Special Needs Children's Adoption Program
The Special Needs Children's Adoption Program information booklet provides information for people seeking to adopt a child with special needs in Queensland. The booklet is available from our Adoption Services Queensland Unit.
Application
There is no expression of interest process for this program. Couples may lodge an application to have their names entered in the Special Needs Children's Adoption Program at anytime. Application kits are available upon request from our Adoption Services Queensland Unit. Applications remain current for two years.
It is not possible to predict when a child with special needs may require an adoptive placement, or to predict the child's health, disability or other specific needs. The assessment of applicants' suitability to be approved as prospective adoptive parents is commenced only when:
- the particular needs of a child requiring an adoptive placement are known or can be anticipated
- it appears that an individual or couple may have the capacity to parent the child.
If applicants are not assessed within two years of lodging an application, their names are removed from the program register. Applicants are able to re-apply after the two-year period if they would like to be considered as applicants for a further two years.
Applicants are not required to pay an application or assessment fee. An assessment is undertaken only if there is a child requiring a placement and where it appears that applicants may be able to meet the needs of a specific child.
Eligibility
People seeking to lodge an application to be assessed as prospective adoptive parents for children requiring placement under the Special Needs Children's Adoption Program must:
- be a resident or live in Queensland
- be Australian citizens or married to Australian citizens
- not be suffering from a physical or mental condition, or have a physical or mental disability, to an extent that they could not provide a high level of stable, long-term care for a child.
Assessment
After applicants have had their eligibility established, their suitability as adoptive parents must be assessed, to determine whether the welfare and interests of a child would be met by making an Adoption Order in their favour.
The following matters are considered when assessing the suitability of the adoptive parents:
- the quality of the relationship or marriage, including its stability
- criminal history, if applicable
- the couple's capacity to be an adoptive parent of a child with an identified range of special needs, including:
- emotional capacity and other personal qualities
- financial stability and other financial capacity
- capacity to ensure a child's safety and wellbeing
- any other matter relevant to their capacity to provide for a child's emotional, physical, educational, recreational and social needs
- the couple's attitudes to, and understanding of:
- children and their physical and emotional development
- the responsibilities and duties of parenthood
- issues relevant to adoptive parenting, including issues about informing a child of their adoption
- the significance of an adopted child's birth parents and their families
- the couple's ability and willingness to:
- understand the child's background and to develop or maintain the child's cultural identity if the assessment involves adoption of a child from a particular Indigenous, ethnic or cultural background
- understand and meet the child's immediate and longer term needs if the assessment involves adoption of a child with identified physical and/or intellectual disabilities and/or a specific medical condition
- participation in educational programs relevant to adoption, including any programs conducted by our department and other appropriate community programs relating to the special needs of the child requiring placement
- access to community resources, including medical and other therapeutic services that are necessary for best meeting the special needs of the child requiring placement.
Overall, the assessment of couples seeking to be approved as prospective adoptive parents for a child with special needs examines the applicants' suitability to meet the particular child's special needs, and the applicants' family situation.
Consideration is given to the effect the placement of the child may have on any other children in the applicants' family and the applicants' capacity to meet the needs of all children in the family.
Fees
- Application fee - Nil
- Assessment fee - Nil
The fees are prescribed by the Adoption of Children Regulation 1999 and are subject to change. Further information is available in the adoption fee changes information sheet.
Making of an Adoption Order
After prospective adoptive parents accept the placement of a child and take custody of the child arrangements are made to finalise the Adoption Order. Once the order is made, the child's adoptive parents become his or her legal parents and parental rights and responsibilities are transferred from the child's birth parents to his or her adoptive parents. The child is issued with a new certificate of birth showing the adoptive parents as the child's legal parents.
Further information
For further information about adopting a child from Queensland, contact our Adoption Services Queensland Unit.
- Last updated
- 26 October 2007