Intercountry Adoptions

Division 13, Part 2, Chapter 4 deals with intercountry adoptions of unmarried minors.

Section 8900 requires that intercountry adoption services described in this chapter are to be exclusively provided by private adoption agencies licensed by the department specifically to provide these services. As a condition of licensure to provide intercountry adoption services, any private full-service adoption agency and any noncustodial adoption agency must be accredited by the Council on Accreditation, or supervised by an accredited primary provider, or acting as an exempted provider under federal regulations.

Section 8900.5 defines the following terms: “accredited agency,” “adoption service,” “central authority,” “convention,” “convention adoption,” “convention country,” “exempted provider,” “Hague adoption certificate,” “Hague custody declaration,” “legal service,” “primary provider,” “public domestic authority,” “secretary,” and “supervised provider.”

Section 8901 required the department to adopt regulations to administer the intercountry adoption program.

Section 8902 requires, for intercountry adoptions that will be finalized in this state, the licensed adoption agency to provide five specified services.

Section 8903 requires, for each intercountry adoption finalized in this state, the licensed adoption agency to assume all responsibilities for the child including care, custody, and control as if the child had been relinquished for adoption in this state from the time the child left the child’s native country.

If the child’s native country requires and has given full guardianship to the prospective adoptive parents, the prospective adoptive parents must assume all responsibilities for the child including care, custody, control, and financial support. If the licensed adoption agency or prospective adoptive parents fail to meet the responsibilities and the child becomes a dependent of the court, then state assumes responsibility for the cost of care for the child.

Section 8904 requires, for an intercountry adoption that will be finalized in a foreign country, the licensed adoption agency to provide four specified services.

Section 8905 allows licensed adoption agencies to work only with domestic and foreign adoption agencies with whom they have written agreements that specify the responsibilities of each.

Section 8906 states that nothing in this chapter may be construed to prohibit the licensed adoption agency from entering into an agreement with the prospective adoptive parents to share or transfer financial responsibility for the child.

Section 8907 provides that the costs incurred by a licensed adoption agency pursuant to programs established by this chapter must be funded by fees charged by the agency for services required by this chapter. The agency’s fee schedule is required to be approved by the department.

Section 8908 requires a licensed adoption agency to require each person filing an application for adoption to be fingerprinted and secure from an appropriate law enforcement agency any criminal record of that person to determine if the person has ever been convicted of a crime other than a minor traffic violation. The licensed adoption agency may also secure the person’s full criminal record.

A licensed adoption agency cannot give final approval for an adoptive placement in any home in which the prospective adoptive parent, or any adult living in the prospective adoptive home, has a felony conviction for either of two specified offenses.

Section 8909 states that an agency may not place a child for adoption unless a written report on the child’s medical background and, if available, the medical background of the child’s biological parents so far as ascertainable, has been submitted to the prospective adoptive parents and they have acknowledged in writing the receipt of the report.

Section 8910 prohibits a child who has been placed for adoption to be removed from the county in which the child was placed, by any person who has not petitioned to adopt the child, without first obtaining the written consent of the licensed adoption agency responsible for the child. During the pendency of an adoption proceeding, specified requirements must be met. Also, this section does not apply in any of three specified situations.

Section 8911 requires, as a condition of placement, the prospective adoptive parents to file a petition to adopt the child within 30 days of placement.

Section 8912 allows an international adoption or readoption request to be filed by a resident of this state in a county authorized by law. The court clerk must immediately notify the department at Sacramento in writing of the pendency of the proceeding and of any subsequent action taken.

Section 8913 requires the prospective adoptive parents and the child proposed to be adopted to appear before the court.

Section 8914 states, if the licensed adoption agency is a party to or joins in the adoption petition, it is required to submit a full report of the facts of the case to the court. The department may also submit a report.

Section 8915 provides, when any report or findings are submitted to the court by a licensed adoption agency, a copy of the report or findings, whether favorable or unfavorable, is to be given to the petitioner’s attorney in the proceeding or to the petitioner.

Section 8916 specifies that, if the petitioners move to withdraw the adoption petition or to dismiss the proceeding, the court clerk must immediately notify the department at Sacramento of the action. The licensed adoption agency must then file a full report with the court recommending a suitable plan for the child in every case where the petitioners desire to withdraw the adoption petition or where the licensed adoption agency recommends that the adoption petition be denied and appear before the court for the purpose of representing the child.

Section 8917 states that, if the licensed adoption agency finds that the home of the petitioners is not suitable for the child or that the required agency consents are not available and the agency recommends that the petition be denied, or if the petitioners desire to withdraw the petition and the agency recommends that the petition be denied, the clerk upon receipt of the report of the licensed adoption agency is required to immediately refer it to the court for review. And the court must set a hearing date.

Section 8918 says, if the court sustains the recommendation that the child be removed from the home of the petitioners because the licensed adoption agency has recommended denial or the petitioners desire to withdraw the petition or the court dismisses the petition and does not return the child to the child’s parents, the court is then required to commit the child to the care of the licensed adoption agency for the agency to arrange adoptive placement or to make a suitable plan.

Section 8919 provides that, in order to establish a record by which an adoptee can prove the facts of the foreign adoption, a state resident who has finalized an intercountry adoption in a foreign country is required to file the petition to readopt within the earlier of 60 days of the adoptee’s entry into the United States or the adoptee’s 16th birthday. The petition has to include all of the six specified items.

If the court finds that the child may be the subject of human trafficking, the court is required to notify all appropriate authorities.

Section 8919.5 requires an intercountry adoption agency to report the arrival of an adoptee whose adoption was finalized in a foreign country to the department within 14 calendar days of the adoptee’s arrival in California. If the adoption agency fails to report to the department, the department may take appropriate disciplinary action against the adoption agency if it is licensed in the State of California.

Section 8920 provides that a child who was adopted as part of a sibling group and who has been separated from the child’s sibling(s) through readoption by a resident of this state may petition the court to enforce any agreement for visitation to which the separate adoptive families of the siblings subscribed prior to the child’s readoption or to order visitation if such agreement does not exist. The court may order that the agreement be enforced or grant visitation rights upon a finding that visitation is in the best interest of the child. The terms “sibling” and “readoption” are defined.

Section 8923 provides that a complaint against an accredited agency or approved person in connection with a convention adoption must be filed according to the procedures set forth in federal regulations. The department must be notified of any complaint filed.

Section 8924 provides that, for cases in which a child is emigrating from California to a convention country, an accredited agency or approved person providing any adoption service described in this chapter, is required to perform all four of the specified actions.

Also, the accredited agency has to comply with all placement standards for children emigrating from California to a convention country. The accredited agency must keep the central authority of the convention country and the Secretary informed as necessary about the adoption process and the measures taken to complete it for children emigrating from California to a convention country, in accordance with all communication and coordination functions set forth in Section 96.55 of Title 22 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

Section 8925 provides that a Hague adoption certificate or, in outgoing cases, a Hague custody declaration, must be recognized as a final valid adoption for purposes of all state and local laws.