What role do courts play in adoption?
Because adoption is a legal process, courts are involved in adoptions themselves and in collateral issues, such as access to adoption records and rights of the biological father. Adoption cases contribute to court caseload, and the Conference of State Court Administrators recommends that adoptions be counted separately as a subcategory of domestic relations cases so that court workloads and case-processing times can be monitored. In some states, social service agencies receive information on the characteristics of the adoptive child, the adoptive parents, and birth parents from courts. Conversely, courts call upon social service agencies to conduct home studies or to provide supervision for independent placements, including adoption by relatives. Because courts are the conduits through which all adoption cases pass, they are in a unique position to facilitate interagency cooperation.
