Use of Advertising and Facilitators in Adoptive Placements

Use of Advertisement
Citation: Ann. Code § 35-46-1-21

Only a licensed attorney or a licensed child-placing agency may place a paid advertisement or paid listing of a person's telephone number, on that person's own behalf, in a telephone directory that a child is offered or wanted for adoption, or that person is able to place, locate, or receive a child for adoption.

Use of Intermediaries/Facilitators
Citation: Ann. Code § 35-46-1-22

A person who knowingly or intentionally provides, engages in, or facilitates adoption services to a birth parent or prospective adoptive parent who resides in Indiana commits unauthorized adoption facilitation, a misdemeanor.

'Adoption services' means at least one of the following services that is provided for compensation, either directly or indirectly, and provided either before or after the services are rendered:

• Arranging for the placement of a child
• Identifying a child for adoption
• Matching adoptive parents with birth parents
• Arranging or facilitating an adoption
• Taking or acknowledging consents or surrenders for termination of parental rights for adoption purposes
• Performing background studies on the adoptive child or adoptive parents
• Making determinations about the best interests of a child and the appropriateness in placing the child for adoption
• Postplacement monitoring of a child before the adoption is finalized

The term adoption services does not include:

• Legal services provided by an attorney
• Adoption-related services provided by a government entity or by a person appointed to perform an investigation by the court
• General education and training on adoption issues
• Postadoption services, including supportive services to families to promote the well-being of members of adoptive families or birth families

This section does not apply to the following:

• The Department of Child Services, an agency or person authorized to act on behalf of the department, or a similar agency in another State
• The Division of Family Resources, an agency or person authorized to act on behalf of the division, or a similar agency in another State
• A child-placing agency licensed under the laws of Indiana or another State
• An attorney licensed to practice law in Indiana or another State
• A birth parent or prospective adoptive parent acting on his or her own behalf

Credits: Child Welfare Information Gateway (http://www.childwelfare.gov)