A new policy has been put into place in Manitoba that adoptive parents need to be aware of. The policy requires that, when the adoption is brought before the court, criminal record and sexual abuse registry checks must have been completed within 6 months of the hearing date.
Many adoptive parents have these checks done when their file is opened with the respective agency, and are typically required to be redone on a yearly basis. This new policy means that you have to be aware of how old your checks are when the court date is finalized.
In our case, we had our checks updated in the Spring of this year. Even though this policy was only communicated last week (today was our court date), there was no grace period for those already booked…ergo, we’re now postponed at least another week.
And that “week” assumes that we can get expedited checks performed and returned by Friday of this week. It is what it is, but if anyone else gearing up for their court date in Manitoba is reading this, make sure you know whether you need updated checks done beforehand.
