Who Can Adopt in Louisiana
In Louisiana, adoption is per se a matter of public interest. As such, it is generally required that any would-be-adoptive parent be married, at least eighteen years of age, and a resident of Louisiana for at least twelve months before seeking approval to adopt a child . The age requirement is not applicable in any of the following instances: (a) A married couple may adopt and one of the adopting parents is eighteen years of age and has filed a separate petition; (b) If the child being adopted is a lineal descendant of an adopting parent; (c) If the child being adopted is physically or mentally challenged, and the agency or person who is responsible for overseeing the adoption approves of the petition after having been given reasonable evidence of the physical and mental disability; (d) If the petitioner filed a petition for adoption of the child prior to his or her eighteenth birthday; (e) If the petition is for second-parent adoption by a same-sex couple; (f) The petition is for a step-parent adoption; (g) The person is pregnant and his or her partner wishes to adopt the child by a second-parent adoption; (h) The person obtained an interstate compact placement for subsequent adoption of the child; (i) If the petitioner is a state-sponsored foster parent with no foster child under his care and seeks to adopt a child through the state child welfare system; or, (j) If the person is a private foster parent and the child has lived with him and his spouse continuously for the previous six months.
Types of Adoption in Louisiana
In Louisiana, the law recognizes the following methods by which adoption may occur:
Adoption from foster care: This is the process by which a child is adopted who has been placed into the custody of the state of Louisiana for the purpose of providing foster care. In most instances, procedures for state adoption through the Louisiana foster care system must be coordinated with the state agency. The requirements vary for this type of adoption.
Private adoption: These adoptions generally involve placing a child directly with a couple or individual wishing to adopt instead of adopting through an agency or through the state program. Both private adoptions and adoptions handled through the state usually involve a homestudy.
International adoption: International adoption often involves adopting a child through a foreign country or group home and may require clearing certain governmental procedures such as the Nigerian International Adoption Federal Tax Credit, and the requirements may vary between states. This involves procedures through the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) including the completion of a USICIS form I-600A, Application for Advance Processing for Orphan Petition. The form I-600A is completed when a U.S. citizen seeks to obtain an orphan for adoption. Completing the form begins the U.S. citizen’s application process for adopting a child from a foreign country or from a group home. Once approved, the form serves as a preliminary approval of the adoption and its processing.
Louisiana Home Study
The home study process is essentially a series of interviews with the potential parents as well as an examination of your home. After you are screened and approved, there will be a home visit conducted by a representative from the agency who will explain what to expect during the home visit and ask a series of questions.
Interviews with the prospective parents cover the following: During the home visit, the adoption agency worker will conduct their own safety inspection of the home. This part of the process is essentially an interview with the home and everything will be examined. Bedrooms, playrooms, nurseries and kitchens will all be observed. Child-proofing devices, pool safety features, and access to stairs may be discussed. All existing hazards must be efficiently mitigated in order to pass the home study process.
Building safety rules including those that observe the following must be met: There are other requirements that include obtaining a complete criminal history record, educational background, finances, and substance abuse problems. If you are working with an attorney, they typically conduct an Independent Home Study. Once the agency has collected all relevant information, they will prepare a home study report summarizing the information gathered during the process and submit it to the court.
Finance and Fees
The financial requirements for adoption in Louisiana cover a wide range of issues. There are fees to be paid to government entities, attorneys, adoption agencies, and others. On the flip side is the possibility of financial assistance for prospective adoptive parents. After all of that, there are also some tax credits available for adoptive parents that help offset the cost throughout the years.
Listed here are a few of the most notable of all of these possible fees, financial assistance, and tax credits:
Adoption Filing Fees
These fees typically start with the birth registry fee. Some counties throughout Louisiana charge anywhere from $11 to $25 or more for this fee. This cost is often waived for any adoptions completed through an agency like Holly Grove Family Services. Additional costs may also include home study fees, criminal background investigation fees , and others.
Attorney Fees
Having an adoption law firm to help you with your needs will reduce the risk of mistakes that can lead to delays and possibly even scrapped adoptions. These fees tend to vary widely by practice location based on local standards, so the best way to find out about fees is to reach out to the attorney you wish to hire for an official consultation.
Tax Credits
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 provides up to $13,810 for each adopted child in the form of a tax credit or reimbursement. This is the maximum that is available in 2018, and just as it did in the past, it will continue to be adjusted for inflation until 2022. Because the credit is distributed over multiple years, it may be necessary for you to use an adoption loan or line of credit for the costs to pay for the initial adoption. Then, once the IRS has processed your tax credit paperwork, the next year’s taxes will be significantly reduced.
Adoption is never going to be free, but knowing what you’re in for and how to find financing to help will make the process much less stressful.
Legal Process for Louisiana Adoption
The legal procedure for adoption in Louisiana involves filing and prosecuting a Petition for Adoption, conducting two court hearings, and obtaining a consent to adopt in most cases.
Louisiana law requires that an Adoption Petition be filed in a district court situated in the parish of the Minor’s birth or Parish in which the person adopted resides if the Minor is older than 6 months of age. In addition, the Adoption Petition must contain verification’s by the adopting parent(s) that sufficient measures have been made to find the alleged father. (i.e. publications in local newspapers; online registered with the Louisiana Department of Vital Records and Statistics and the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals) More specifically, La. Ch. C. Arts. 1247 makes it clear that If the child has no presumed father, and if the putative father registry maintained by the Department of Health and Hospitals pursuant to R.S. 40:34.4 contains no registration by the putative father of the child, the adoption may proceed without service of process upon him."
Once the Petition for Adoption has been filed, the adopting parent(s) are served with known legal fees and costs and upon completing all of the requirements, making subsequent court appearances, submit and proves to the Adoption court that the Adoption should go forward; and there is no opposition by the child’s natural parent(s), step parent(s), grandparent(s) and/or siblings, the court will then grant the Petition.
Louisiana Revised Statutes Section 13:1611 B. gives a parent the right to request a pre-adoption approval study from the department in another state when the adoption study is in another state: The adoption study in another state is to be done according to Louisiana law, however, it shall be completed within six to nine months after the filing of the petition for adoption, if possible. Furthermore, the Adoption Study must be completed before the Adoption is finalized.
Post Adoption Services and Information
Louisiana recognizes the importance of post-adoption support and actively provides resources to assist adoptive families in navigating their new roles and rebuilding relationships post-adoption. Following the completion of an adoption, agencies, support groups, community organizations, and mental health professionals offer relevant counseling services to parents and children. Such support includes access to counseling services that help all family members adjust to the new normal, learn better coping strategies, and build their new family bonds . Local organizations like the Center for Workers with Disabilities in Baton Rouge provide family support groups tailored to adoptive families to create a network of individuals going through similar experiences. In addition to support programs, agencies like Volunteers of America Louisiana offer transition planning programs to help families manage everything from medical care to school enrollment to transportation and child care. In this process, parents, volunteers and the older youth develop a plan to identify the supports that will be available to them as they age out of foster care.