Question: I understand that the waiting period for adoption, the time the child must live with the prospective adoptive family before the adoption can be finalized, has been reduced from 6 months to 3 months, correct?
Answer: Not exactly. The waiting period is still 6 months but the judge in the case CAN, but does not have to, reduce the wait to 3 months. Judges are expected to be most open to reducing the waiting period in newborn adoptions. When older children are new in a home at least 6 months for the child and family to adjust to one another and for problems to arise and be resolved is usually recommended by social workers and is good common sense in most cases. Judges know this and often will not reduce the waiting period for children older than newborns. Also, when an agency has guardianship of the child, as in DCS or private agency adoptions, the agency’s consent is required. Agencies typically will not consent until they feel the family has had sufficient time to settle in together. Regardless of the waiting period, when a child is in full guardianship of an agency, an adoption cannot be finalized until the agency is ready to consent.
