{"data":{"id":"us-ct/conn.-gen.-stat.-17a-116","jurisdiction":"us-ct","citation":"Conn. Gen. Stat. § 17a-116","heading":"(Formerly Sec. 17-44a). “Special needs” child defined.","body":"For purposes of sections 17a-116 to 17a-119, inclusive, and subsection (b) of section 45a-111, a “special needs” child is a child who is a ward of the Commissioner of Children and Families or is to be placed by a licensed child-placing agency and is difficult to place in adoption because of one or more conditions including, but not limited to, physical or mental disability, serious emotional maladjustment, a recognized high risk of physical or mental disability, age or racial or ethnic factors which present a barrier to adoption or is a member of a sibling group which should be placed together, or because the child has established significant emotional ties with prospective adoptive parents while in their care as a foster child and has been certified as a special needs child by the Commissioner of Children and Families.","path":["TITLE 17a. SOCIAL AND HUMAN SERVICES AND RESOURCES","CHAPTER 319a*. CHILD WELFARE","PART I. DEPENDENT AND NEGLECTED CHILDREN"],"source_url":"https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_319a.htm#sec_17a-116","current_through":"Revised to January 1, 2026 (2026 Supplement to the General Statutes of Connecticut, applied over the base revision of January 1, 2025)","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-06T19:07:02Z","sha256":"828b2fc00d04aa998df1c67f95d3b4d0bd862f156c077fbd31134bf6d864409f","source_id":"us-ct","stale":false,"prev":"us-ct/conn.-gen.-stat.-17a-115a","next":"us-ct/conn.-gen.-stat.-17a-116a"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}