(a) To provide full disclosure about a child to be adopted from the department‘s guardianship, the department shall provide to the adoptive family the following categories of information, to the extent that they are available:

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 36-1-144

  • Department: means the department of children's services or any of its divisions or units. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
  • Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
  • Foster care: has the meaning given to that term in §. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
  • Guardianship: means the status created by a court order appointing a person or entity guardian of the child. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
  • Related: means grandparents or any degree of great-grandparents, aunts or uncles, or any degree of great-aunts or great-uncles, or stepparent, or cousins of the first degree, or first cousins once removed, or any siblings of the whole or half degree or any spouse of the above listed relatives. See Tennessee Code 36-1-102
(1) Historical and current health information;
(2) Historical and current educational information;
(3) Historical and current mental and behavioral health information;
(4) Nationality, ethnic background, race, and religious preference;
(5) Other information required for the adoptive family to evaluate its ability to provide appropriate care for the child, including daily routine, social and emotional well-being, and personality;
(6) Relevant information about the child’s experience in foster care and reasons for coming into care;
(7) Pertinent prenatal and birth information, including birth date, time of birth, weight, and other physical characteristics at birth; and
(8) A general physical description, including height, weight, hair color, eye color, and any other information related to the child’s physical appearance.
(b) The department shall also provide the following categories of nonidentifying information about the child’s biological or legal family, to the extent that they are available:

(1) Historical and current health information;
(2) Historical and current educational and occupational information;
(3) Historical and current mental and behavioral health information;
(4) Nationality, ethnic background, race, and religious preference; and
(5) A general physical description, including height, weight, hair color, eye color, and any other information related to the physical appearance of the child’s biological or legal family.
(c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize or require the release of information that may lead to the discovery of the identity or location of the biological or legal relatives of the child to be adopted.
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