Chapter 5 : Section 9

Child Specific Recruitment for Adoption

Policy

All appropriate recruitment resources shall be explored and/or utilized within three months of the referral for child specific recruitment.

Child specific recruitment shall be conducted to find adoptive families for legally and non-legally free children for whom no homes are found in the Adoption Registry, including children with special needs.

For children who are legally free with no identified adoptive placement, child specific recruitment shall be initiated by sending a completed service request in Guardian;

  • Within five days of conducting an Adoption Registry search resulting in no available homes; or

  • Within five days of concluding an adoptive Family and Home Evaluation (home study) case conference that resulted in no identified placement.

For children who are not legally free, child specific recruitment shall be initiated on a selective basis, determined by the child's particular circumstances.

Child specific recruitment includes registering the child with ADOPTUSKIDS, Wednesday's Child and other cross-jurisdictional resources, such as regional exchanges, to facilitate timely and permanent placement for children awaiting adoption.

Media presentations personally identifying a child require a court order.

If more than one appropriate family who can meet the needs of the child responds to a child specific recruitment effort, priority shall be given to families who are already certified or approved to adopt.

Procedures

Exploring Recruitment Resources

To conduct child specific recruitment/ family identification complete a service request in Guardian within 45 days of no placement being identified through an Adoption Registry search or Family and Home Evaluation (home study) case conference.

The DCS Specialist will include the following items in the service request:

court order for recruitment through all media sources; if a court order for recruitment through all media sources is not available, contact the Assistant Attorney General about obtaining a court order,

  • digital photographs of the child or sibling group,

  • narrative about the child which may include:

    • an attention-getting phrase as an opening statement;

    • colorful details on the child’s unique character (hobbies, interests, strengths);

    • highlights of the child’s progress and ways to manage challenges;

    • identification of clinical diagnoses;

    • description of how the child relates to adults and other children;

    • quotation from the child or adults important to the child; and

    • suggestions of what the child needs from a family.

The DCS or Adoption Registry Specialist will route child specific information to recruitment resources and/or search for prospective families listed with various adoption exchanges.

Evaluate all Family and Home Evaluations (home studies) resulting from a search of adoption exchanges within ten days of receipt.

Respond to all inquiries within ten days of receipt. Contact appropriate families personally; send all responses (whether or not they are appropriate for the particular child) to the office that serves the area in which the family lives.

Conduct an individual or group meeting with interested, appropriate families.

Refer all interested, appropriate families for Family and Home Evaluations (home studies).

Make and document the selection through the Family and Home Evaluation (home study) case conference as previously described in Selecting an Adoptive Family.

In the Maricopa Regions:

The DCS Specialist will contact their assigned adoptions supervisor who will assign an adoptions specialist to assist with searching for available adoptive resources.

The adoptions specialist will complete a search for potential adoptive families in the Adoption Registry. If no matches are found, the DCS Specialist will be directed to begin special recruitment efforts.

The service request will be sent in Guardian to the Regional Designee for assignment to a contract agency.

The contract agency will develop the child specific recruitment plan and present it to the Program Manager (PM) of Adoptions within 30 days of the referral. The PM of Adoptions or designee will review each plan and return it to the contract agency as approved or denied within 10 days of receipt.

Under no circumstance should a non-adoptions case manager choose a family as an adoptive family for a child without the assistance of an adoptions supervisor or adoptions specialist.

Special Recruitment Plan for Adoptive Placement, CSO-1144A

Selecting an Adoptive Family

P.L. 96-272. The Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980

P.L. 105-89. The Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997

45 CFR 1356.40. Adoption assistance program: Administrative requirements to implement section 473 of the Act.

A.A.C. R21-5-306. Department Recruitment Efforts

Effective Date: February 1, 2021
Revision History: November 30, 2012, July 2, 2018