CASA worker
Court Appointed Special Advocate. A trained community volunteer who is assigned to a particular child and speaks for the best interests of a child in court.

CPS
Child Protective Services. This is a branch of the Department of Human Services, or other similar governmental department, which has responsibility for ensuring that children are protected from abuse, neglect, and dangerous or unhealthful living conditions. When these conditions exist, or when a birthparent is no longer able to care for a child or children, Child Protective Services is responsible for making an appropriate foster care arrangement and continued follow-up.

CWLA
Child Welfare League of America

caseworker
A social worker who is responsible for working on a particular client's (family or dependent child's) case (affairs, needs, circumstances, problems, plans, and general well-being, and the records kept on these).

child abuse clearances
Similar to criminal clearances, this is a method of checking to see if a person has a history of child abuse. This is used as part of the approval process for prospective adoptive parents. In some states there is a central registry where the names of all known child abusers are kept on file. A prospective parent (or employee) must complete a form and submit it to this registry and the registry will send back information indicating that the person is either clear or has a record. These clearances must be updated annually as part of the annual updating of a homestudy.

child assessment, child profile
A child assessment or child profile, also called a social summary, is the written document completed by a child's caseworker which provides comprehensive information about the child, including family history; medical, educational, psychological and educational assessments; history of previous placements; and daily routines. Usually completed before an agency begins to recruit families for a child, it should be made available to any family (or family's worker) that the child's agency is seriously considering.

closed adoption
A closed adoption also called a traditional adoption, is an adoption in which no identifying information about the birthfamily or the adoptive family is shared, and there is no contact between birthparents and adoptive parents. The adoptive family usually receives non-identifying information about the child and the birthfamily before placement. In a closed adoption, after finalization, the records are sealed and typically are not available to the adopted child.

concurrent planning
In social work, this term refers to making plans for a child's reunification with the birthfamily, while at the same time recruiting adoptive families as a back-up plan. One way to do this is by placing a child in the home of a foster family or family member who could become the child's adoptive family if the biological parent fails to regain custody. Another is by beginning recruitment for an adoptive family before the child is legally free.

confidential information
In adoption, this usually refers to private information about a waiting child or child's birthfamily, which is not shared with the general public and may be only partially shared with the adoptive family. Confidential information might include the birth parents'last names, addresses, names and addresses of siblings, reasons why the child came into placement, information about physical or sexual abuse, birth parents' history of substance abuse, criminal history, reasons child moved from previous foster or adoptive homes, and in-depth information about the child's disabilities.

confidentiality
Protection of one's personal identifying information, or other information of a personal nature. Adoption agencies may not disclose identifying information about any client to any other source except in special circumstances as described in licensing regulations (such as when there is a child abuse allegation).

consent to adoption
Consent to adoption may refer to a legal document signed by the birth parents to give legal intent to their desire for the adoption of their child, or a document issued by the adoption agency allowing the adoptive family to finalize the adoption after all agency and legal requirements have been met. The consent of the child being adopted may also be needed.

cooperative adoption
An open adoption or cooperative adoption allows for some form of association between the birthfamily, adoptees, and adoptive parents. This can range from picture and letter sharing, to phone calls to contact through an intermediary, and open contact between the parties themselves. Many adoptions of older children and teens are at least partially open, since the children may know identifying or contact information about members of their birthfamilies, or may want to stay in touch with siblings placed separately.

counseling
A process through which a person can receive assistance in sorting out issues and reaching decisions appropriate to their life circumstances. Counseling for adoption should be done by trained, experienced, adoption counselors. Birthparent counseling should involve exploration of all options, including parenting the child, kinship adoption, foster care and various types of adoptions, and should be a part of the adoption of any newborn infant.

criminal clearances
Similar to child abuse clearances, this is a method of checking through the state police department to determine if a person has a criminal record. The state supplies forms and the clearances must be updated on an annual basis. In adoptions, all adults living in a household must obtain criminal and child abuse clearances prior to a child being placed in that home.

custody
The legal responsibility for the care and maintenance of a child. Custody can be awarded by the court to an agency, such as a department of children and youth services, or to an individual. A department of children and youth services may assign this responsibility to another agency (known as a provider agency) while retaining legal custody of a child. Child welfare departments retain legal custody for children who are in foster care or pre-adoptive homes.