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Home > Adoption > Foster Care Adoption > Legal Issues and Laws on Foster Care Adoption > State Laws Related to Foster Care Adoption
State Laws Related to Foster Care Adoption
State laws provide the legal foundation for most activities involved in adopting children from foster care. The following resources include summaries of many State laws and other resources. Resources include selected summaries of State laws.
Adoption Assistance by State
American Public Human Services Association
Provides regulation and policy in answer to the 13 most commonly asked questions about adoption assistance.
Adoption Resource Guide
National Council of State Legislatures
Publications and links to resources on a wide array of adoption-related issues.
National Center for Adoption Law and Policy
Seeks to improve the law, policies, and practices associated with child protection and adoption systems.
Online Resources for State Child Welfare Law and Policy
Provides links to websites where State statutes and regulations can be accessed and lists the parts of each State and territory's code that contain laws addressing child protection, child welfare, and adoption.
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Selected summaries of State laws
Collection of Family Information About Adopted Persons, Birth Parents, and Adoptive Parents
Requirements for collecting information about persons involved in an adoption vary from State to State. Each State has laws that specify the kinds of information that may be collected and shared among the parties. State laws specify the persons or entities authorized to collect information. In most States, information about the child to be adopted and the child?s birth family is compiled by the child-placing agency or the department of social services. In some States, the court may designate another qualified person, such as a social worker or specially trained investigator, to complete the history of the birth family. In ...
Concurrent Planning for Permanency for Children
Reviews State laws that permit an agency to plan for another permanent placement for a child at the same time efforts are made to reunify the child with his or her family of origin.
Consent to Adoption
Reviews State laws that specify the persons who must consent to a child's adoption, time frames for consent, and guidelines for revocation of consent.
Court Hearings for the Permanent Placement of Children
Court hearings are used to review the status and determine the permanent placement of children who have been placed in out-of-home care, including foster care. The Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) of 1997 (P.L. 105-89) amended title IV-E of the Social Security Act in an effort to provide added safety and permanency for children in foster placement. ASFA placed an emphasis on expediting and improving planning and decision-making for the permanent placement of children in the child welfare system.
Court Jurisdiction and Venue for Adoption Petitions
Provides the laws that specify the appropriate State courts, by type and location, for handling adoption petitions.
Postadoption Contact Agreements Between Birth and Adoptive Families
Postadoption contact agreements, sometimes referred to as cooperative adoption or open adoption agreements, are arrangements that allow some kind of contact between a child's adoptive family and members of the child's birth family after the child's adoption has been finalized. These arrangements can range from informal, mutual understandings between the birth and adoptive families to written, formal contracts. Agreements for postadoption contact or communication have become more prevalent in recent years, due to several factors: -- There is wider recognition of the rights of birth parents to make choices for their children -- Many adoptions involve older children, such as ...
The Rights of Presumed (Putative) Fathers
Discusses the rights of the alleged fathers of children born out-of-wedlock and whether States have registries for such fathers.
Who May Adopt, Be Adopted, or Place a Child for Adoption?
This briefing reviews State laws regarding parties to an adoption. General information dealing with who may adopt, who may be adopted, and who may place a child for adoption is identified. In order for an adoption to take place, a person available to be adopted must be placed in the home of a person or persons eligible to adopt. All States, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands have laws that specify which persons are eligible as adopting parents and which persons can be adopted. In addition, all States, the ...
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