Advokids: De Facto Parent Information

• What is a Prospective Adoptive Parent?
  
  
  1. This new designation is the result of Senate Bill 218, foster care legislation that encourages permanence
  2. Now committed foster parents who wish to adopt cannot be excluded from the adoption process
  3. The Juvenile Court may designate a current caretaker as a prospective adoptive parent if the child has lived with the caretaker for at least six months, the caretaker currently expresses a commitment to adopt the child, and the caretaker has taken at least one step to facilitate the adoption process
  4. If you are granted Prospective Adoptive Parent status, your foster child cannot be removed from your home without a Juvenile Court hearing
  5. The Department of Social Services has the burden of proving that the proposed move is in the best interest of the child

  In order to apply for Prospective Adoptive Parent Designation, you must complete and file one six page court form (JV 321 Request For Prospective Adoptive Parent Designation, Notice, and Order).

• This form can be downloaded at the bottom of this page. A fillable form can be found www.courtinfo.ca.gov. Click the Forms tab at top of home page, go to group entitled Juvenile and scroll down until you see #321.

  How Do You Qualify?

  1. The timing is critical. The hearing for termination of parental rights (the .26 hearing) must be scheduled
  2. The child must have lived with you for at least six months
  3. You must currently express a commitment to adopt
  4. You must have taken at least ONE step to facilitate the adoption process, including, but not limited to;
  1. Applying for an adoption homestudy
  2. Cooperating with an adoption homestudy
  3. Being designated by the court or the licensed adoption agency as the adoptive family
  4. Requesting de facto parent status
  5. Signing an adoptive placement agreement
  6. Engaging in discussions regarding a post adoption contact agreement
  7. Working to overcome any impediments that have been identified by the State Department of Social Services and the licensed adoption agency
  8. Attending classes required of prospective adoptive parents

  Rights of Prospective Adoptive Parents

  If you have been designated a “Prospective Adoptive Parent”, your county Department of Social Services cannot remove the child in your care from your home without giving you notice of their intent to remove. They must notify you by sending a special form, Notice of Intent to Remove Child and Proof of Notice, Objection to Removal, and Order After Hearing (JV-323 Form)

  DSS must also file the JV-323 Form with the Juvenile Court, and send copies to the child if he/she is over ten years of age, the child’s attorney, and the CASA.

  Once you receive this form, notifying you that DSS wants to move the child, you may object to the move and request a hearing.

  Your request for hearing on the proposed removal must be made within five court or seven calendar days from date of notification, whichever is longer. If service is by mail, time to respond is extended by five calendar days.

  Your request for a hearing objecting to the proposed move must be made on the same special court form, JV-323, Notice of Intent to Remove Child and Proof of Notice, Objection to Removal, and Order After Hearing, that was sent to you by DSS.

  After you complete the section of the form entitled Objection to Removal, you only need to deliver or send it to your Juvenile Court Clerk.They will set a hearing date, and notify child’s attorney and CASA of the scheduled hearing.
   
  The hearing must be set as soon as possible and not later than five court days after the objection is filed with the court.

  At a hearing on an intent to remove the child, the agency intending to remove the child must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the proposed removal is in the best interest of the child.

  Even if you have not formally been designated as the Prospective Adoptive Parent, you have the right to notice of intent to move the child in your care, and the right to object and request a hearing if you meet the threshold criteria for Prospective Adoptive Parent. The Court will decide at the hearing whether or not you will be designated as the Prospective Adoptive Parent.

  Prospective Adoptive Parent Forms and Supporting Documentation

  1. JV 321 Request For Prospective Adoptive Parent Designation, Notice, and Order
  2. JV 321 Request For Prospective Adoptive Parent Designation, Notice, and Order (fillable)
  3. JV 322 Confidential Information— Prospective Adoptive Parent
  4. JV 322 Confidential Information— Prospective Adoptive Parent (fillable)
  5. JV 323 Notice of Intent to Remove Child
  6. JV 323 Notice of Intent to Remove Child (fillable)
  7. JV 324 Notice of Emergency Removal
  8. JV 324 Notice of Emergency Removal (fillable)
  9. JV 325 Objection to Removal
  10. JV 325 Objection to Removal (fillable)
  11. JV 326 Proof of Notice
  12. JV 326 Proof of Notice (fillable)
  13. JV 326 INFO Instructions for Notice of Prospective Adoptive Parent Hearing
  14. JV 327 Prospective Adoptive Parent Designation Order
  15. JV 327 Prospective Adoptive Parent Designation Order (fillable)
  16. JV 328 Prospective Adoptive Parent Order After Hearing
  17. JV 328 Prospective Adoptive Parent Order After Hearing (fillable)

  
  NOTE: if you are the caretaker, your County Clerk must provide notice of the hearing to all parties, per California Rules of Court §5.726, effective January 1, 2007.

  
  
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