Section 333.6  Pre-Placement, Home Study and Post Placement Services

a)         The Coordinator of Intercountry Adoptions shall coordinate the provision of services by the public and private sectors to prospective Illinois adoptive parents of foreign-born children.  Such services shall include:

1)         providing information on the intercountry adoptive process, listings of Illinois licensed child welfare agencies, authorized foreign child-placing agencies and adoptive parent support groups.

2)         granting authorization to child placing agencies meeting the Illinois requirements, seeking to expand the availability of such agencies and encouraging the Illinois private sector to provide intercountry adoptive services.

3)         notifying the Immigration and Naturalization Services when prospective adoptive parents have complied with the Illinois pre-adoption requirements and/or completed a valid home study by a properly licensed agency.

4)         processing documents, correspondence and Immigration certification materials within a reasonable timeframe.

5)         assistance in handling a disrupted intercountry child placement.

6)         assuring that the child's legal adoption is completed.

b)         To facilitate the adoption process, all intercountry adoptive home studies must be forwarded to the Coordinator of Inter-country Adoptions for verification of compliance with Department guidelines.  The home study will be considered valid for a period of one (1) year from the date of the completion of the homestudy, after which time revalidation to the coordinator by the home study agency must occur.

c)         To provide alternative avenues open to prospective families in geographic areas of the state where the public or private sector cannot fulfill the service requests relating to foreign adoptions, the Department of Children and Family Services may:

1)         utilize Department staff or establish a contractual relationship with certified social workers who have prior experience in the field of child placements.

2)         establish specified fees for the services if provided by the Department of Children and Family Services in the event the Department can no longer provide adoptive home studies and postplacement services free of charge.

d)         The agency monitoring the adoption must submit a copy of the Judgment of Adoption to the Coordinator of Intercountry Adoptions within 30 days of finalization of the adoption.