§ 451 — Definitions

§ 451. Definitions. As used in this title:\n 1. "Child" shall mean a person under the age of twenty-one years whose\nguardianship and custody have been committed to a social services\nofficial or a voluntary authorized agency, or whose guardianship and\ncustody have been committed to a certified or approved foster parent\npursuant to a court order prior to such person's eighteenth birthday,\nexcept as provided in paragraph (g) of subdivision three of section\nthree hundred eighty-four-b of this article and section six hundred\nthirty-one of the family court act. A "child" shall also mean a person\nunder the age of twenty-one years whose care and custody have been\ntransferred prior to such person's eighteenth birthday to a social\nservices official or a voluntary authorized agency pursuant to section\none thousand fifty-five of the family court act or section three hundred\neighty-four-a of this article, whose parents are deceased or where one\nparent is deceased and the other parent is not a person entitled to\nnotice pursuant to section one hundred eleven-a of the domestic\nrelations law, and where such official or agency consents to the\nadoption of such person in accordance with section one hundred thirteen\nof the domestic relations law.\n 2. "Handicapped child" shall mean a child who possesses a specific\nphysical, mental or emotional condition or disability of such severity\nor kind which, in accordance with regulations of the department, would\nconstitute a significant obstacle to the child's adoption.\n 3. "Hard to place child" shall mean a child, other than a handicapped\nchild, (a) who has not been placed for adoption within six months from\nthe date his guardianship and custody were committed to the social\nservices official or a voluntary authorized agency, or (b) who has not\nbeen placed for adoption within six months from the date a previous\nadoption placement terminated and the child was returned to the care of\nthe social services official or a voluntary authorized agency, or (c)\nwho possesses or presents any personal or familial attribute, condition,\nproblem or characteristic which, in accordance with regulations of the\ndepartment, would be an obstacle to the child's adoption,\nnotwithstanding the child has been in the guardianship and custody of\nthe social services official or a voluntary authorized agency for less\nthan six months.\n 4. (a) "Board rate" shall mean an amount equal to the monthly payment\nwhich has been or would have been made by a social services official, in\naccordance with section three hundred ninety-eight-a and other\nprovisions of this chapter, for the care and maintenance of the child,\nif such child had been boarded out in a foster family boarding home.\nSuch rate shall reflect annual increases in room and board rates and\nclothing replacement allowances.\n (b) When a child is placed for adoption by a social services official\nor a voluntary authorized agency with adoptive parents residing in\nanother social services district, the "board rate" shall mean the board\nrate of the social services district placing the child for adoption or\nthe social services district in which the adoptive parents reside.\n 5. "Persons" shall include a single person eligible to adopt a child\nas well as a couple eligible therefor.\n 6. "Voluntary authorized agency" shall mean an authorized agency as\ndefined in paragraphs (a) and (c) of subdivision ten of section three\nhundred seventy-one of this article.\n 7. "Social services official" shall mean a county commissioner of\nsocial services, a city commissioner of social services, or an Indian\ntribe with which the department has entered into an agreement to provide\nadoption services in accordance with subdivision two of section\nthirty-nine of this chapter.\n