Expedited or Accelerated Adoption Procedures

Since 1992, adoptive parents have been permitted to file an adoption petition for a child who is the subject of a termination action even though the termination action has not yet been concluded. DRL 112(8) The adoptive parents can file all the paperwork necessary for the adoption, home studies, processes for subsidies can go forward, even though the child is not yet freed. While the termination matter is pending, the Judge is not to be informed that an adoption petition has been filed. When and if the child is freed by the Judge, the adoption can proceed. The local DSS may not actually consent to the adoption until the child has been freed and the time period has passed for any notice of appeal. If the termination is appealed, the agency is not supposed to consent to the adoption until it is resolved NYCRRR 421.19 5 1

If a child is surrendered, the adoptive parents can also proceed immediately to file an adoption petition. If they had filed the adoption petition during the termination proceeding and the termination is resolved with a surrender, the adoptive parents can immediately proceed. After a Judge accepts the surrender of a foster child, he is then supposed to inquire if anyone is seeking to adopt the child. The Judge could them be informed that in fact there has been an adoption petition filed and the court can set a schedule to complete whatever may be necessary to finalize the adoption. SSL 383-c

Filing the adoption petition while the termination is still pending is called an "expedited" or an "accelerated" adoption. It might make sense to do a "semi-accelerated" adoption in some instances where the adoption petition is prepared in advance and filed immediately upon the freeing of the child by the surrender or upon the passing of 30 days after the termination order if no notice of appeal has been filed.

The obvious advantageous to considering an accelerated adoption are that it creates a faster permanency for the child and allows the adoptive family to end the governmental involvement of the agency caseworker in their family lives. There is a savings of foster care money, a savings in caseworker time. Less court time is spent on "freed child" reviews. The adoption would stay with the Judge who had handled the termination or surrender allowing for continuity of the case, including relative to such issues as the court's rulings regarding the legal status of the father.

In some cases, there may be disadvantageous to doing accelerated adoptions. It may be more likely to incline a birth parent to file an appeal of a termination, if they become aware of the quick processing of the adoption. If the agency feels the adoptive family could benefit from some supervision and services, it offers less time for that. If the child would not be eligible for an adoption subsidy without completing 18 months in care with the same family and that deadline has not yet been reached but is close, it may be to the advantage of the adoptive family to wait to consent.

Margaret A. Burt
ATTORNEY AT LAW
63 CALLINGHAM ROAD PITTSFORD, NEW YORK 14534
TEL: (585) 385-4252 FAX: (585) 385-7717

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11/07/2006