption.
"Surrender" means a voluntary relinquishment of all parental
				  rights by a birth parent, adoptive parent, or other person or agency authorized to
				  exercise these rights by law, court order or otherwise, for purposes of allowing a
				  child to be adopted.
"Suspension of a certificate" means a temporary rescinding of an
				  agency's current certificate of approval to operate. The suspended certificate may
				  be reinstated by the Office of Licensing upon the agency's compliance with
				  requirements of the State Adoption Law and of this chapter.
"Termination of parental rights" means the transfer by an order
				  of a court of competent jurisdiction of all rights of control and authority over a
				  child from its birth parent(s) or prior adoptive parent(s) to an agency or other
				  person.