N.Y. Social Services Law § 372-f: Statewide adoption service

§ 372-f. Statewide adoption service. 1. There shall be established by

the department either directly or through purchase a statewide adoption

service which shall serve all authorized agencies in the state as a

means of recruiting adoptive families for children who have been legally

freed for adoption but have remained in foster care for a period of

three months or more. Such period in foster care shall include any

period of foster care immediately preceding the date on which the child

was legally freed for adoption. The service shall provide descriptions

and photographs of such children, and shall also provide any other

information deemed useful in the recruitment of adoptive families for

each such child. The service shall be updated monthly.

2. The service may be organized on a regional basis, but shall be

provided to all authorized child caring agencies and in accordance with

the regulations of the department, to all appropriate citizen groups and

other organizations and associations interested in children's services.

3. The department shall promulgate regulations governing the

operations of the adoption service.

4. (a) Except as set forth in paragraph (b) of this subdivision, each

authorized agency shall refer to the adoption service, accompanied by a

photograph and description, as shall be required by departmental

regulations, each child in its care who has been legally freed for

adoption and who has been in foster care for the period specified in

subdivision one of this section and for whom no adoptive home has been

found. If the child is fourteen years or older and will not consent to

his or her adoption, such child need not be listed on the service. Such

children's names shall be forwarded to the department by the authorized

agency, with reference to the specific reason by which the child was not

placed on the service. The department shall establish procedures for

periodic review of the status of such children. If the department

determines that adoption would be appropriate for a child not listed

with the service, the agency shall forthwith list the child. Each

authorized agency may voluntarily refer any child who has been legally

freed for adoption. In addition, upon referral of a child by an

authorized agency, the department may determine that the listing of a

child with the service is not in the child's best interest where: the

child has been placed with a relative within the third degree of

consanguinity of the parents of the child and the child does not have a

permanency goal of adoption, or the child is not emotionally prepared

for an adoptive placement. Any child who is not listed based on one of

these factors and who is not placed in an adoptive placement within six

months of referral to the department must be listed with the service at

the end of the six month period in accordance with regulations of the

department except where the child is placed with a relative within the

third degree of consanguinity of the parents of the child, in which case

the department may determine that the listing continues to be contrary

to the child's best interests. The department shall establish procedures

for the periodic review of the status of such children.

(b) An authorized agency shall not refer to the adoption service a

child in its care who has been legally freed for adoption when the child

has been placed with a foster parent who has expressed, in writing, an

interest in adopting the child; provided, however, that such child shall

be referred to the adoption service in accordance with paragraph (a) of

this subdivision where the foster parent has withdrawn interest in

adopting the child or has been disapproved as an adoptive resource for

the child. An authorized agency shall not refer to the adoption service

a child in its care who has been legally freed for adoption where the

agency has identified two or more potential placements for the child;

provided, however, that such child shall be referred to the adoption

service in accordance with paragraph (a) of this subdivision when such

child has not been placed into an adoptive home within nine months of

having been freed for adoption.