19Approval of prospective adoptive parents

19 Approval of prospective adoptive parents

(1)  If the Secretary or a principal officer receives an assessment report under regulation 17(6) , the Secretary or principal officer may undertake any further enquiries that he or she considers necessary to determine the suitability of the accepted applicant referred to in the assessment report to be an adoptive parent and must –

(a) approve that accepted applicant as a prospective adoptive parent; or

(b) refuse to approve that accepted applicant as a prospective adoptive parent.

(2)  For the purpose of subregulation (1) , the Secretary or principal officer may refer the assessment report, together with any other relevant material, to a panel of not less than 3 persons approved by the Minister as having suitable qualifications and experience in child welfare, adoption practice and related matters.

(3)  After considering the assessment report, the panel referred to in subregulation (2) may make a recommendation to the Secretary or a principal officer concerning the suitability or otherwise of the accepted applicant referred to in the assessment report to be an adoptive parent.

(4)  A report writer must not be a member of the panel considering an assessment report that he or she has prepared.

(5)  The Secretary or a principal officer is to –

(a) record on the register of accepted applicants an approval or refusal made under subregulation (1) ; and

(b) inform the accepted applicant in writing that he or she is –

(i) approved as a prospective adoptive parent; or

(ii) refused approval as a prospective adoptive parent, stating the reasons for the refusal.