1063a

A Candidate Selection Panel is hereby created composed of five (5) members appointed by the Secretary of the Department of the Family, which shall have among its members one (1) social worker licensed by the College of Social Work Professionals, one (1) lawyer and three (3) persons with knowledge and experience in the new adoption proceedings. This Panel shall meet with at least three (3) members. The Candidates Selection Panel shall evaluate the adoption applications received in order to proceed with the placement of the minor. The Panel shall evaluate the candidates giving special attention to the governing principle of the best interest of the minor, giving priority to the adopting party constituted by a married couple, as defined in the Puerto Rico Civil Code, and shall take into consideration, among other aspects, the seniority of the application. In those cases in which there are family resources within a third degree of consanguinity registered in the R.E.V.A., these may have preference if they are suitable resources for the placement of the minor, provided that they are duly registered as an adoptive home at the time of recommending the placement of the minor in a

y have preference if they are suitable resources for the placement of the minor, provided that they are duly registered as an adoptive home at the time of recommending the placement of the minor in a pre-adoptive home.In those pre-adoptive homes in which a minor is placed for the second time and the former desists from applying for adoption, they shall be eliminated from the Register, with the exception of the existence of just cause. Pre-adoptive parents shall prove, in detail, the reasonable bases for the existence of just cause through a written petition directed to the Director of the Adoption Information Center, who shall take into account the particular circumstances of each case. Intentional or arbitrary dismissal is excluded as just cause.All determinations of the Panel on the placement of a minor shall immediately become final and binding and may only be revised by the Court of Appeals through the filing of the corresponding appellate recourse, which shall be filed no later than thirty (30) days as of the notification of said determination. History —Dec. 18, 2009, No. 186, added as § 14-A on Dec. 16, 2011, No. 247, § 5.