N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 18 § 421.11

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 51, December 18, 2024

Section 421.11 - First contact with prospective adoptive parents

Authorized agencies operating an adoption program shall:

(a) have an adoption or home finding unit which will accept public inquiries. Inquiries regarding adoption received elsewhere in the agency shall be referred immediately to such unit;

(b) respond to inquiries regarding adoption within five business days of receipt of the inquiry and offer an invitation to an individual or group orientation session, which shall take place within 30 days of receipt of the inquiry;

(c) conduct such orientation sessions during evening and other hours convenient to those invited;

(d) discuss the characteristics of the children available for adoption, show New York State's Waiting Children and explain its use at each such orientation session;

(e) discuss the procedures for application and adoption study and the availability of adoption subsidies;

(f) offer an adoption application form approved by the department at the conclusion of such session;

(g) inform possible adoptive parents of the following additional information at the orientation session:

(1) that married persons can adopt only as a couple with each partner participating, and that a married person who is living separate and apart from his or her spouse pursuant to a legally recognizable separation agreement or decree of separation or who has been living separate and apart from his or her spouse for a period of three years or more prior to the commencement of the adoption proceeding may also adopt a child;

(2)

(i) that pursuant to section 424-a of the Social Services Law, an agency will inquire of the Office of Children and Family Services whether the applicant and any other person over the age of 18 who resides in the home of the applicant is the subject of an indicated child abuse or maltreatment report and that pursuant to Federal law, where the applicant or other person over the age of 18 who resides in the home of the applicant resided in another state at any time during the five years preceding the application for approval as an adoptive parent made in accordance with this Part, the agency will request child abuse and maltreatment information maintained by the child abuse and maltreatment registry from the applicable child welfare agency in each such state of previous residence; and

(ii) that pursuant to section 495 of the Social Services Law, an agency will inquire of the Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs whether the applicant and any other person over the age of 18 who resides in the home of the applicant is listed on the register of substantiated category one cases of abuse or neglect maintained by the Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs.

(3) that as part of the application process, each applicant to be an adoptive parent will be required to submit a sworn statement including whether such applicant, to the best of the applicant's knowledge, has ever been convicted of a crime in New York State or any other jurisdiction and that the applicant and any other person over the age of 18 who currently resides in the home of the applicant will be required to be fingerprinted for the purpose of a criminal history record check performed by the Division of Criminal Justice Services and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and subject to the criminal history record check requirements set forth in section 378-a (2) of the Social Services Law and section 421.27 of this Part;

(4) that pursuant to section 372-e of the Social Services Law, an applicant may apply for a fair hearing if an application is not acted upon by the completion of an adoption home study within six months or if an application is rejected; and

(5) that an adopted person 18 years of age or older, or if the adopted person is deceased, the adopted person's direct line descendants, or the lawful representative of such adopted person or the lawful representative of such adopted person's direct line descendants, as the case may be, has a right either to receive from the commissioner of the New York State Department of Health, the commissioner of Health and Mental Hygiene of the City of New York, the applicable local registrar or any person so authorized by such commissioner or local registrar a certified copy of the adopted person's original long form birth certificate, including any change attached to that certificate by a biological parent or parents and any information provided to such commissioner or local registrar in accordance with state law or, where it is impossible for such commissioner or local registrar to provide a copy of the original long form birth certificate of a person adopted in this state and such certificate is not part of the records of such commissioner or local registrar, to receive from an authorized agency, as defined in paragraphs (a) and (b) of subdivision 10 of section 371 of the Social Services Law, identifying information regarding the adopted person and the adopted person's biological parents that would otherwise appear on an original long form birth certificate in this state. The adoptive person 18 years of age or older may also be informed of the Adoption Information Registry and the Mutual Consent Voluntary Adoption Registry pursuant to sections 4138-c and 4138-d of the Public Health Law where the adoptive person, the biological siblings or the birth parents of the adoptive person may register with either registry to obtain more information about the adoption.

(h) within five days of an orientation session, contact persons who have inquired about adoption, been invited to such session, but failed to attend, invite them to another orientation session or, if they are unable to attend a scheduled orientation session, offer an individual orientation interview;

(i) develop a record for each person inquiring about adoption which contains:

(1) a dated record of the inquiry, whether received by mail, telephone or in person;

(2) a dated copy of the invitation to an orientation session;

(3) a dated copy of the written acknowledgment of the inquiry; and

(4) a dated record of all further communication, whether by letter, telephone or in person; and

(j) retain such record, if no completed application is filed, for 12 months after the last communication.

N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Tit. 18 § 421.11

Amended New York State Register December 23, 2015/Volume XXXVII, Issue 51, eff. 12/23/2015

Amended New York State Register January 25, 2017/Volume XXXIX, Issue 04, eff. 1/25/2017

Amended New York State Register May 5, 2021/Volume XLIII, Issue 18, eff. 5/5/2021