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CHANGE #03-2009
FEBRUARY 2009
The North Carolina Social Services Commission adopted the following rules and established standards for adoption. County departments of social services shall deliver adoption services in accordance with the following rules and SOC principles.
1. Consistent with SOC and Multiple Response System (MRS) principles, the agency should, in partnership with the community, plan and provide for culturally competent services that are child-centered and family-focused.
2. The agency shall have current information available for prospective adoptive families describing the strengths and needs of children needing placement and procedures for referring families they are unable to serve to other placement resources.
3. The agency will have a recruitment plan that reflects the ethnic and racial diversity of children in need of foster and adoptive homes. Minimally, the plan and its implementation shall reflect the requirements of the Multiethnic Placement Act of 1994, as amended by the Interethnic Adoption Provisions of the Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996.
4. The agency shall demonstrate its commitment to the SOC and MRS principles by implementing a collaborative approach in planning, preparation of the child, and decision-making. Collaborative efforts shall involve the birth parents, substitute caregivers, adoptive parents, social worker, and child (over age 6) as appropriate. It may also include other agency staff and community members.
5. The agency shall have a written protocol and procedure to respond to adoption placement disruption/dissolution. The agency shall track and record the number of, and reasons for, disruptions/dissolutions.
6. The agency shall provide or assist the adoptive family in accessing post adoption services to maintain placement and prevent dissolution of an adoption.
7. Adoption dissolutions shall be managed with emphasis placed on the child's needs, and relinquishments accepted only when there is a new plan of permanent placement for the child.
8. The agency shall keep current statistics that would reflect adoption outcomes. These statistics shall include numbers of children available for adoption, the length of time these children wait to be adopted, and the incidents of disruption and dissolution.
There shall be a staff of persons who have demonstrated that they possess the technical training, and skills to plan and carry out a sound adoption program consistent with the standards set forth in this section. State personnel qualifications shall apply.
In providing services to children and families agency should adhere to principles of best practice that will be successful in reaching desired permanency plans for children in care. Workers should spend quality time with individuals in their caseloads in order to achieve desired goals even though the amount of time devoted to specific activities will vary from case to case.
A case may be defined as any one of the following:
1. An expectant parent or parents receiving problem pregnancy services from the agency prior to the child's birth and release for adoption;
2. Birth parents receiving services from the agency following release of the child for adoption;
3. A child or sibling group to be placed together who have been referred to the agency for adoptive placement from another authorized child-placing agency and for whom an adoptive home is being sought or considered;
4. A child or siblings, together with birth parents, for as long as the legal parent/child relationship exists;
5. A child or siblings for whom the goals for adoption are the same, following release for adoption;
6. A single person or married couple applying for or licensed to provide foster care for children relinquished for adoption to the agency;
7. A single person or married couple in the process of or having completed an assessment for adoptive placement of a child or children;
8. A child or sibling group and adoptive parents after placement occurs and during the period prior to entry of the Decree of Adoption; and
9. Birth parents, or adoptive parents and adopted child, or adopted child, or adult adoptee following entry of the Decree of Adoption.
10. The adoptive assessment of North Carolina residents with whom an out of state agency may want to place a child.
11. Services provided to an adoptive family who has moved to North Carolina before completion of the legal process.
12. The legal and social work services provided in relative and independent adoptions.
Average caseload sizes shall be no greater than:
• Foster Care and Adoption Caseloads: 1:15 children at any time;
• Post-Adoption Service Casework: 1:15 families at any time;
• Recruitment: 1:200 foster and adoptive families a year;
• Licensure: 1:32 foster and adoptive families at any one time;
• Training 1:120 foster and adoptive parent training a year; and
• Home studies: which do not generate a fee 1:120 families a year.
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For questions or clarification on any of the policy contained in these manuals, please contact your local county office. |
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