{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-199.011","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 199.011","heading":"Definitions for chapter.","body":"As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:\n(1) \"Adoption worker\" means an employee of the cabinet so designated by the\nsecretary for health and family services, a social worker employed by a county or\ncity who has been approved by the cabinet to handle, under its supervision,\nadoption placement services to children, or a social worker employed by or under\ncontract to a child-placing adoption agency;\n(2) \"Adult adopted person\" means any adopted person who is twenty -one (21) years of\nage or older;\n(3) \"Cabinet\" means the Cabinet for Health and Family Services;\n(4) \"Child\" means any person who has not reached his or her eighteenth birthday;\n(5) \"Child-caring facility\" means any institution or group home, including institutions\nand group homes that are publicly operated, providing residential care on a twenty -\nfour (24) hour basis to children, not related by blood, adoption, or marriage to the\nperson maintaining the facility, other than an institution or group home certified by\nan appropriate agency as operated primarily for educational or medical purposes, or\na residential program operated or contracted by the Department of Juvenile Justice\nthat maintains accreditation, or obtains accreditation within two (2) years of\nopening from a nationally recognized accrediting organization;\n(6) \"Child-placing agency\" means any agency licensed by the cabinet, which\nsupervises the placement of children in foster family homes or child -caring\nfacilities, or which places children for adoption;\n(7) \"Department\" means the Department for Community Based Services;\n(8) (a) \"Disability\" means:\n1. A physical or mental impairment, whether congenital or acquired, that\nsubstantially limits one (1) or more of the major life activities of an\nindividual and is demonstrable by medically accepted clinical or\nlaboratory diagnostic techniques;\n2. A record of having such an impairment; or\n3. Being regarded as having such an impairment.\n(b) An individual who is currently engaging in the illegal use of drugs or the\nabuse of alcohol, drugs, or other substances is not an individual with a\n\"disability\" for purposes of this chapter;\n(9) \"Family rehabilitation home\" means a child -caring facility for appropriate families\nand comprising not more than twelve (12) children and two (2) staff persons;\n(10) \"Fictive kin\" means an individual who is not related by birth, adopti on, or marriage\nto a child, but who has an emotionally significant relationship with the child, or an\nemotionally significant relationship with a biological parent, siblings, or half -\nsiblings of the child in the case of a child from birth to twelve (12) mo nths of age,\nprior to placement;\n(11) \"Foster family home\" means a private home in which children are placed for foster\nfamily care under supervision of the cabinet or of a licensed child-placing agency;\n(12) \"Group home\" means a homelike facility, excludi ng Department of Juvenile\nJustice-operated or -contracted facilities, for not more than eight (8) foster children,\nnot adjacent to or part of an institutional campus, operated by a sponsoring agency\nfor children who may participate in community activities and use community\nresources;\n(13) \"Institution\" means a child -caring facility providing care or maintenance for nine\n(9) or more children;\n(14) \"Placement services\" means those social services customarily provided by a\nlicensed child-placing or a public ag ency, which are necessary for the arrangement\nand placement of children in foster family homes, child -placing facilities, or\nadoptive homes. Placement services are provided through a licensed child -placing\nor a public agency for children who cannot be care d for by their biological parents\nand who need and can benefit from new and permanent family ties established\nthrough legal adoption. Licensed child -placing agencies and public agencies have a\nresponsibility to act in the best interests of children, biological parents, and adoptive\nparents by providing social services to all the parties involved in an adoption;\n(15) \"Rap back system\" means a system that enables an authorized entity to receive\nongoing status notifications of any criminal history from the Dep artment of\nKentucky State Police or the Federal Bureau of Investigation reported on an\nindividual whose fingerprints are registered in the system, upon approval and\nimplementation of the system;\n(16) \"Reasonable and prudent parent standard\" has the same me aning as in 42 U.S.C.\nsec. 675(10);\n(17) \"Secretary\" means the secretary for health and family services; and\n(18) \"Voluntary and informed consent\" means that at the time of the execution of the\nconsent, the consenting person was fully informed of the legal  effect of the consent,\nthat the consenting person was not given or promised anything of value except\nthose expenses allowable under KRS 199.590(6), that the consenting person was\nnot coerced in any way to execute the consent, and that the consent was volu ntarily\nand knowingly given. If at the time of the execution of the consent the consenting\nperson was represented by independent legal counsel, there shall be a presumption\nthat the consent was voluntary and informed. The consent shall be in writing,\nsigned and sworn to by the consenting person, and include the following:\n(a) Date, time, and place of the execution of the consent;\n(b) Name of the child, if any, to be adopted, and the date and place of the child's\nbirth;\n(c) Consenting person's relationship to the child;\n(d) Identity of the proposed adoptive parents or a statement that the consenting\nperson does not desire to know the identification of the proposed adoptive\nparents;\n(e) 1. A statement that the consenting person understands that the consent wil l\nbe final and irrevocable under this paragraph unless withdrawn under\nthis paragraph.\n2. If placement approval by the secretary is required, the voluntary and\ninformed consent shall become final and irrevocable seventy -two (72)\nhours after the execution o f the voluntary and informed consent. This\nconsent may be withdrawn only by written notification sent to the\nproposed adoptive parent or the attorney for the proposed adoptive\nparent on or before the expiration of the seventy -two (72) hours by\ncertified or registered mail and also by first-class mail.\n3. If placement approval by the secretary is not required, the voluntary and\ninformed consent shall become final and irrevocable seventy -two (72)\nhours after the execution of the voluntary and informed consent . This\nconsent may be withdrawn only by written notification sent to the\nproposed adoptive parent or the attorney for the proposed adoptive\nparent on or before the expiration of the seventy -two (72) hours by\ncertified or registered mail and also by first-class mail;\n(f) Disposition of the child if the adoption is not adjudged;\n(g) A statement that the consenting person has received a completed and signed\ncopy of the consent at the time of the execution of the consent;\n(h) Name and address of the person who prepared the consent, name and address\nof the person who reviewed and explained the consent to the consenting\nperson, and a verified statement from the consenting person that the consent\nhas been reviewed with and fully explained to the consenting person; and\n(i) Total amount of the consenting person's legal fees, if any, for any purpose\nrelated to the execution of the consent and the source of payment of the legal\nfees.","path":["KRS Chapter 199"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=56122","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:51:53Z","sha256":"29f54aba9384a59562ebb2979c0d347fda3d35e5d2cbe94334bd552389bf5d8a","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-199.010","next":"us-ky/krs-199.013"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}