Shiloh Adoptions | Glossary of Abbreviations and Definitions for Adoption

Glossary of Abbreviations and Definitions for Adoption

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Abandonment

Desertion of a child by a parent or adult primary caregiver with no provisions for continued childcare nor with any apparent intention to return to resume caregiving.

Adoptee

Person who was adopted. Frequently refers to an adopted person who is now an adult.

Adoption

Legal transfer of parental rights and obligations from birth parent(s) to adoptive parent(s). The adoptive parents become the legal parents of the child. It's a permanent, legally-binding arrangement by which a child or teenager becomes a member of a new family. In Canada adoption falls under provincial jurisdiction. Usage: You can join a family through birth or adoption. Adoption is a way of arriving in a family, not a medical condition or a disability. Say "Maria was adopted", not "Maria is adopted." Journalists should refer to the fact of having been adopted only when relevant to the story.

Adoption Tax Credit

Non-refundable credit which reduces taxes owed by adoptive parents who claim adoption expense reimbursement under P.L. 104-188; may be claimed on federal taxes (and in some states with similar legislation, on state taxes).

Adoptive Parent

Person who legally assumes the rights and obligations of parenting an adopted child. The adoptive parent becomes the permanent parent through adoption, with all the social and legal rights and responsibilities of any parent. Usage: It is preferable to use "adoptive" parent only when needed to distinguish between birth parent and adoptive parents. A standalone reference, for example in a news story ("Sean's adoptive father ... "), should not refer to "adoptive parent" or "adopted child" unless relevant to the story, to distinguish between two sets of parents.

Affidavit

A legal document in which the party who makes it swears that the information contained in the document is true, and correct to the best of his knowledge.

Apostille/Authentication

The completed apostille/authentication form certifies the authenticity of the document's signature, the capacity in which the person signing the document has acted, and identifies the seal/stamp which the document bears. Documents needed for intercountry adoptions require the attachment of an apostille/authentication.

Attachment

The formation by a child of significant and stable emotional connections with the significant people in its life. This process begins in early infancy as the child bonds with one or more primary caregivers. A failure by a child to establish these types of important connections before the age of about five years may result in the child experiencing difficulties with a wide variety of social relationships for significant periods of time in its life. Severe cases can fit within the definition of a more permanent condition known as reactive attachment disorder.

Birth Family

The birth family is composed of those sharing a child's genetic heritage. See also birth mother.

Birth Mother / Father / Parent

The birth (or biological) mother is the woman giving birth to a child who is subsequently placed for adoption.

CAB

Child Adoption Board

CCAA

China Center of Adoption Affairs

Confidentiality

The legally required process of keeping identifying or other significant information secret; the principle of ethical practice which requires social workers and other professional not to disclose information about a client without the client's consent.

Consent to Adoption

Legal permission by a birth parent for an adoption to proceed.

DNA

DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is the genetic blueprint that determines a person's biological characteristics.

DOE

Department of Education (Kazakhstan)

DSDW

Department of Social Development and Welfare in Bangkok, Thailand for consideration to adopt

DTC

Date (or Dossier) to China

Decree of Adoption

A legal order that finalizes an adoption.

Department of Vital Records

The government department in each state that issues and maintains the official birth certificates and death certificates of individuals that were born or died in that state. In some states this department also administers a putative father registry. This department will bear a different name in different state, but it can be easily located in the government section of your local phone books.

Disruption

Failure of an adoption before finalization, through a decision of the birth parents, adoptive parents or agency. The child leaves the prospective adoptive home and returns to foster care or goes to another adoptive parent. An adoption or potential adoption that fails before finalization.

Domestic Adoption

Adoption of a child living in the same country as the adoptive parent(s).

Dossier

A set of legal documents used in international adoption to process a child's adoption or assignment of guardianship in the foreign court.

Facilitators

Individuals that are not licensed as adoption agencies or licensed as attorneys, and who are engaged in the matching of birth parents with adoptive parents are referred to generally as Adoption Facilitators.

Finalization

The final legal step in the adoption process: at a court hearing an adoptive parent(s) becomes a child's legal parent(s).

Fingerprints

USCIS needs verification of valid fingerprints to issue pre-approvals and approve I-600a and I-600 applications. The FBI�s clearance on an individual�s fingerprints is valid for 12 months. Everyone in the household of the adopting parent(s) over 18 years old must have their fingerprints taken.

Form FD-258

USCIS form. Applicant Fingerprint Card. Used to obtain fingerprints of the adoptive or prospective adoptive parent(s) and each adult member of the adoptive or prospective adoptive parents' household.

Foster Care

Temporary parental care by non-relatives. Placing a child in the temporary care of a family other than its own as the result of problems or challenges that are taking place within the birth family, or while critical elements of an adoption are being completed.

Guardianship

A guardian is a person who is legally responsible for a child.

Hague Convention

The Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption, inaugurated in 1993, is an international treaty setting the framework for the adoption of children between countries. The aim is to protect the best interests of adopted children and prevent abuses such as trafficking in children. The Convention standardizes procedures between the adoption authority in the child�s country of origin and the corresponding authority in the receiving country. Each country which has ratified the Convention designates a central authority to regulate requests for intercountry adoption and accredit adoption agencies. In Canada each province has its own central authority: the provincial ministry responsible for adoption.

Home Study

A process through which prospective adoptive parents are educated about adoption and evaluated to determine their suitability to adopt.

ICPC

Interstate Compact for Placement of Children (Domestic)

I-600A

USCIS petition for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition form filed by adoptive parents at the USCIS office having jurisdiction over their residence. The purpose of this form is to determine parents� eligibility to adopt. Often used as a pre-approval for an I-600.

I-600

USCIS petition. Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative filed by adoptive parents at the USCIS office having jurisdiction over the petitioner�s residence or at the USCIS office overseas having jurisdiction over the child�s residence. Approval is a Cable 37 (if the adoptive parent will be accompanying the child to travel to the US) or Cable 39 (if an escort, rather than the adoptive parents, will travel with the child to the U.S.).

I-171H

USCIS form. Notice of Favorable Determination Concerning Petitions for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition (I-600A). Valid for 18 months.

IR3 Visa

You will be issued an IR3 visa if you traveled to see your child before the adoption is complete. If your child is issued an IR3 visa ("Immediate Relative Orphan Adopted Abroad by U.S. Citizen"), he or she will receive automatic citizenship.

IR4 Visa

If you do not visit your child before the adoption is final your child will be issued an IR4 visa. In this case the child will enter the U.S. on an "IR4" classification visa. ("Immediate Relative Orphan to be Adopted in the United States by U.S. Citizen."). If so families must apply for their child to receive U.S. Citizenship upon arrival into the United States.

I-864

Affidavit of Support Under Section 213A of the Act.

International (intercountry) Adoption

Adoption of a child living in a different country from the adoptive parent(s).

JCICS

Joint Council on International Children�s Services JCICS member agencies base their practice on the understanding that children need permanent, loving families in order to reach their full potential, and that children deprived of this care suffer effects which may last a lifetime. JCICS agencies believe that when there is no family in the child�s country able to care for the child permanently and without undue delay, then international adoption can be an excellent option. JCICS agencies view international adoption as a child welfare service that focuses on the best interests of the child. JCICS member agencies follow a professional standard of practice that has as its core values integrity, honesty, transparency, and professional service delivery.

KBI

Kansas Bureau of Investigation

KDHE

Kansas Department of Health and Environment The organization which oversees the Child Placing Agency (CPA)

LID

LOI

Letter of Invitation to adopt (Kazakhstan). This LOI MUST be issued with a visa confirmation number (which is registered in Astana) in order to book flights to travel.

LOI

Letter of Intent to adopt (China)

Life Book

Scrapbook, journal or photo album chronicling a child�s life story, created by social workers, birth, foster or adoptive parents, or the child, when she is older. It may contain pictures, writing and souvenirs.

MOE

Ministry of Education (Kazakhstan)

MOFA

Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Kazakhstan)

MOJ

Ministry of Justice (Kazakhstan)

N-400

Petition for Naturalization.

N-600

Petition for Certificate of Citizenship.

N-643

Petition for Certificate of Citizenship on Behalf of an Adopted Child.

Non-Recurring Adoption-Related Expenses

This term refers to certain one-time adoption-related expenses, which may be at least partially reimbursed to families adopting children with special needs under state-sponsored adoption assistance programs, usually up to a maximum limit of $2,000, through the provisions of the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980. Allowable expenses for this reimbursement benefit can include such one-time fees as the fee for the preparation of an adoption home study, adoption fees, court costs, attorney fees, physical and psychological examinations, travel to visits with the child prior to the placement, and other expenses related to the legal adoption of children with special needs.

Orphan

Child from another country that has no parents or only one parent that cannot care for them.

Orphan (international adoption definition)

For immigration purposes, a child under the age of 16: � whose parents have died or disappeared � who has been abandoned or otherwise separated from both parents � whose sole surviving parent is impoverished by local standards and incapable of providing that child with proper care and who has, in writing, irrevocably released the child for emigration and adoption. To enter the United States, an orphan must have been adopted abroad by a U.S. citizen or be admitted to the United States for the purpose of adoption by a U.S. citizen.

Orphanage

Institution that houses children who are orphaned, abandoned or whose parents are unable to care for them. Orphanages are rarely used in the United States, although they are more frequently used abroad.

Preliminary Approval to adopt a child with special needs (waiting child in China)

PGN

The Guatemalan Solicitor General�s Office (Procurador�a General de la Naci�n, PGN)

POA

Power of Attorney

Photolisting

List of children available for adoption, usually through public child welfare agencies, including photos and descriptions. It may be printed in a book or newspaper, shown on TV or posted at a web site.

Pink Slip

The Guatemalan Embassy authorizes visa. This approval is on pink paper.

Post Placement Report

Post adoption reports required by states, agencies and foreign countries completed by the home study provider and/or the placement agency. The reports address the adopted child's physical and mental health and adjustment in their new home, providing documentation of their progress.

RAD

Reactive Attachment Disorder This term is used to describe a condition that generally appears in children before age five, and is thought to result from a lack of consistent care and nurturing in early years. The disorder is characterized by the inability of a child or infant to establish age- appropriate social contact and relationships with others. Symptoms of the disorder may include a failure to thrive, developmental delays, a refusal to make eye contact, feeding difficulties, hyper-sensitivity to sound and/or touch, failure to initiate or respond to social interactions with others, self-stimulation, indiscriminate sociability and a an unusually high susceptibility to infections.

Readoption

For a child adopted in another country, a second adoption in a U.S. court.

Relinquishment

Voluntary surrender by a birthparent of legal rights to parent a child. It's a legally binding process involving the signing of documents and court action.

Special Needs Conditions in a child which are particularly challenging to adoptive parents, such as physical, emotional and behavioral disorders, and a history of abuse or neglect. Common disorders and disabilities include attachment disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, developmental disabilities, fetal alcohol syndrome, learning disabilities and oppositional defiant disorder.

SOS

Secretary of State (for Apostilles and Authentications)

Social Worker

Person who completes home studies, works with birth parents and adoptive families in adoption situations.

Travel Approval (permission to travel to adopt your child)

Transracial Adoption

Adoption of a child of one race by a family of a different race.

USCIS

United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (Formerly known as INS and BCIS), a federal agency that oversees all visas issued to allow entry of internationally adopted orphans into the United States.

Waiting Children

Children who are waiting to be adopted, that is, children who are legally free for adoption. They are in the care of the public child welfare system, cannot return to their birth homes and need permanent families.