Glossary of Terms

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  • Federal legislation passed in 1997 that reforms adoption practices.  Adoption and Safe Families act of 1997 (In Acts, Laws, and Bulletins)
  • This act was to establish a program of adoption assistance, to strengthen the program of foster care assistance for needy and dependent children, to improve the child welfare, social services, and aid to families with dependent children programs.  Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980 (In Acts, Laws, and Bulletins)
  • A term used to describe the ending of a pending adoption that is not yet legally finalized.
  • A term used to describe an adoption that ends after it is legally finalized. The dissolution results in the child returning to foster care or another placement with new adoptive parents.
  • The last legal steps in the adoption process; only after finalization does the adoptive parent have legal rights and responsibilities for a child. Supportive services, reports and home visits and work with attorneys and courts, are included in the SWAN finalization unit.