Oregon Administrative Rules › Chapter 413 - DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES, CHILD WELFARE PROGRAMS › Division 120 - ADOPTION › Section 413-120-0635 - Cooperative Adoption Planning Through Legal Assistance Mediation Services

Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 7, July 1, 2024
(1) Department will
			 provide information on an ongoing basis to birth and adoptive families,
			 Department staff, and other interested persons in the child's life: Information
			 regarding the value and benefits of cooperative adoption planning; the use of
			 mediation as a tool to achieve a cooperative adoption; and, the roles of all
			 mediation participants in the cooperative adoption process. This concurrent
			 planning education will take place early and often throughout the case. (See
			 Flow Chart Box 1 & 2)
(2) The
			 birth parents, identified adoptive parents, CASA, child, attorneys of record,
			 Citizen Review Boards and other persons interested in the child's need for
			 permanency, safety and well-being may request that the case be referred for
			 cooperative adoption mediation services. (See Flow Chart Box 3.)
(3) The Department will obtain input from
			 interested persons, prior to or during the cooperative adoption planning
			 process, regarding the appropriateness of cooperative adoption planning to
			 address the child's permanency, safety and well-being. (See Flow Chart Box 4.)
(4) On an ongoing basis,
			 Department staff will explore the willingness of the birth and adoptive parents
			 to engage in the cooperative adoption planning process through mediation. (See
			 Flow Chart Box 5.)
(5) A Mediation
			 Referral Form must not be submitted until a committee has selected the adoptive
			 parents for a child, either at the preliminary current caretaker or adoption
			 committee, and until the case has been staffed and approved for mediation by a
			 LAS. See OAR 413-120-0010  to 413-120-0060.
(6) To support the development of a
			 cooperative adoption planning process through mediation, the Department has the
			 following responsibilities:
(a) After a Legal
			 Assistance Referral has been approved, the caseworker must consult with the LAS
			 and the assigned legal assistance attorney. Consultation must address whether
			 the birth parents present a continuing threat to their child or adoptive
			 parents, and whether a plan for openness in adoption will meet the needs of the
			 child;
(b) If parents want to plan
			 cooperatively and there is no approval for a legal assistance referral an
			 exception can be made to allow for a referral for mediation using the criteria
			 provided in OAR 413-120-0628.
(c)
			 The child's caseworker must obtain from the birth parent(s) and from the
			 adoptive parents, if no adoption worker is assigned, a signed DHS 2098
			 Authorization for Use and Disclosure of Non-Health Information and DHS 2099
			 Authorization for Use and Disclosure of Health Information to the mediator;
(d) To request mediation services
			 funded through the Legal Assistance program, the child's caseworker, or in some
			 cases, the adoptive parents' worker must make referrals for cooperative
			 adoption mediation on the CF 0437 Mediation Referral Form. The child's
			 caseworker, in consultation with the adoptive parents worker, if assigned, must
			 list on the Mediation Referral Form, benefits specific to the individual case
			 and safety concerns that, if an agreement is reached, must be met in a written
			 PACA. The form should be prepared with the understanding that the birth parents
			 and adoptive parents will be receiving a copy of the form.
(e) The child's caseworker, and in some
			 cases, the adoptive parents' worker, must provide to the mediator, on the CF
			 437b Contact Information Form, information of the mediation participants, and
			 other collateral resources when applicable.