Conditional Surrenders:
the Pros and Cons
Presented by Margaret A. Burt
NYS Citizens' Coalition for Children, Inc.
13th Annual Statewide Adoption Training Conference
Adoption 2002: Linking Promises to Possibilities
May 10, 2002 • Albany New York  

CONDITIONAL SURRENDERS - ISSUES TO CONSIDER

Please Note: There have been several changes in NYS permanency statutes since 2002.
See LINK Family Legal Framework Resources for a list of articles by Atty. Burt reflecting current law and regulation and
the NYS OCFS website for information on recent permanency legislation.

• Agency should have a written pre-defined policy regarding what kinds of cases and inwhat ways surrenders with conditions would be accepted
  
  
• Who should be included in the discussion, the agreement, or sign the order?
  • Foster parents/adoptive parents and their counsel
  • Law Guardian
  • Child at a particular age
  • DSS on-going worker, adoption worker, DSS counsel
  • Child's therapist/counselor
  • Parent's therapist counselor
  • Birth parent's and their counsel
  • CASA
    
    
• When should the process take place and how? - Should the agency still accept conditional surrenders after a certain point in a TPR?
  
  
• How is the process actually to be done? Who drafts the agreement? How is it referenced in the surrender? How is it referenced in the adoption?
  
  
• What kinds of terms are to be considered in what situations?
  • specifying the adoptive parent
  • specifying procedure if the identified adoptive parent can not adopt
  • exchanging information about the placement
  • exchanging ongoing information about the child - school, photos, reports
  • exchanging ongoing health information - one way or both ways
  • visitation - frequency, structure, supervision, changes, failure to exercise
  • name changes
  • supportive statements
  • phone calls, letters, gifts
  • sibling information or contact
  • grandparent contact
    
    
• Policy and procedure if there are disagreements - what should agency role be, if any? - can agreement spell out procedure and clarify that surrender and adoption will not be vacated upon a disagreement? Can the birth parent waive any notice if the specified adoptive parent does not adopt? Should there be a "dead man's clause" for failure of birth parent to appear for visits?

  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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5/21/02