A federal magistrate on Tuesday approved a landmark settlement that will change the way children are placed with adoptive parents in Hamilton County.

        U.S. Magistrate Jack Sherman Jr. entered the consent decree and injunction against the county after a hearing. The lawsuit, filed by former county adoption worker Ron Halcomb, was settled in March but not officially approved by the judge until Tuesday.

        The lawsuit, pending since 1999, claimed widespread use of race in the county's adoption practices. The suit alleged those practices were illegal and caused African-American children to linger in foster care and have their adoptive placements delayed longer than white children.

        Hamilton County must pay $400,000 under the settlement. It also has rewritten its regulations for placing children in adoptive homes.

        The new policies dictate precisely when race can be used in placing a child with adoptive parents. For example, caseworkers can consider the wishes of a teen-ager on placement with a family of a different race. The opinion of a 5-year-old cannot be considered by caseworkers.

        A court-appointed monitor will be in place for five years.

        “The decree has fairly stringent ongoing monitoring,” said Scott Greenwood, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union. “That person will be eyes and ears of the court. That's important because there were many cases where county workers knew the law and dis- regarded it.”

        Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune said settling the lawsuit and changing the rules for adoption was the right thing to do.

        “Whether there were violations of law or not, the important thing is to place all of the adoptable children with loving, supporting families,” Mr. Portune said. “That love and support does not know racial boundaries.”

        Mr. Greenwood said the decree is the first settlement under a new federal law on interracial adoptions and will be watched closely nationwide.

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