Section 309.20  Definitions

"Adoption assistance" or "adoption subsidy" means financial assistance and other services from the Department which are provided to the adoptive parents after the finalization of an adoption of a child with special needs as defined in Section 309.180.

"Adoption placement" means a living arrangement with a family which is directed toward establishing that family as the child's new legal parents.

"Adoption triad" means the adoptive family, the adoptee (child being adopted)and the biological family.

"Adult" means a person who has attained the age of 18.

"Agency" means a public child welfare agency or a licensed child welfare agency.

"Attachment" means the lasting psychological tie between two people who have significance for each other that endures through space and time and serves to join them emotionally.

"Best interests" as defined in the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 means consideration of the following factors in the context of the child's age and developmental needs:

the physical safety and welfare of the child, including food, shelter, health, and clothing;

the development of the child's identity;

the child's background and ties, including familial and religious;

the child's sense of attachments, including:

where the child actually feels love, attachment, and a sense of being valued (as opposed to where adults believe the child should feel such love, attachment, and sense of being valued);

the child's sense of security;

the child's sense of familiarity;

continuity of affection for the child;

the least disruptive placement alternative for the child;

the child's wishes and long-term goals;

the child's community ties, including church, school, and friends;

the child's need for permanence which includes the childs need for stability and continuity of relationships with parent figures and with siblings and other relatives;

the uniqueness of every family and child;

the risks attendant to entering and being in substitute care; and

the preferences of the persons available to care for the child. [705 ILCS 405/1-3]

"Certification training" means training directed toward preparing a family to adopt a child for whom the Department of Children and Family Services is legally responsible and may consist of the following different types of training:

six hours of standardized training for foster care conversion adoptions which means that a foster parent or relative caregiver is adopting a child who has been in his or her care; or

six hour of standardized training and an additional individualized training plan specific to the child's needs for adoptive parents who have not had the child in their care prior to the adoptive placement; or

training specified by private child welfare agencies who meet the standards of the Council on Accreditation of Services for Families and Children.

"Children for whom the Department of Children and Family Services is legally responsible" means children for whom the Department has temporary protective custody, custody or guardianship via court order, or children whose parents have signed an adoptive surrender or voluntary placement agreement with the Department.

"Confidential intermediary" is an individual appointed by the court for the purpose of obtaining from biological parents or siblings of an adopted person information concerning the background of a psychological or genetically-based medical problem experienced or which may be experienced by the adopted person or obtaining assistance in treating such a problem. [750 ILCS 50/18.3a]  A confidential intermediary is obliged by law to protect the identity and privacy of the biological family as well as that of the adoptive family and adopted person.

"Consent to adoption by a specified person" is a voluntary act by the parents to relinquish all parental rights of a child to a person or persons specified by the parents in the specific consent document.  Consent to adoption by a specified person is further described in Section 309.70 (Freeing Children for Adoption).

"Internal legal screening" means an internal review required by the Department prior to referring a case for termination of parental rights for the purpose of freeing a child for adoption.  Depending on local practice, a representative of the State's Attorney's Office may participate in the screening.  The purpose of the screening is to determine whether sufficient grounds for termination of parental rights exist and whether adoption is in the best interest of the child.  Legal screening is further described in Section 309.80.

"Legal risk placement" means the placement with a family of a child, not yet legally free for adoption, made in the best interests of the child with the intent that the family will become an adoptive resource for the child should the child become legally free for adoption.

"Parental unfitness" means a finding by the court that a person is unfit to parent a child, without regard to the likelihood that the child will be placed for adoption.  The grounds of unfitness are described in Section 309.50 (Identification of Children for Potential Adoption Planning) and in the Adoption Act [750 ILCS 50].

"Persons approved for adoption" means persons who have been licensed as a foster family home in accordance with 89 Ill. Adm. Code 402 (Licensing Standards for Foster Family Homes) or relative caregivers with whom children have been placed in accordance with 89 Ill. Adm. Code 301 (Placement and Visitation Services) and who also meet the certification requirements of Section 309.110(c) of this Part.

"Post-adoption services" are services meant to assist and support the family in maintaining itself in a healthy and nurturing environment and in preserving the adoption. Post-adoption services may include, but are not limited to, social, psychological, psychiatric, health, educational and adoption preservation services. Financial services  are available to families and adoptees following the legal consummation of the adoption, when they are eligible for adoption assistance.   Post-adoption services also address the needs of adult adoptees and their biological families to seek information and contact, when desired.

"Putative father" means a male, regardless of age, who may be a child's father, but who was not married to the child's mother on or before the date that the child was or is to be born and for whom paternity of the child has not been established in a court proceeding.

"Surrender for adoption" is a voluntary act by the parents to relinquish all parental rights of a child to an agency for the purpose of placing the child for adoption.

"Termination of parental rights" is a legal action of the court or a voluntary action by the parents which relieves the birth parents of a child of all parental responsibility for the child and deprives them of all legal rights with respect to the child.

(Source:  Amended at 25 Ill. Reg. 11778, effective September 14, 2001)