(1) “”Abuse Hotline”” means the Department’s single statewide toll-free telephone number established for the purpose of receiving reports of child abuse, abandonment or neglect.
    (2) “”Florida Adoption Exchange”” means the Department of Children and Families statewide website where a child or sibling group available for adoption without an identified family will appear for recruitment of an adoptive family.
    (3) “”Adopted from the Department”” means a child permanently committed to the custody of the Department for the purpose of adoption and has been adopted by parents who have an approved adoption home study by the Department.
    (4) “”Adoptive Home Application”” means a Department-approved application that captures information needed to complete a general or child specific adoption home study.
    (5) “”Adoption Home Study”” or “”Preliminary Home Study”” means a written evaluation of the adoptive parents’ capacity for adoptive parenthood. The study assesses the applicants’ home and living environment, their marriage, if any, family and social history, relationships, and criminal history, if any.
    (6) “”Adoption Information Center”” means Florida’s Adoption Information and Referral Service, a statewide service for pregnant women considering placement of a child for adoption, adopted adults and birth parents and relatives seeking reunions and prospective adoptive parents interested in adopting a child.
    (7) “”Adoption Reunion Registry”” means a voluntary computer database which acts as a repository for current names, addresses and telephone numbers of parties to any Florida adoption.
    (8) “”Adoption Applicant Review Committee”” means a committee that provides consultation and assistance to an adoption counselor when the counselor and supervisor are recommending denial of an adoption home study, or adoption case situations which present challenging issues, such as when multiple families apply to adopt the same child.
    (9) “”Adoptive Placement”” means the act of physically moving a child into the physical custody of the prospective adoptive parents and the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement to Adopt by the preadoptive parents.
    (10) “”At-Risk Placement”” means a placement of a minor in the home of an approved adoptive parent prior to the termination of the minors’ parents’ parental rights.
    (11) “”Difficult-to-place”” for a child has the same meaning as provided in Florida Statutes § 409.166(2) A difficult-to-place child must meet the requirements of the Social Security Act Sec. 473, 42 U.S.C. § 673, where conditions or characteristics make it harder to place a child for adoption without providing adoption assistance.
    (12) “”Disruption”” means the termination of an adoption placement prior to legal finalization.
    (13) “”Dissolution”” means the return of a child to out-of-home care and the subsequent termination of the parental rights of the adoptive parents.
    (14) “”Extension of Maintenance Adoption Subsidy”” means benefits provided to a family for a child who meets the eligibility criteria established in Florida Statutes § 409.166(4)
    (15) “”Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children”” means an agreement among states, enacted into law in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands, which governs the interstate movement of children. It establishes procedures for the interstate adoptive or out of home placement of children, including post-placement supervision.
    (16) “”Match Staffing”” means a staffing that is convened to match a child available for adoption without an identified adoptive family with prospective adoptive families with non-child-specific approved adoption home studies.
    (17) “”Significant Emotional Tie”” means a substantial attachment between a child and his or her caretaker that is critical to a child’s present and future well-being. The assessment of this attachment must include such factors as the length of time the child has known the caretaker and the attachment that exists in the relationship. This term is also used in the evaluation of a child’s eligiblity for adoption subsidy when the question of eligibility rests solely on his or her adoption by the current caregiver.
Rulemaking Authority 63.233, 409.166(8), 409.167(6) FS. Law Implemented 63.092, 63.165, 409.166, 409.167 FS. History-New 4-28-92, Amended 4-19-94, Formerly 10M-8.0013, Amended 12-4-97, 8-19-03, 11-30-08, 7-7-16, 12-16-18, 8-15-21, 7-20-23.