MEMORANDUM FOR ADOPTIVE APPLICANTS
DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL ADOPTIONS
FINALIZED IN ONTARIO
This document has been developed in order to help adoptive applicants understand their responsibilities and the roles and responsibilities of all professional parties, including the Ministry of Children and Youth Services, to a proposed placement of a child for adoption. A signed copy of this document must accompany your homestudy.
September, 2005
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ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE MINISTRY OF CHILDREN AND YOUTH SERVICES
The Adoption Unit of the Ministry of Children and Youth Services performs the following functions and role in private and international adoptions finalized in an Ontario court:
- Licenses individuals and agencies to place children for adoption under the Child and Family Services Act. These are referred to as Licensees.
- Approves persons who wish to be authorized to conduct private and international adoption homestudies. These are referred to as approved adoption practitioners.
- Reviews the practice of licensees and approved adoption practitioners annually for renewal of the licence and approval.
- Monitors licensees and approved adoption practitioners and promotes good standards of adoption practice.
- Reviews all proposals from a licensee to place a child for adoption and approves, does not approve, or approves with terms and conditions, based on an assessment of what would be in the best interests of the child.
- Provides consultation and training to licensees and approved adoption practitioners.
- Reviews all private foster home assessments and approves or does not approve these, based on the ability of the home to meet the needs of the children placed there.
The staff of the Adoption Unit who review each adoption homestudy and proposal are social work professionals with specialized training and many years experience in adoption practice. In reviewing an adoption proposal, the primary focus is the best interest of the child.
A review may include a request to the licensee or approved adoption practitioner for additional information. This can result in delays in approval, but provides the Director with the necessary information to make a fully informed decision about whether the placement is in the best interests of the child, the proposed adoptive family, and the birth parents.
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The Director is a senior staff of the Ministry and is appointed by the Minister to make decisions about adoption-related matters under the Child and Family Services Act and Regulations.
ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE LICENSEE
The licensee is an individual or corporation licensed by the Ministry to place a child for adoption in Ontario under the Child and Family Services Act and its Regulations. With the exception of children’s aid societies, licensees are the only persons/organizations permitted to place children for adoption in Ontario. This includes the placement of children from other countries that permit or require the adoption to be finalized in an Ontario court. The licensee is required to obtain the approval of the Director of the Ministry to a proposed placement before the child may be legally placed for adoption. The licensee is also responsible for the overall management of the adoption placement and supervision period until the adoption is legally completed.
The licensee must make sure that the legislation and regulations governing adoption in Ontario are followed. The licensee’s foremost responsibility is to ensure that the best interests of the child are met in the adoption process. The licensee must make sure that the rights of both the proposed adoptive parents and the legal birth parents of the child are protected. In any issue arising between the proposed adoptive parents and the birth parents, the licensee must observe a neutral position.
Once all consents to adoption are valid, i.e. the consents have not been withdrawn and the 21 day period following the giving of the consent has expired (for Ontario consents) the licensee becomes responsible for the custody, care and control of the child until the adoption is finalized.
Although the licensee may also be a lawyer, the special role and responsibilities undertaken by the licensee require that the traditional lawyer-client relationship cannot apply. The licensee does not act for or represent only the adoptive parents, or the birth parents, or the child. Throughout the adoption process, the licensee has certain obligations to the Director of the Ministry of Children and Youth Services and to the courts. All parties to the adoption must understand that any information provided to the licensee, or which comes to the attention of the licensee, may be shared with the Ministry and the courts, in order to protect the best interests of the child and to make sure that the requirements of the Child and Family Services Act are met. It is the responsibility of the licensee to make sure that birth parents have counselling available throughout the process until legal completion of the adoption, and that birth parents have opportunities for independent legal advice prior to signing formal consents to the adoption of a child. The proposed adoptive parents are responsible financially for the above professional services to the birth parents, which are billed to the licensee.
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The licensee should advise you of your legal rights and responsibilities and discuss with you the offences outlined in sections 175 and 176 of the Child and Family Services Act. The licensee should also explain the Regulations that set out the permitted expenses of a licensee. These are outlined for you in this memorandum. It is important for prospective adoptive parents to understand the restrictions relating to any payments in relation to an adoption. Children are not “for sale” in Ontario and there are stiff penalties for any improper payments.
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF APPROVED ADOPTION PRACTITIONERS
By now, you are no doubt aware that part of the experience of adopting a child involves a process known as the homestudy. The Ministry must approve all professionals who conduct homestudy assessments for private adoption in Ontario. Most of these approved adoption practitioners are social workers or other professionals with significant experience in adoption and/or child welfare.
You may be a little nervous about the homestudy process since it requires discussion with a stranger of details about your life, including personal feelings, which you may or may not have discussed with anyone before.
The homestudy is intended to be a combination of information gathering, education, professional assessment and self-evaluation related to adoption and parenting. You will need to examine your own values about bringing up children, and your dreams and expectations of children. The approved adoption practitioner conducting the homestudy will be expected to provide you with education about the unique nature of adoptive parenting; and to explore your reasons for wanting to be an adoptive parent. Together, you will also look at the realities of raising a child with a genetic history that differs from yours, in the case of the adoption of a child who is not related to you. In some cases, a child may have had traumatic early life experiences, or health problems, and the possible impacts on you and the child will need to be considered.
It is hoped that the homestudy will help you to reach an informed decision about whether adoption is a plan which will meet both the needs of the child to be adopted and your needs as prospective parents.
The approved adoption practitioner who conducts your homestudy must make a recommendation as to the suitability of your family for adoption. He or she is notauthorized to approve an adoption placement. Only a Director of the Ministry of Children and Youth Services may approve or not approve an Ontario adoption placement. If the adoption to be completed in Ontario involves a child from another country, both the Ministry and foreign adoption authority must approve the placement. In cases where the Ministry does not approve a placement under the Child and Family Services Act, you may appeal this decision to the Child and Family Services Review Board.
The Ministry will be pleased to provide you with lists of approved adoption practitioners and licensees.
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ONTARIO ADOPTIONS INVOLVING CHILDREN FROM OTHER COUNTRIES, PROVINCES OR TERRITORIES
Under the Child and Family Services Act, only licensees whose licence specifically permits them to do so, or children’s aid societies, may bring children who are not residents of Ontario into Ontario for the purpose of adoption. If a children’s aid society is unavailable to supervise the placement, adoptive applicants must obtain the services of an Ontario licensee. The licensee must have a term attached to their licence that specifies either the Canadian province or territory or the particular foreign country from which the licensee is authorized to place children in Ontario. The licensee must apply to the Ministry for approval of this term by submitting a detailed proposal that demonstrates knowledge of adoption, custody, immigration and citizenship legislation/procedures of the particular jurisdiction. All terms are attached to the licensees current licence and are therefore subject to the annual renewal process.
Please note that international adoptions which are finalized in the child’s country of origin, either before or after the child enters Ontario, cannot be managed by an individual or agency licensed under the Child and Family Services Act. Only a non-profit corporation licensed under the Intercountry Adoption Act may facilitate international adoptions finalized in other countries. Some agencies may be licensed under both pieces of legislation, however must keep their domestic and international adoption activities separate.
ADOPTION LEGISLATION
Adoption in Ontario is governed by the Child and Family Services Act.
Section 175 of the Act states that:
“No person, whether before or after a child’s birth, shall give, receive or agree to give or receive a payment or reward of any kind in connection with,
a)the child’s adoption or placement for adoption;
b)a consent under section 137 to the child’s adoption; or
c)negotiations or arrangements with a view to the child’s adoption,
except for;
d)the prescribed expenses of a licensee, or such greater expenses as are approved by a Director;
e)proper legal fees and disbursements; and
f)a subsidy paid by an approved agency or by the Minister to an adoptive parent or to a person with whom a child is placed for adoption.”
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Section 176 of the Act states:
“(1)A person who contravenes subsection 141(1) (2) or (3) (placement for adoption) and a director, officer or employee of a corporation who authorizes, permits or concurs in such a contravention by the corporation is guilty of an offence, whether an order is subsequently made for the child’s adoption or not, and on conviction is liable to a fine of not more than $2,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than two years, or to both.
(2)A person who contravenes subsection 141(4) (receiving child) is guilty of an offence and on conviction is liable to a fine of not more than $2,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than two years, or to both.
(3)A person who contravenes subsection 143(2) (interference with child) is guilty of an offence and on conviction is liable to a fine of not more than $1,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than one year, or to both.
(4)A person who contravenes section 175 and a director, officer of employee of a corporation who authorizes, permits or concurs in such a contravention by the corporation is guilty of an offence and on conviction is liable to a fine of not more than $25,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than three years, or to both.
(5)A proceeding under subsection (1), (2) or (4) shall not be commenced after the expiration of two years after the date on which the offence was, or is alleged to have been, committed.”
IT IS ILLEGAL FOR A BIRTH PARENT OR A THIRD PARTY INTERMEDIARY TO RECEIVE ANY PAYMENT, GIFT, REWARD OR INDUCEMENT IN REGARD TO THE ADOPTION. SIMILARLY, IT IS ILLEGAL FOR AN ADOPTIVE APPLICANT TO GIVE OR OFFER TO GIVE ANY PAYMENT, GIFT, REWARD OR INDUCEMENT TO A BIRTH PARENT OR ANY NON-LICENSED INTERMEDIARY IN THE ADOPTION.
The expenses for which a licensee may charge a fee are listed in Section 58 of Reg. 70 under the Child and Family Services Act as follows:
“Expenses incurred by a licensee referred to in Part VII of the Act,
(a)to prepare a social and medical history of a child who is adopted or who is intended to be adopted and to prepare a social and medical history of a person who is a parent of a child;
(b)to conduct and prepare a homestudy of the prospective adoptive parents;
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(c)to provide residential care for a child awaiting adoption placement;
(d)to provide counselling services for a person who is a parent of a child, within the meaning referred to in subsection 137(1) of the Act, regarding the parent’s decision to relinquish the child for adoption;
(e)to provide transportation relating to the placement of a child for adoption;
(f)to provide supervision of an adoption placement;
(g)with respect to the administration of an adoption;
(h)to provide post-adoption services that are considered by a Director as being necessary to ensure the success of an adoption;
(i)in addition to the matters referred to in clauses (a) to (h), any other services that in the opinion of the Director are necessary to ensure the success of an adoption; and
(j)to provide counselling services to a person to whom the licensee discloses non-identifying information under section 166 and 170 of the Act,
are expenses that may be charged by a licensee to an adoptive parent or prospective adoptive parent.”
I/We signify that we are only pursuing a single adoption placement (one child), whether through a domestic or international adoption licensee or a Children’s Aid Society, and that we will not engage in processes that could result in two separate adoption placements within an 18 month period, except where specifically approved by a Director or a Children’s Aid Society with their full knowledge of prior placements.
I/We also signify that we are only pursuing an adoption to which the Child and Family Services Act applies.
I/We have read and fully understand the contents of this Memorandum.
Date: Signature
Applicant 1
Signature
Applicant 2
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Note:To be given to the adoptive applicant(s) during the homestudy process. When both copies are signed, give one to the applicants and return one copy to the Ministry with the homestudy.
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