Record a Pre-Finalization Assessment

Before an adoption is finalized, you evaluate the adoptive family and adoptive children and produce the JFS01699 Pre-finalization Adoption Assessment Report, which is filed with the court at least 20 days before the finalization hearing.

The system automatically draws information for the pre-finalization assessment from the most recent home study on the adoptive family's provider record. These details may be edited to meet the purposes of the pre-finalization assessment.

The pre-finalization assessment may include more than one child, but only if the children are in the same adoptive placement home are being adopted together. Once a pre-finalization assessment has been saved for a child, you cannot add that child to a new assessment record, unless the child’s existing adoptive placement has been end-dated and a new placement record is created.

If more than one child is being adopted by the same adoptive family, you can copy a pre-finalization assessment that has already been recorded for another child in the same adoption case. You can edit a pre-finalization assessment until a ruling type of "Adoption Finalized" has been recorded. At that time, the pre-finalization assessment record is frozen.

Process

Record a pre-finalization assessment as follows:

1. From the Home screen, click the Case tab.

2. Click the Workload tab. The Case Workload screen appears.

3. Click the case ID Number link for the adoption case you want to update. The Case Overview screen appears.

4. Click the Pre-Finalization Information link in the navigation bar on the left. The Pre-Finalization Adoption Assessment Information screen appears. It lists each child in the adoption case for whom an adoption placement record exists. (If no child appears, then a placement record of type "Adoption" does not exist and no assessment may be recorded.)

5. Click the Edit link in the Pre-Finalization Assessment Reports area for the report you want to update. Or to create a new report, select the check box next to each child included in this assessment report, then click Add Pre-Finalization Report. The Pre-Finalization Report Details screen appears.

6. Record adoptive family composition.

7. Record adoptive parent descriptions.

8. Record additional family information.

9. Record adoptive children descriptions.

Once these steps have been completed, the assessor reviews the assessment and makes recommendations. (See Record assessor recommendations and dates.)