                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

INVESTIGATIONS; REPORT TO CIRCUIT COURT (§ 63.2-1208)

A. Upon consideration of the petition, the circuit court shall, upon being
satisfied as to proper jurisdiction and venue, immediately enter either an
interlocutory order referring the case to a child-placing agency to conduct a
visitation and prepare a report of visitation or an order of reference referring
the case to a child-placing agency to conduct an investigation and prepare a
report of investigation, unless no investigation is required pursuant to this
chapter. In agency adoption cases for which an interlocutory order is entered,
the petition shall contain the provisional consent of the child-placing agency.
The court shall enter the interlocutory order or order of reference concurrently
with the entering of an order of publication, if such is necessary. Upon entry
of the interlocutory order or order of reference, the clerk shall forward a copy
of the interlocutory order or order of reference, the petition, and all exhibits
thereto to the Commissioner and the child-placing agency retained to provide
investigative, reporting, and supervisory services. If no Virginia agency was
retained to provide such services, the interlocutory order or order of
reference, petition, and all exhibits shall be forwarded to the local director
of social services of the locality where the petitioners reside or resided at
the time of filing the petition or had legal residence at the time the petition
was filed.

B. Upon receiving a petition and interlocutory order or order of reference from
the circuit court, the applicable agency shall make a thorough investigation of
the matter and report thereon in writing, in such form as the Commissioner may
prescribe, to the circuit court. In cases in which an order of reference was
received, the agency shall file a report of investigation with the circuit court
within 60 days after the copy of the petition and all exhibits thereto are
forwarded. In cases in which an interlocutory order was received, the agency
shall file a report of visitation within 30 days after the completion of all
placement visits required pursuant to &#xA7; 63.2-1212. In agency adoption
cases, as long as the agency continues to recommend the adoption, the agency
shall file its final agency consent with the report. A copy of the applicable
report to the circuit court shall be served on the Commissioner by delivering or
mailing a copy to him on or before the day of filing such report with the
circuit court. On the applicable report to the circuit court there shall be
appended either acceptance of service or certificate of the local director, or
the representative of the child-placing agency, that copies were served as this
section requires, showing the date of delivery or mailing. The circuit court
shall expeditiously consider the merits of the petition upon receipt of the
applicable report and enter a final order of adoption.

C. If the applicable report is not made to the circuit court within the periods
specified, the circuit court may proceed to hear and determine the merits of the
petition and enter such order or orders as the circuit court may deem
appropriate.

D. The visitation or investigation requested by the circuit court in an
interlocutory order or order of reference shall include, in addition to other
inquiries that the circuit court may require the child-placing agency or local
director to make, inquiries as to (i) whether the petitioner is financially
able, except as provided in Chapter 13 (&#xA7; 63.2-1300 et seq.), morally
suitable, in satisfactory physical and mental health and a proper person to care
for and to train the child; (ii) what the physical and mental condition of the
child is; (iii) why the parents, if living, desire to be relieved of the
responsibility for the custody, care, and maintenance of the child, and what
their attitude is toward the proposed adoption; (iv) whether the parents have
abandoned the child or are morally unfit to have custody over him; (v) the
circumstances under which the child came to live, and is living, in the physical
custody of the petitioner; (vi) whether the child is a suitable child for
adoption by the petitioner; (vii) what fees have been paid by the petitioners or
on their behalf to persons or agencies that have assisted them in obtaining the
child; and (viii) whether the requirements of subsections E and F have been met.
Any report made to the circuit court shall include a recommendation as to the
action to be taken by the circuit court on the petition. A copy of any report
made to the circuit court shall be furnished to counsel of record representing
the adopting parent or parents. When the investigation reveals that there may
have been a violation of &#xA7; 63.2-1200 or &#xA7; 63.2-1218, the local
director or child-placing agency shall so inform the circuit court and the
Commissioner.

E. The applicable report shall include the relevant physical and mental history
of the birth parents if known to the person making the report. The child-placing
agency or local director shall document in the report all efforts they made to
encourage birth parents to share information related to their physical and
mental history. However, nothing in this subsection shall require that an
investigation of the physical and mental history of the birth parents be made.

F. The applicable report shall include a statement by the child-placing agency
or local director that all reasonably ascertainable background, medical, and
psychological records of the child, including whether the child has been the
subject of an investigation as the perpetrator of sexual abuse, have been
provided to the prospective adoptive parent(s). The report also shall include a
list of such records provided.

G. The court may enter a final order of adoption under the following
circumstances:

   1. In cases in which an order of reference was entered and the report of
   investigation has been received, if (i) the child has been placed in the
   physical custody of the petitioner by a child-placing agency; (ii) the placing
   or supervising agency certifies to the circuit court that the child has lived
   in the physical custody of the petitioner continuously for a period of at
   least six months immediately preceding the filing of the petition and has been
   visited by a representative of such agency at least three times within a
   six-month period, provided that there are not less than 90 days between the
   first and last visit; and (iii) the court is of the opinion that entry of a
   final order of adoption would otherwise be proper.

   2. In cases in which an interlocutory order was entered and both the report of
   visitation and final agency consent have been received, if (i) the child has
   been placed in the physical custody of the petitioner by a child-placing
   agency; (ii) the placing or supervising agency certifies to the circuit court
   that the child has been visited by a representative of such agency at least
   three times within a six-month period, provided that there are not less than
   90 days between the first and last visit; and (iii) the court is of the
   opinion that entry of a final order of adoption would otherwise be proper.
   				In cases in which the court entered either an interlocutory order or order
   of reference and the child was placed by a child-placing agency, the circuit
   court may, for good cause shown, omit the requirement that the three visits be
   made within a six-month period, provided that not less than three visits were
   made.

H. If the specific provisions set out in &#xA7;&#xA7; 63.2-1228, 63.2-1238,
63.2-1242 and 63.2-1244 do not apply, the petition and all exhibits shall be
forwarded to the local director where the petitioners reside or to a licensed
child-placing agency.

HISTORY: Code 1950, §§ 63-348.1, 63-349, 63-356.1; 1950, pp. 441, 626; 1954,
c. 489; 1956, cc. 187, 300, 489; 1962, c. 603; 1964, cc. 139, 429; 1968, cc.
346, 578, §§ 63.1-222, 63.1-223, 63.1-231; 1972, c. 823; 1974, cc. 26, 337,
421, 493, 507; 1975, c. 364; 1977, c. 526; 1978, c. 730; 1979 c. 339; 1980, c.
740; 1982, c. 115; 1985, cc. 298, 300; 1986, cc. 481, 482; 1987, c. 482; 1988,
cc. 53, 579, 599, 882; 1989, c. 647; 1992, c. 607; 1993, c. 553; 1995, cc. 772,
826; 2000, c. 830, §§ 63.1-219.35, 63.1-219.45, 63.1-219.49, 63.1-219.51;
2002, c. 747; 2003, c. 502; 2006, cc. 825, 848; 2007, c. 446; 2018, c. 694;
2022, c. 377.