2013 Kentucky Revised Statutes CHAPTER 199 - PROTECTIVE SERVICES FOR CHILDREN - ADOPTION 199.473 Placement of children by private person -- Home study required -- Temporary custody -- Background check -- Removal.
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199.473 Placement of children by private person -- Home study required -Temporary custody -- Background check -- Removal.
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
All persons other than a child-placing agency or institution, the department, or
persons excepted by KRS 199.470(4) or (5) who wish to place or receive a
child shall make written application to the secretary for permission to place or
receive a child.
Prior to the approval of an application to place or receive a child, the fee
required pursuant to subsection (13) of this section shall be paid and a home
study shall be completed. The purpose of the home study shall be to review the
background of the applicant and determine the suitability of the applicant to
receive a child, taking into account at all times the best interest of the child for
whom application to receive has been made.
(a) The home study shall be made in accordance with administrative
regulations promulgated by the cabinet in accordance with KRS Chapter
13A.
(b) The cabinet shall conduct the home study for an applicant whose total
gross income is equal to or less than two hundred fifty percent (250%) of
the federal poverty level guidelines issued each year by the federal
government, unless the applicant submits a written request for the home
study to be conducted by a licensed child-placing agency or institution.
Upon request, the cabinet shall make information available to an applicant
who does not meet the requirements of this paragraph to assist the
applicant in obtaining a home study from a licensed child-placing agency
approved to provide adoption services.
(c) A licensed child-placing agency approved to provide adoption services
shall conduct the home study for an applicant whose gross total income is
more than two hundred fifty percent (250%) of the federal poverty level
guidelines issued each year by the federal government.
(d) Calculation of family size for this subsection shall include each child
requested to be adopted.
(e) The portion of the home study pertaining to the home and family
background shall be valid for one (1) year following the date of its
completion by an adoption worker.
The adoption worker making the home study shall make a finding in writing
recommending either that the application be granted or that the application be
denied. The recommendation of the adoption worker shall then be reviewed by
the secretary.
Based on the report and recommendation of the adoption worker making the
home study, the secretary shall grant or refuse permission for the applicant to
place or receive a child as early as practicable, but, in any case, the decision
shall be made within sixty (60) days after the receipt of the application. In
reaching a decision, the secretary shall be guided by the ability of the persons
wishing to receive the child to give the child a suitable home, and shall at all
times consider the best interest of the child from a financial, medical,
psychological, and psychiatric standpoint.
If the application is refused, the secretary shall in general terms furnish in
writing the reasons for his or her refusal.
(7) Any person who seeks temporary custody of a child prior to the secretary's
ruling on an application for adoption shall file a petition seeking temporary
custody, with a notice of intent to adopt, with the Circuit Court that will have
jurisdiction of the adoption proceedings. The clerk of the court shall send a
notice of the filing of the petition to the cabinet. A hearing on the petition shall
occur no later than seventy-two (72) hours after the filing of the petition,
excluding weekends and holidays. Proceedings under this subsection shall be
incorporated into the court's adoption file. If the adoption is not finalized within
six (6) months of the filing of the petition and notice of intent, the court shall
conduct a hearing on the status and custody of the child.
(8) Upon a finding by the Circuit Court that the child should be placed prior to the
secretary's ruling on the application, the Circuit Court may grant the applicant
temporary custody of the child pending the decision of the secretary.
Temporary custody shall not be granted to an applicant unless a background
check, including but not limited to a criminal records check by the Justice and
Public Safety Cabinet or the Administrative Office of the Courts and a
background check of child abuse and neglect records maintained by the
cabinet, has been submitted to and reviewed by the court. The background
check required for temporary custody shall be part of the home study required
under subsection (2) of this section. If the application is denied by the
secretary, the temporary custody order shall be set aside and, upon motion of
the cabinet or of the child's parent or parents, the Circuit Court may order the
child returned to the biological parent or parents or the child's custody may be
awarded to the cabinet, another licensed child-placing agency, or other
individuals deemed appropriate by the court. This section shall not be deemed
to permit the completion of any adoption proceeding without the approval of the
secretary and compliance with KRS 615.030, if required.
(9) In any case where the cabinet refuses to approve the placement of a child for
adoption when requested by the parent or parents of the child, or refuses the
request of any person or persons that a child be placed with that person or
those persons for adoption, the decision of the secretary in so refusing shall be
final unless within ten (10) days after notice of refusal, the biological or
proposed adopting parent or parents shall appeal to the Circuit Court of the
county in which the adoption is proposed. No placement shall be disapproved
on the basis of the religious, ethnic, racial, or interfaith background of the
adoptive applicant, if the placement is made with the consent of the parent.
(10) The cabinet may refuse to approve the placement of a child for adoption if the
child's custodial parent is unwilling for the child to be placed for adoption with
the proposed adoptive family. The cabinet may approve or deny the placement,
in spite of the fact that the custodial parent or parents are unwilling to be
interviewed by the cabinet or other approving entity, or if, after diligent efforts
have been made, the adoption worker is unable to locate or interview the
custodial parent or parents. The cabinet shall be made a party defendant to the
appeal. In the hearing of an appeal, the court shall review the findings of the
secretary and shall determine if the secretary has acted arbitrarily, unlawfully,
or in a manner that constitutes an abuse of discretion.
(11) If a child who does not fall within the exception provided for in KRS 199.470(4)
or (5) is placed or received in a home without the court's review of the
background check required under this section or the permission of the
secretary for health and family services, or if permission to receive a child has
been denied, a representative of the cabinet shall notify in writing or may
petition the juvenile session of District Court of the county in which the child is
found setting out the facts concerning the child. When the petition has been
filed, the court shall take jurisdiction of the child and shall provide for it as it
would provide for a dependent, neglected, or abused child under KRS Chapter
620, except that the child may not be placed in the home of the applicants who
are to receive the child unless permission to do so is granted by the secretary
or the action is ordered by a Kentucky court of competent jurisdiction.
(12) When either the custodial parent or parents of the child to be placed or the
persons wishing to receive the child reside out-of-state, the requirement of
KRS 615.030, Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children, shall be met
before the cabinet gives approval for the child's placement.
(13) The secretary of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services shall be paid a
nonrefundable fee of two hundred dollars ($200) upon the filing of the written
application for permission to place or receive a child. Payment shall be made
by certified or cashier's check only. All funds collected under this section shall
be deposited in a restricted account, which is hereby created, for the purpose
of subsidizing an adoptive parent for suitable care of a special-needs child as
authorized in KRS 199.555.
(14) Nothing in this statute shall be construed to limit the authority of the cabinet or
a child-placing institution or agency to determine the proper disposition of a
child committed to it by the juvenile session of District Court or the Circuit
Court, prior to the filing of an application to place or receive.
Effective:June 26, 2007
History: Amended 2007 Ky. Acts ch. 85, sec. 240, effective June 26, 2007. -Amended 2005 Ky. Acts ch. 99, sec. 178, effective June 20, 2005; and ch. 175,
sec. 2, effective June 20, 2005. -- Amended 1998 Ky. Acts ch. 426, sec. 140,
effective July 15, 1998. -- Amended 1994 Ky. Acts ch. 242, sec. 3, effective July
15, 1994. -- Amended 1990 Ky. Acts ch. 247, sec. 1, effective July 13, 1990. -Amended 1986 Ky. Acts ch. 423, sec. 187, effective July 1, 1987. -- Amended
1980 Ky. Acts ch. 188, sec. 154, effective July 15, 1980 -- Amended 1978 Ky.
Acts ch. 137, sec. 6, effective June 17, 1978. -- Amended 1976 Ky. Acts ch. 62,
sec. 98. -- Amended 1974 Ky. Acts ch. 74, Art. VI, sec. 107(1), (14) and (21). -Amended 1972 Ky. Acts ch. 231, sec. 1. -- Amended 1964 Ky. Acts ch. 182,
sec. 1 (6) to (9). -- Created 1962 Ky. Acts ch. 211, sec. 3.
Legislative Research Commission Note (6/26/2007). This section was amended
by 1980 Ky. Acts ch. 280, sec. 144, which was to have become effective July 1,
1982. Thereafter, 1982 Ky. Acts ch. 284 changed the effective date of that act to
July 15, 1984. Then, 1984 Ky. Acts ch. 184 repealed both 1980 Ky. Acts
ch. 280, and 1982 Ky. Acts ch. 284.
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