Arizona Adoption Laws Explained
Welcome to this detailed overview of Arizona adoption laws and procedures. This guide aims to provide you with current legal information regarding adoption in the state of Arizona, covering the types of adoption allowed under Arizona law, including domestic, foreign, and agency adoptions. From the costs and time frames for each of these different types to what to expect during the process, the information in this guide should prove useful to any family who is considering adoption. The adoption process in Arizona can be complicated, so it is important to understand the adoption laws currently on the books. You may wish to hire an adoption lawyer to help you navigate the complex system of adoption , placement, and case management that have to do with the practicalities of the adoption process, but it is also important that you educate yourself on what to expect. Understanding your rights as a citizen and when going through the legal system will ensure that you do not miss any important steps or reach a financial obligation that you do not understand. With this overview, we hope to answer your most pressing questions about Arizona adoption law and the adoption process, but for specific legal advice about your unique situation, it is best to consult an experienced adoption lawyer.
Adoption in Arizona: An Overview
Types of Public Adoption in Arizona
Public adoption includes the following:
A. Agency adoptions. Under A.R.S. § 8-104, if a person is subject to a dependency proceeding in the juvenile court, the agency with custody of a child and the juvenile court may consent to relinquishment of parental rights pursuant to A.R.S. § 8-539, and may consent to adoption of the child in the juvenile court in a proceeding separate from the dependency proceeding. This consent cannot be given unless the agency believes adoption is in the best interest of the child. "Agency" means a governmental or private agency under contract with a governmental agency for the provision of adoption services. "Adoption services" means prenatal screening, preparation for postplacement care, information and referral, financial assistance for special needs children, counseling and search and reunion services.
B. Consent of Department of Economic Security. Arizona’s child welfare system is administered by the Department of Economic Security (DES). Under A.R.S. § 8-537, consent may be given by the DES Director or Deputy Director to proceed with adoption of a child, and a report on the child’s social, emotional, medical and educational history will be prepared for the court. An adoption may not be granted without consent of the DES. If the DES or the court has reason to believe that the parent or guardian of the child is in a known address or subscribes to a publishable business or professional journal, magazine or other periodical with circulation in this state, a copy of the petition of adoption (alleging that the child is an orphan who does not have a known parent or guardian) must be served on that parent or guardian. The court will then decide whether to grant adoption based on the best interests of the child. The DES may be prepared to allow the biological parent to have visitation rights after final adoption, depending on the circumstances. In most situations, when the child is placed in a foster home by the DES, the DES will pursue termination of the biological parents’ rights at about six months after the child’s placement in the home.
C. Termination of Parental Rights. If the agency has custody then the agency can file a petition to terminate the parental rights to the child. Termination is governed by A.R.S. § 8-533(8):
The court may terminate parental rights if all of the following apply:
(a) The parent is identity unknown or has made no reasonable efforts to communicate with the child. The burden of proof is on the petitioner.
(b) Without regard to previous location of residence, the child has been removed from the parent for a period of not less than one year pursuant to a court order that determined the child to be a dependent child as defined in section 8-201, subparagraph (a), paragraph (1), (2), (4) or (5).
(c) At least one of the following circumstances exist:
(i) The parent has substantially neglected or wilfully refused to provide proper and necessary care and protection for the child. The burden of proof is on the petitioner.
(ii) The parent is unable to discharge parental responsibilities as a result of a mental illness, a substance abuse problem or voluntary acts, including expressions of intent to relinquish parental rights.
(iii) The parent has abandoned the child.
Arizona Adoption Criteria
To qualify as an adoptive parent in Arizona, there are a few requirements that must be fulfilled. The first is age requirements: all applicants must be at least 18 years of age before adopting a child. However, if a couple is married, at least one partner must be at least 18 years old. As far as residency goes, the only hard and fast rule is that any potential adoptive parents must be able to show proof of residency in Arizona prior to the visit from the evaluator. Staying for more than 6 months of the year in a home in Arizona would meet this requirement. A home study will determine the suitability of the property a potential adoptive parent lives in, so the need for residency is not that strict.
Most judges require that the adoptive(s) be financially suitable to raise a child. This means showing enough income and savings to raise the child, but also have room in their lives for the emotional and other needs of the child.
If the prospective adoptive parent is married, both spouses must consent to the adoption. The consent needs to be signed prior to an adoption hearing. If they are divorced, the spouse must have relinquished their parental rights or their parental rights must have been terminated by court order.
A person who has previously adopted may not want to go through the process again, so they have a couple of options. If the adopted child has become like a birth child in every respect, the court may waive much of the process because the person is familiar with how to raise a child.
Arizona Adoption Process
Once you have researched Arizona adoption laws, it is time to think about the process of adoption. This process can be a complex and lengthy one. Every adopting parent must go through an adoption application process to become approved for adoption. You will need to fill out a family adoption application and have a home study performed. The home study is a social worker’s evaluation of the home and family unit. The worker will evaluate the physical structure of the home and the family’s daily activities, schedules, and plans for the future to determine whether it is an appropriate environment for raising children. If the worker thinks that there is any potential danger or risk to a new child, they will make a report to the court. An attorney for adoption can help you through the adoption application and recommend specific social workers to complete the home study. Once your adoption application and home study are approved by the state, the next step is to actually find the child that you want to adopt. You can produce a profile online or work with an agency on a domestic adoption to connect with a mother who is looking for a family to adopt her child. You can also search domestic adoption agencies or orphanages for international adoptions. When the child is available and you are ready to move forward, the adoption lawyer will work with your agency to file a petition with the Department of Economic Security for a termination of parental rights. If this petition is approved, the adoption can move forward. You will take your case before a judge, who will review the termination request and any other petitions submitted. You and the child will be sworn in at this time and the judge will ask you questions to determine whether the termination and finalization of the adoption should be approved. Once the judge makes a ruling on the termination of parental rights, the case will continue to be processed until the adoption is final.
Rights of Arizona Birth Parents
The decision to place a child for adoption is one of the most difficult that a birth parent will ever have to make. Even after deciding to place the child for adoption, Arizona law still affords birth parents rights and responsibilities to be exercised when placing their child for adoption in Arizona.
Only the parents who signed the consent form can revoke that consent within the time period set forth by Arizona law. The length of the revocation period is determined by whether or not the birth mother is married or divorced during the pregnancy: If you are married at the time of the adoption, your spouse must consent to the adoption as well. If your spouse does not consent and is not removed as a father by the Court, the adoption cannot proceed without a Court order terminating the rights of the father.
If you are unmarried when your child is born, the right to limit access to information about the adoption is determined by the list of putative fathers who have registered with the Putative Father Registry maintained by the Department of Economic Security. If your child’s birth father is on the list, you cannot deny him access to information about the adoption without an order of the Court.
As a birth parent, you have the right to choose the family that is going to be adopting your child. You may also receive information about that family as well as information about their family history . You are entitled to know the identity of the parent who signs the consent. You also have the right to tell the Court the degree of open adoption that you will agree to.
Arizona also has a revised version of the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC) which governs the placement of children across state lines. Obtain permission from your agency and the Court prior to leaving Arizona with your child.
The Child Support Enforcement Agency can assist Arizona birth parents in the collection of court ordered child support payments and can step in for the birth parent to collect the child support payments if the birth parent is not receiving them from the adoptive parents. This agency can also intercept a tax refund or seize personal property (such as savings accounts) in order to satisfy the court ordered child support payments.
The relationship the birth parent(s) has with the child ends when the adoption becomes final. The birth parent(s) is entitled to be present at the final hearing and then receives the final decree of adoption acknowledging the adoption.
The Media Screening Program is a program of the Office of Vital Records of the Arizona Department of Health Services that manages the adoption files and records held at the Department of Health in Phoenix, Arizona. Open adoption records and adoption files are maintained by the office and there is a fee associated with obtaining information from the Department of Vital Records.
Arizona Support and Resources for After Your Adoption
Arizona adoption is not just a legal process that completes when your then-minor child leaves the courtroom holding his or her final adoption decree. For many adoptive parents, the adoption process is just the beginning of a lifelong journey with its own set of rewards and challenges.
In the months and years after a completed adoption, when family and friends no longer seem to care or are giving unsolicited advice or unwanted opinions, adoptive parents can often feel alone or a bit pillaged. While family bonding is definitely encouraged in all families, in an adoptive family, it may be even more important.
Help comes in many forms, including:
• Professional counseling and therapy,
• Family counseling and therapy,
• Recreational activities with other families,
• Participation in support groups, including:
• Adoption support groups,
• Special needs children groups,
• Support groups for parents (including mothers who work outside the home),
• Families with tickle-toes support groups,
• Foster parent support groups, and
• Birth parent support groups.
Adoption agencies also provide many services, including educational and social activities, seminars, newsletters, and referrals. More formal institutions like schools, hospitals, and religious or spiritual organizations offer services and support to help the entire family adjust to all of the changes. Arizona adoption support services are directed at helping all members of your family adjust as well.
Covering a wide range of topics, support group sessions can be a bit overwhelming at the start because they usually are full of information and advice. They cover health subjects related to adoption such as:
• Adoption and bonding,
• Adoption and fetal drug exposure,
• Alcohol effects on pregnancy,
• Opioid addiction and pregnancy,
• Domestic infant adoption,
• Birth parent education,
• Intercountry adoption and cultural sensitivity,
• Effects of historical trauma in the African American community,
• Drug abuse and birth defects,
• Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders,
• Post-traumatic stress disorder in adoptive families,
• Immune deficiency disorder,
• Substance-related neurodevelopmental disorder,
• Prenatal depression,
• Substance use and abuse,
• Sudden infant death syndrome,
• Autism,
• Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders,
• Neonatal abstinence syndrome,
• Adverse childhood experiences,
• Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder,
• Asphyxia/hypoxia,
• Cerebral palsy,
• Concussion,
• Neonatal developmental care,
• Propyl alcohol exposure,
• Reflective parenting,
• Rh disease,
• Vitamin K injection,
• Immunizations,
• Oral health,
• Parenting your second born,
• Parenting your first born, and
• Compulsive hoarding.
Groups also cover relationship issues, family dynamics, transportation and service coordination, and provide referrals. For example, although a child may get early intervention and extensive therapy from the Arizona Early Intervention Program (AzEIP) or state healthcare, if those programs are not managed properly by the parents, the intervention/therapy can be ineffective. Arizona provides a number of additional resources to give you and your child the support you need after the completion of your adoption. Understanding these Arizona adoption post-adoption supports and resources can make parenting a bit easier.
Like the universal process of becoming a family, participating in Ed is part of the bonding process of the new adoptive family internally and externally. Specific services are currently available through DDD only through designated DES District offices. DDD does not currently provide services to those living outside the greater Phoenix area. For more information about this program, and services coverage, click here.
Potential Legal Issues in Arizona Adoption
Legal challenges are a reality in many adoption processes, particularly in contested adoptions. In these cases, one biological parent may attempt to contest the consent of the other. While Arizona strongly favors the idea that adoption is a positive outcome, there are limits to its permissibility when the children have already established a relationship with their biological parent.
In cases involving a stepparent, the spouse of an adopting individual, a contested adoption may be successful if the spouse has been the child’s primary caregiver for six months or longer. The biological parent of the child may consent to the adoption. If they do, the adoption will proceed so long as it meets all other requirements.
The court may also grant adoption in an involuntary termination of rights. In this case, a parent has willfully neglected or abandoned the child. Whether the termination has been involuntary or voluntary – that is, after a parent has been informed of the imminent adoption and allowed to contest it – the court will grant the adoption unless it determines that it has not been established by clear and convincing evidence. In this case, the standard of evidence is that which can lead a reasonably prudent person to believe the assertion was true.
Interstate adoptions may also present legal challenges that can slow down and complicate the process. Preferably, the prospective adoptive parent would wait until they have received both the Arizona and out-of-state clearance to finalize the adoption. However, suppose the prospective parent feels time is of the essence and a child must come home sooner rather than later. In that case, Section 8 of the adoption code allows the adoptive parent to proceed on an ex parte basis. In this situation, the prospective parent does not need to wait for finalization.
Potential adoptive families should consult with an experienced adoption attorney before moving forward with their desired path.
Final Thoughts about Adoption in Arizona
In this article, we have explored the intricate web of Arizona adoption laws, traversing through a range of topics from the fundamental principles governing private, agency, step-parent, and foster care adoptions to the specificities entailed in interstate and international procedures. We have also discussed the mandatory requirements of post-adoption visits, as well as the expected costs associated with various types of adoption within the state.
A clear understanding of these legal parameters is not just beneficial for individuals and families looking to adopt but is essential in safeguarding against any potential legal entanglements or violations that could arise during the adoption process. Every adoption case is unique, and while some may find it relatively smooth sailing, others might encounter rough patches along the way due to incomplete knowledge or a misunderstanding of the law .
Therefore, we encourage all interested parties, be it birth parents, adoptees, or prospective parents, to familiarize themselves with the relevant adoption laws or to seek the counsel of a qualified attorney. Legal aid may not always be readily available, but comprehensive information is out there. Competent legal knowledge can mean the difference between a hard-fought successful adoption and a possible contested adoption battle that may involve the courts.
In closing, whether you are on the path to adopting your new child or deciding to give up parental rights through an open adoption agreement, a commitment to understanding not just the personal but also the legal implications involved can make this transformative life experience a much more fruitful and legally sound one. We wish you all the best in your adoption journey.