ICPC State Pages

Massachusetts Adoption

Massachusetts permits the following types of adoptions in addition to public adoptions:

Adoption Statute-Non-Agency; Independent; Private Adoptions:

• M.G.L.A. c 28A Section II ( c )

Public

Public Adoptive Placement-Requirements:

• Standards for Eligibility to Apply

  • Any individual providing foster/pre-adoptive care must have reached her/his 18th birthday. The parent of a child to be placed in foster/pre-adoptive care is not eligible to be a foster/pre-adoptive parent for that child. All approved foster/pre-adoptive parents are eligible to receive reimbursement for children placed in their home. This reimbursement is equal to the standard foster care rate for a child of that age.
  • All household members, age 14 years and older, must have a record which is free of criminal conduct which, in the judgment of the Department, bears upon the foster/pre-adoptive family’s ability to assume and carry out the responsibilities of a foster/pre-adoptive parent. (See Policy #86-014, Background Records Check Policy, and Regulations, 110 CMR 18.000 et seq.)
  • No member of the household has currently or, during the 12 months prior to completion of Initial Eligibility Screening, has had a DSS open case. The hosting Regional Director may approve a waiver, based on a review of supporting information and the approval of a clinical review team, for one of the following exceptions:
  • The individual/household member has a DSS open case to receive services following an adoption legalization.
  • The individual/household member has a DSS open case to receive services on behalf of a child for whom a household member is a guardian.
  • The family is a prospective KINSHIP placement (ONLY), and the household member who has the open case is the teen parent of a child to be placed, the teen parent is not the person alleged to be responsible for the physical or sexual abuse of any child in a supported 51B investigation, and it is considered to be in the child’s best interests for the teen parent to be a member of that kinship household
  • Any other circumstance approved by the Regional Director, upon the recommendation of a Regional clinical review team.
  • No member of the household has been identified as the person alleged to be responsible for abuse or neglect of a child in a supported 51B investigation and the report which identified her/him is referred to the District Attorney.
  • No member of the household has a history of involvement with the Department which would bear adversely on the prospective foster/pre-adoptive parent’s ability to assume and carry out foster/adoption responsibilities.
  • The family/individual has a stable source of income for support of current household members (in situations other than emergency placement, the Department will consider whether the family whose stable source of income is T-AFDC has a plan for maintaining a stable income if the T-AFDC will terminate during the child’s anticipated period of placement with the family).
  • The family/individual has a stable housing history and current housing which meets the Department’s physical requirements and currently has sufficient space to accommodate at least one additional household member within the Department’s limits for maximum number of children residing in the home.
  • At least one prospective applicant in the household has a basic ability to read and write in English or in the family’s primary language.
  • The prospective applicant(s) has sufficient time and availability to be a foster/ pre-adoptive parent(s). A foster/pre-adoptive parent may place a foster/pre-adoptive child in work-related child care for no more than 50 hours per week for a pre-school age child or 25 hours per week for a child in grade 1 or up.
  • No animal that poses a danger to a foster/pre-adoptive child is maintained on the premises of the home.

  Standards for Foster/Pre-Adoptive Homes

  • Home must be clean, safe, free of obvious fire and other hazards, and of sufficient size to accommodate comfortably and appropriately all members of the household and the approved number of foster/pre-adoptive children. (See Appendix 3, “Enhanced Safety Assessment Guidelines”)
  • Home must have safe and adequate lighting, ventilation, hot and cold water supply, plumbing, electricity and heat.
  • Home must be furnished with a refrigerator and cooking stove in safe, working condition.
  • No foster/pre-adoptive child over age one year shall share a bedroom with an adult.
  • No foster/pre-adoptive child over age 4 years, except for siblings up to age 8 years, shall share a bedroom with a child of the opposite sex.
  • Home must have sufficient furniture to allow each child to sleep in a separate bed and to have adequate storage space for her/his personal belongings.
  • Home must have bedrooms which provide at least 50 square feet per child; the Department may waive this requirement for kinship homes if the bedrooms provide at least 35 square feet per child.
  • No bedroom to be used by foster/pre-adoptive children shall be located above the second floor unless any such floor has 2 safe means of egress.
  • No bedroom to be used by foster/pre-adoptive children shall be located below the first floor unless it contains a ground level, standard door exit and at least one operable window.
  • The home shall be equipped with smoke detectors in working order on every floor, including the basement.
  • If well water is used, it shall be tested and determined safe, and a report of the test results furnished to the Department.
  • The home must not have any household member, alternative caretaker or frequent visitor who would, in the judgment of the Department, pose a threat of abuse or neglect to children placed in the home, or would impede or prevent the provision of adequate foster/pre-adoptive care in the home.
  • Any firearms located in the home shall be registered and licensed in accordance with state law. All firearms shall be trigger-locked or fully inoperable and stored without ammunition in a locked area. Ammunition shall be stored in a separate locked location.
  • The family/individual has a working telephone in the home for both incoming and outgoing calls.
  • All dogs maintained on the premises of the foster/pre-adoptive home must have up to date vaccinations and rabies shots, and must be licensed in accordance with local authority requirements.
  • No child under age 12 will be placed in a home where a Rottweiler, Pit Bull or German Shepherd dog, or a dog which mixes at least 2 of these 3 breeds, is maintained on the premises, except after a review conducted in accordance with Regulation 110 CMR 7.105 (18)and with the approval of the Area Director.
  • Any home that is used for family child care must be in compliance with the requirements of EEC, as set forth in EEC Regulations 102 CMR 8.06 – 8.09.

  Families/individuals who are determined not to be eligible to apply based upon the “Standards for Eligibility to Apply” and the “Standards for Foster/Pre-Adoptive Homes” do not have the right to appeal that determination. [See Regulation 110 CMR 7.100 (6)]

Adoption Assistance

Adoption assistance payments begin:

• After the adoption is finalized

Sending State Adoption Subsidy Payments (Guidelines):

• Supplemental Reimbursement:  Adoption/Guardianship

  To support the Department’s objective of permanency planning for all children in placement, DSS provides a program of adoption/guardianship subsidy to remove financial barriers to permanency through adoption and guardianship for children with special needs. At the time the adoption or guardianship subsidy is being established, the Department will consider the types of reimbursements provided for under this Supplemental Reimbursement Policy when establishing the subsidy amount.  (See Policy #85-007, Adoption Subsidy Policy, or Policy 84-005, Guardianship, for eligibility and procedures)

Special Needs

Massachusetts definition of "Special Needs":

• no information provided

Finalization

Adoption may be finalized in another state:

• Yes

Before finalization can occur in Massachusetts, child must be in adoptive placement:

• 6 months
• Other

Statutory code/cite for Adoption Petition:

• M.G.L.A. c. 210 Section  1. No Minimum time between filing and petition for adoption and final decree, but child must in home for at least six months and reports made before petition granted. M.G.L.A. C.210 Section 5a. Petition filed at any time.

Court Jurisdiction for Adoption Cases:

• Probate Court

Home Study (Adoptions)

Statutory code/cite for the Adoptive Home Studies:

• M.G.L.A. c. 210 Section  1