RAD
Reactive Attachment Disorder

receiving agency
In an interstate adoption, the agency that works with the family, making sure the family has a completed homestudy, commenting on the suitability of the proposed match, and providing post-placement supervision.

reciprocal service agreements
In reciprocal service agreements, two states or jurisdictions agree to provide certain services for one another without charge. These agreements are often used by adjoining states or jurisdictions.

recruiter
An adoption worker whose job involves seeking and recruiting families to adopt waiting children. In some jurisdictions, children are assigned a recruiter in addition to their caseworker. A recruiter's job may also include retaining families by providing support to increase their possibilities of completing the adoption process.

recruitment
Activities for the purpose of encouraging families to adopt waiting children. Recruitment efforts may be general, such as an advertisement on television about the need for adoptive families, or child-specific, such as a waiting child feature in a newspaper. Recruitment may involve all forms of the media, including television, radio, newspapers, magazines, photolisting books or pamphlets, videotapes, and Internet websites. But is also done by networking among social workers and using community resources.

referral
A service performed when an individual or family is sent or directed from one organization to another that is better suited for working with them. Adoption exchanges often refer families to agencies that can complete their homestudies, and may perform other referrals as well, such as referring birthmothers to pregnancy counseling services. In adoption, a referral may also be a match referral (suggestion), made by an exchange or other intermediary between children's workers and families who may be appropriate matches for the children.

registry
A service through which any adult member of the adoption triad who wishes to learn about birth relatives may register personal data and request to be notified should the other parties in that adoption also register. Some states have state- run registries; there are also privately-sponsored registries such as the International Soundex Reunion Registry.

relative adoption
A kinship or relative adoption is one in which the adoptive parents are relatives biologically related to the child to be adopted, such as a grandparent, aunt, or cousin. In kinship adoption, as opposed to kinship care , the relatives legally adopt the child.

relative placement
A relative placement or kinship care occurs when a child is placed in the care of birthfamily members, members of their tribes or clans, godparents, stepparents, or other adults who have a kinship bond with the child. This may be an informal agreement among the parties, a formal foster care placement made with the assistance of a public agency, or a pre-adoptive placement. The relatives may be awarded custody or legal guardianship by the court. When an agency is involved in a formal foster care placement, the relative may be entitled to the same benefits and supports as other foster care parents.

relinquishment
The voluntary surrender or termination of custodial and legal rights to a child by a birthparent. This is a legally binding, permanent procedure which involves the signing of legal documents and court action.

resource room
A classroom or designated area in which a child may receive special education or related services from a certified special education teacher trained to give specific support to students with disabilities in the appropriate subject and skill areas.

residential care facility, residential treatment facility
A facility which provides 24 hour care for severely troubled children, and therapeutic intervention to help them overcome behavioral, emotional, mental or psychological problems that prevent them from being able to function in the family, in school, and with peers.

respite, respite care
Temporary care provided for a child in order to give the child's foster or adoptive parents time off or a rest from parenting.

reunification
Reunification occurs when a child who has been in foster care returns to his or her birth family. Reunification is the goal for many children in foster care.

reunion
A meeting of a birthparent and an adoptee who become re-acquainted with one another after having had no contact due to a closed (traditional) adoption.

reunion registry
A service through which any adult member of the adoption triad who wishes to learn about birth relatives may register personal data and request to be notified should the other parties in that adoption also register. Some states have state run registries; there are also privately-sponsored registries such as the International Soundex Reunion Registry.

revocation of consent:
A withdrawal of consent to adoption which a birthparent had previously agreed to and signed, and a request by the birthparent that the child be returned to his/her custody. There is a limited period of time during which a birthparent may do this, which varies from state to state.

risk
Legal risk is a term used to describe a potential adoption in which the child to be adopted is placed with the adoptive parents prior to termination of the birthparents' rights. An adoption placement of a child of any age is considered to be high risk if there is a strong likelihood that a birthparent or other relative will decide (and be approved) to parent. The adoption of newborn infants is often considered high risk because one or both birthparents' consent to the adoption is not yet legally final. In a situation where the birthparent is voluntarily relinquishing a child, the length of the period during which a birthparent can revoke consent (Change his/her mind) and the adoption is at risk varies by state.An adoption is considered low risk when the rights have not yet been terminated, but it is expected that they soon will be, and there is little likelihood of the child returning to birthfamily.