New Mexico Administrative Code › Title 8 - SOCIAL SERVICES › Chapter 26 - FOSTER CARE AND ADOPTION › Part 3 - ADOPTION ACT REGULATIONS › Section 8.26.3.7 - DEFINITIONS

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 13, July 16, 2024
A.
"Adoptee"
means any person who is the subject of an adoption
				petition.
B.
"Adoptee's
				consent"
means a document signed by an adoptee whereby the adoptee
				agrees to be adopted by the petitioner.
C.
"Agency adoption"
means an
				adoption proceeding in which the adoptee is placed by a private or child
				placement agency.
D.
"Consent"
means a document signed by the biological parent whereby the
				parent agrees to the adoption of the parent's child by another; or whereby the
				department, or an agency licensed by the department, agrees to the adoption of
				a child in its custody.
E.
"Counselor"
means a person or agency certified by the department to
				provide adoptive counseling in independent adoptions.
F.
"Custodial parent"
means the
				parent with whom the child resides and whose parental rights have not been
				terminated or are not being terminated.
G.
"Department"
means the
				children, youth and families department.
H.
"Department adoption"
means
				an adoption proceeding in which the adoptee is placed by the
				department.
I.
"Extended
				family member"
shall be defined by the law or custom of the Indian
				child's tribe, consistent with the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) or, in the
				absence of such law or custom, shall be a person who has reached the age of
				eighteen (18) and who is the Indian child's grandparent, aunt or uncle, brother
				or sister, brother-in-law or sister-in-law, niece or nephew, first or second
				cousin or stepparent.
J.
"Foreign born child"
means a child who was born in a country other than
				the United States of America (hereafter U.S.) and is not a U.S. citizen at the
				time the child is placed for adoption.
K.
"Indian child"
means any
				unmarried person who is under eighteen (18) years of age and is either a member
				of an Indian tribe or is eligible for membership in an Indian tribe and is the
				biological child of a member of an Indian tribe.
L.
"Indian child's domicile"
means the place where the Indian child's parent or Indian custodian resides
				permanently or intends to relocate after a temporary residence for employment,
				education or other reasons. The domicile of the unwed mother of an Indian child
				shall be the domicile of the Indian child.
M.
"Indian child's tribe"
means
				the Indian tribe in which an Indian child is a member or is eligible for
				membership or, in the case of an Indian child who is a member or is eligible
				for membership in more than one tribe, the Indian tribe with which the Indian
				child has the most significant contacts, to be determined in accordance with
				the bureau of Indian affairs' (hereafter BIA) "Guidelines for State Courts -
				Indian Child Custody Proceedings."
N.
"Indian Child Welfare Act"
(hereafter ICWA) means the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978,
				25 U.S.C.
				1901 et seq.
O.
"Indian tribe"
means any
				Indian tribe, band, nation or other organized group or community of Indians
				recognized as eligible for the services provided to Indians by the secretary of
				the Interior because of their status as Indians, including any Alaska native
				village as defined in the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act,
				43
				U.S.C. 1602(c).
P.
"Investigator"
means a
				person or agency who has been certified by the department to conduct adoptive
				studies or reports in independent adoptions.
Q.
"List"
refers to a document
				which lists the persons or agencies certified by the department as
				investigators or counselors.
R.
"Non-custodial parent"
means the parent with whom the child does
				not reside and whose parental rights have been terminated or are being
				terminated by the adoption.
S.
"Reservation"
means Indian country as defined in
				18 U.S.C.
				1151 and any lands not covered under such
				section, title to which is either held by the United States in trust for the
				benefit of any Indian tribe or individual or held by any Indian tribe or
				individual subject to a restriction by the United States against
				alienation.
T.
"Tribal
				court"
means a court of an Indian nation, tribe or pueblo with
				jurisdiction over child custody proceedings.