A state Supreme Court ruling this week has opened the doors for relatives of children in foster care to request a judge's permission to adopt the children, even if the local family service agency has refused them that right.

Prior to Tuesday's ruling, if both a mother and father's parental rights were terminated, only grandparents had the legal right to apply to adopt them.

Aunts and uncles or family friends who had cared for the children for extended periods typically were told they had no right to try to adopt the children if the child welfare agency didn't want them to.

Prior to the ruling, child welfare agencies claimed to have total discretion over who was eligible to adopt a foster child. The decision specifies that the discretion lies solely in the hands of a Common Pleas Court judge.

"The [Adoption] Act decidedly does not award the very keys of the courthouse door to the custodial agency," stated the majority decision written by Chief Justice Ralph J. Cappy.

Attorney Andrew D. Glasgow, who represented the aunt and uncle whose case set the new legal precedent, said the ruling gives foster children more options if their parents have been ruled out as guardians.

"The court is specifically saying there's nothing wrong with multiple parties competing for the adoption of a child," he said. "The standard is what's in the best interest of a child. The big difference is a trial judge is deciding where that child ought to be rather than [the county agency]."

The decision stems from a Washington County case in which an aunt and uncle wanted to adopt three children, ages 12, 7 and 6.

A judge had terminated the parental rights of the mother and both fathers and Children and Youth Services had legal custody pending adoption. The agency had placed the two younger children in separate foster homes and put the oldest child in a group home.

On Nov, 26, 2003, the children's maternal aunt and uncle filed petitions to adopt all three children, proposing to raise them together at their home in Maryland.

Their petition was rejected by a Washington County Common Pleas judge, because the child welfare agency argued they had no right to file it. The aunt and uncle appealed to the Superior Court, which overturned the county judge's ruling. The Supreme Court upheld that decision.

David J. DiCarlo, the attorney for the children in the case, said the decision is a victory for all foster children in the state.

"The court is saying that CYS should not be the gatekeeper to say who should be able to adopt these children," Mr. DiCarlo said. "CYS would literally choose who gets to come in before a judge. Now, a judge has more choices."