The applicant child welfare agency sought direction from the court regarding an adoption order made in March 2013.
The agency had failed to comply with statutory notice requirements under the Child and Family Services Act before placing the child for adoption.
Specifically, the agency did not provide required notice to the Office of the Children's Lawyer regarding existing access orders between the adopted child and her sibling.
The court determined it had jurisdiction to temporarily set aside the adoption order to allow the notice requirements to be fulfilled and to permit applications for openness orders to be made on the merits, balancing the policy of adoption finality against fundamental fairness to the affected children.
