§350C-2  Definitions.  As used in thischapter, unless the context otherwise requires:

"Adoption assistance" means thepayment or payments for the maintenance of a child which are made or committedto be made pursuant to this chapter.

"Adoption assistance state" means thestate that is a signatory to an adoption assistance agreement in a particularcase.

"Child" means a person less thaneighteen years of age, or a person less than twenty-one years of age who hasmental or physical handicaps that warrant the continuation of assistance beyondthe age of eighteen.

"Child with special needs" means achild for whom the department has determined that:

(1)  The child cannot or should not be returned to theparent's home;

(2)  There exists a specific factor or condition,including but not limited to, ethnic background, age, membership in a minorityor sibling group, or physical, emotional or mental handicaps, which make itlikely that the child could not be placed with adoptive parents withoutproviding adoption assistance; and

(3)  A reasonable but unsuccessful effort has beenmade to place the child with appropriate adoptive parents without providingadoption assistance, provided that no attempt need be made when it would beagainst the best interests of the child because of such factors as theexistence of significant emotional ties with prospective adoptive parents whilein their care as a foster child.

"Department" means the department ofhuman services and its authorized representatives.

"Residence state" means the state ofwhich the child is a resident by virtue of the residence of the adoptiveparents.

"State" means a state of the UnitedStates, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the VirginIslands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, or a territoryor possession of the United States. [L 1986, c 110, pt of §1; am L 1987, c 339,§4]