(1) In a direct placement, an individual seeking to adopt may
request at any time that a pre-placement assessment be prepared by a child
placing agency.

(2) An individual requesting a pre-placement assessment need not have
located a prospective adoptee when the request is made or when the
assessment is completed.

(3) An individual may have more than 1 pre-placement assessment or may
request that an assessment, once initiated, not be completed.

(4) If an individual is seeking to adopt a child from a particular child
placing agency, the agency may require the individual to be assessed by
its own employee, even if the individual has already had a favorable
pre-placement assessment completed by another child placing agency.

(5) A pre-placement assessment shall be based upon personal interviews
and visits at the residence of the individual being assessed, interviews
of others who know the individual, and reports received under this
subsection. The assessment shall contain all of the following information
about the individual being assessed:

(a) Age, nationality, race or ethnicity, and any religious preference.

(b) Marital and family status and history, including the presence of
other children or adults in the household and the relationship of those
individuals to the adoptive parent.

(c) Physical and mental health, including any history of substance abuse.

(d) Educational and employment history and any special skills and interests.

(e) Property and income, including outstanding financial obligations as
indicated in a current financial report provided by the individual.

(f) Reason for wanting to adopt.

(g) Any previous request for an assessment or involvement in an adoptive
placement and the outcome of the assessment or placement.

(h) Whether the individual has ever been the respondent in a domestic
violence proceeding or a proceeding concerning a child who was allegedly
abused, dependent, deprived, neglected, abandoned, or delinquent, and the
outcome of the proceeding.

(i) Whether the individual has ever been convicted of a crime.

(j) Whether the individual has located a parent interested in placing a
child with the individual for adoption and a brief description of the
parent and the child.

(k) Any fact or circumstance that raises a specific concern about the
suitability of the individual as an adoptive parent, including the quality
of the environment in the home, the functioning of other children in the
household, and any aspect of the individual's familial, social,
psychological, or financial circumstances that may be relevant to a
determination that the individual is not suitable. A specific concern is
one that suggests that placement of any child, or a particular child, in
the home of the individual would pose a risk of harm to the physical or
psychological well-being of the child.

(6) A child placing agency shall request an individual seeking a
pre-placement assessment to provide a document from the Michigan state
police and the federal bureau of investigation describing all of the
individual's criminal convictions as shown by that agency's records, or
stating that the agency's records indicate that the individual has not
been convicted of a crime. Upon request of the individual and receipt of a
signed authorization, the child placing agency shall obtain the criminal
record from the law enforcement agency on the individual's behalf.

(7) A pre-placement assessment shall contain a list of the sources of
information on which it is based. If the child placing agency determines
that the information assessed does not raise a specific concern, the child
placing agency shall find that the individual is suited to be an adoptive
parent. If the child placing agency determines that the information
assessed does raise a specific concern, the child placing agency shall
find that the individual is not suitable to be an adoptive parent. The
conclusion shall be supported by a written account of how 1 or more
specific concerns pose a risk to the physical or psychological well-being
of any child or a particular child. If the conclusion of a pre-placement
assessment regarding the suitability of the individual differs from the
conclusion in a prior assessment, the child placing agency shall explain
and justify the difference.

(8) An individual who receives a pre-placement assessment with a
conclusion of unsuitability may seek a review of the assessment by the
court after filing an adoption petition. The court may order an agent or
employee of the court to make an investigation and report to the court
before the hearing. If, at the hearing, the court finds by clear and
convincing evidence that the conclusion of unsuitability is not justified,
the person with legal custody of the child may place the child with that
individual. If the court determines that the conclusion of unsuitability
is justified, it shall order that the child shall not be placed with the
individual.