by Steve York

Placement of a child registered in the MARE Book is best facilitated by worker-to-worker contact. Approved families who are interested in a MARE child should have their worker contact the child's worker regarding their interest in that child. The child's worker should note the date of contact by the family's worker, and gather general information about the family. The child's worker may request a copy of the family's homestudy at this point, but it is not mandatory that the family's worker do so. The child's worker should gather enough information verbally in order to make a preliminary decision should multiple approved families express interest in the child. Out-of state families must be considered just as in-state families.

The child's worker has a maximum of ten (10) calendar days, beginning with the date of the first inquiry call, to send the child's referral packet to an interested family's worker. A child's worker need not wait 10 full days to make a decision; however, by the end of the tenth calendar day, the child's worker must select a family from those who have called, and send out the child's information packet to the selected family's worker. If only one family has called, they must send it to that family's worker. Once again, out-of-state families must be considered if they inquire. The child's worker must also notify the workers of the other interested families that another family was selected. It is the responsibility of the child's worker to let interested agencies know when the ten day time frame will expire and when the child's information will be sent. A new form, Child's Adoption Referral Packet Transmittal (DSS4748) is to be used to facilitate the transmittal of case information.

After the child's information packet has been sent out, the decision on whether to proceed with the adoption rests with the family and their worker. If they decide not to proceed, they must notify the child's worker immediately of the decision. The child's worker should then choose a family from the remaining pool that initially responded within the ten day period and send out another child evaluation packet.

Once the family has decided to proceed with the adoption, their worker should forward a copy of the family's homestudy to the child's adoption worker. This allows the child's worker to complete the adoption file and allows the child's worker to actively participate in the education and preparation of the family.

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MARE 101*
... or, everything you wanted to know ...

For many of us, a new year is cause to reflect on past accomplishments, while looking forward to new challenges in the future. In Michigan, adoption professionals can be proud that 1,860 "special needs" children were placed in permanent homes in fiscal year 1994-'95. Such success may be attributed to at least three factors: 1) generous and dedicated families, 2) the commitment of adoption professionals, and 3) Michigan's "special needs" adoption system, including MARE.

Because of turnover in adoption staff and because it never hurts even the most seasoned veteran to review the current guidelines, we offer you this comprehensive overview of Michigan's "special needs" adoption program; and more specifically, explain how adoption agencies and MARE work together within this unique and complex system.

The success of Michigan's adoption program is largely the result of comprehensive changes that began in 1992, when the Michigan Department of Social Services (MDSS) revamped its "special needs" adoption system. As a result of these changes, adoption payments were equalized and based on performance and time frames, a comprehensive tracking system was created to account for all permanent state and court wards, and photolisting became mandatory for children who did not have an identified family within six months of becoming a permanent ward.

These system changes were guided by the philosophy that all children should be given the opportunity for adoption (unless another permanency plan is proven more appropriate), that children should be adopted in a timely fashion, that statewide recruitment efforts should be made when there is no family identified for a child, and that families should be empowered to adopt hard-to-place children.

These sweeping changes also increased the responsibilities of the Michigan Adoption Resource Exchange (MARE). From its humble beginnings as a recruitment tool of last resort, the MARE program was made responsible for implementing a tracking system that would monitor all of the state's adoption-eligible children. Components of this system include: monthly reports to every agency detailing their wards' progress toward permanency, due dates for documentation and/or mandatory photolisting, and in the case of private "purchase of service" agencies, financial sanctions for noncom;.c1.pliance. While the essential elements of these system changes have remained the same, there have been some modifications since these changes first took effect.

Racing with "The Clock"

MARE requirements within the state's adoption system are primarily driven by time frames. A helpful analogy when discussing these time frames might be to think of the time frames in terms of a clock.

The adoption clock starts "ticking" on the date the judges signs the order terminating both biological parents legal rights to a child. (In cases where both parents' rights are terminated separately, the latter date of termination starts the clock.) For children who are permanent state (MCI) wards, this is called the Permanent Custody Date (or PC Date); for children who are permanent court wards, it is known as the Acceptance Date. The clock is stopped when the MARE office receives court documents showing a child has been placed for adoption, or documentation showing that the child's permanency plan is no longer adoption. This insures that all adoption-eligible children are tracked. In the case of a disrupted adoption (when an OTR has been issued, but the case has never been finalized), the clock starts ticking again on the date the child reenters care (Ex Parte Order date).

MARE is furnished PC and Acceptance dates from the MDSS Children's Services Management Information System (CSMIS) computer system. Each month a disk containing numerous fields of information about permanent wards arrives at the MARE office. The information is then imported into MARE's tracking database through a sophisticated programming routine. New cases are added to MARE's data, and existing records are compared to see if updating is necessary. Tracking cases that no longer appear on that CSMIS disk are automatically closed.

The most important deadline in the adoption system is known as the 182-day due date. Approximately six months from the day the clock starts ticking, at least one of several types of documents must be received by MARE showing a child's progress toward adoption. If no adoption is in progress, a photolisting registration form must be received. If no documentation has been received by the 182-day due date, an agency may face sanctions.

If the first document received shows a completed permanency plan or change in goal to something other than adoption, the clock stops and the case exits the tracking system. If the document shows that an adoption is in progress but has not yet been completed, an extended due date is established and follow-up documentation will be required.

Types of Documentation

An Order Terminating Rights After Consent and Order Placing Child for Adoption (referred to as OTR) indicates that a placement has been made. When this documentation is received at MARE, the clock stops and the case exits the tracking system. No further documentation is required for this case, unless a disruption occurs. The OTR is a two-part form, PCA318 and PCA320; workers need only send the PCA320 (the form with the adopting family's last name and agency name) to MARE.

The DSS 5-S (Change in Goal) form will also remove a child from the tracking system if the child's goal is changed to something other than adoption. If it proves difficult to obtain the actual 5-S form but the local department has authorized the goal change, an Updated Service Plan (USP) signed by the local DSS supervisor indicating the planned goal change may be submitted. The USP must be signed; if not, it will not be accepted and the tracking clock will continue.

If a family has been identified for a child by the 182nd day, but the OTR has not been issued, the child's care agency may submit one of two documents to MARE, that will "hold" the child until the OTR is issued:

A Foster Parent/Relative Registration Form. One side of this salmon-colored MARE form is to be filled out when children are in the process of being adopted by their current foster family or relative.

A Hold Registration Form. The reverse side of the above salmon-colored form should be completed when a child has been matched with a recruited, studied and approved family (who is not a foster parent or relative) by the 182nd day. The form should be completed and the back page of the adoptive family's homestudy must be attached.

Because children with identified families need not be photolisted, children in any of the above "hold" categories, will not appear in the MARE Book. Instead, an additional 182 days is added to the tracking clock; effectively giving workers one full year from the child's PC date to complete the adoption. If no OTR is received within the additional 182 day extension, the case will be reported to the MCI Superintendent for investigation. Additionally, if the identified family withdraws before the OTR is issued, the child must be immediately be registered in the MARE Book.

If no family is identified for a child by the 182-day due date, the child must be registered in the MARE photolisting book. A blue Child Entry Form must be filled out completely and submitted along with a recent, well-lighted photo of the child. If the form is incomplete or no photo is included, the form may be returned to the care agency and the tracking clock will continue. A child may not be featured in the MARE Book earlier than 182 days from the PC date.

Tracking Lists

Every month, MARE's computer system generates a tracking list of all children with the goal of adoption. This list is sorted by care agency and mailed to the agency's adoption supervisor and executive/county director. These lists reflect the information MARE has received from CSMIS and any documentation that agencies have sent to MARE for children in their care. The tracking list is essentially a courtesy list, providing agencies with detailed information about their children and any upcoming due dates. It is the responsibility of the agency to bring to MARE's attention any errors they may notice on their list, and supply supporting documentation to correct those errors. For example, if an incorrect PC date is listed, a copy of the PC order or amended PC order must be submitted; in the case of a disrupted adoption, the Ex Parte Order must be submitted.

Occasionally a child's case does not immediately appear in the data we receive from CSMIS. Agencies must still submit documentation by the required timeframes for all adoption-eligible children in their care, regardless of whether the child appears on the MARE Tracking List or not.

Late Case Documentation Process

Agencies are provided with several notification steps for children in their care with the hopes of achieving 100% compliance with required timeframes. First, the monthly Tracking Lists indicate all required due dates. These lists act as the initial notice to agencies of pending 182-day due dates. Once again, if agencies notice any inaccuracies on their lists, they should notify the MARE office and submit any supporting documentation needed to make the necessary corrections.

The second step in the process occurs approximately one month prior to the 182-day due date. If no documentation has been received by that five month point, MARE will generate a letter to the responsible DSS or private child care agency indicating the approaching due date. This "reminder" is called a "Registration Notice."

A "Late Documentation Notice" is sent to private care agencies if no documentation is received by the 182-day due date. This notice indicates that the sanctioning process has begun, and the daily administrative foster care payment for that child will be reduced by 20% per day until the documentation is received by MARE. For local department adoption units, a list of out-of-compliance cases is forwarded to Zone Managers on a monthly basis for investigation.

Finally, a "Sanction Letter" is generated when initial documentation is received after the 182-day due date. These letters are sent to private agencies (with copies sent to the MDSS Central Office) and indicate how many days late the documentation was received. Agencies may calculate their total sanction from this information.

The MARE Book

The ultimate purpose of this complex system is to insure that children who do not have identified families by the 182-day due date are registered in the MARE photolisting book. The book is updated and printed monthly and distributed to adoption agencies and public libraries throughout the state. Children are added to the book by sending a blue Child Entry Form and photo to MARE.
Children are removed from the MARE book by one of the following ways:

By submitting an OTR when a child is placed with an adoptive family.

By sending a Foster Parent/Relative registration form to MARE if the child's current foster family or relative decides to adopt after the child has appeared in the book.

By sending a Hold Registration and last page of the homestudy when an recruited, approved family comes forward to adopt.

By sending a DSS 5-S (or signed USP) showing a change in goal.

Michigan's "special needs" adoption system has evolved into a complicated process and it has taken time for all of us to become familiar with its many nuances. Only through years of actually living and working with this system are we learning what works well and what needs to be improved. MARE will continue to welcome your comments and suggestions as we strive to make this a system that not only works for adoption professionals, but more importantly, serves our waiting children.