Adoption in Child Time, Inc.

September 27, 2008

Four siblings who had been in foster care for two and one half years were separated by a trial court. They will be reunited as the adopted children of their foster parents according to a 4-1 ruling this month by the Indiana Supreme Court. The adoption of all four children by the foster/adopt parents was challenged by a grandparent who wished to adopt two of the four siblings.

The trial court separated the children, awarding the older two children to the grandparent. The foster/adopt parents took the case to the Appellate Court which overturned the trial court on the grounds that it is inconsistent to find that the foster parents were acceptable parents for the younger two but not for the older pair. Second, the court found the grandparent’s argument of being a “blood relative” insufficient under Indiana law. Then the grandparent appealed to the Indiana Supreme Court which upheld the finding of the Appellate Court. Attorney Peter Kenny, executive director of ACT, was the attorney for the foster/adopt parents at the appellate and supreme court levels.