Know Your Rights When Involved with DCF as a Care Giver and Prospective Adoptive Parent

Do you ever wonder how the Department of Children and Families select adoptive families after the parental rights to children are terminated and the children become available for adoption? The Department is required to follow Florida Administrative Code 65C-16.002, “Adoptive Family Selection” which delineates the criteria the Department is required to consider in selecting a family “in the best interests of the child.” 

            If you find yourself in a situation where you are one of two families seeking to adopt the same child(ren), you should promptly obtain prompt advice from an attorney experienced with this legal quagmire. Although it is unethical for a private adoption agency to arrange for multiple families to apply to adopt the same child, the Department of Children and Families often has this exact situation occur. It can occur when the Department fails to locate family members via a “Family Finders” search early in the case, and yet there are family members who would be interested in caring for and adopting the child.

            You may be informed that after you apply to adopt you will be invited to attend an AARC or an Adoption Application Review Committee wherein you can plead your case to the committee as to why you should be permitted to adopt the child.  You should not attend an AARC without competent legal representation. Whether you are a selected family waiting to adopt, foster parent, family member, or non-relative placement, obtain effective representation. Time is of the essence in such situations.