Sub.
H.B. 7
127th General Assembly
(As Reported by H. Health)
Reps. Brinkman, Yuko, Hottinger, Huffman, Webster, Jones, DeBose, Letson, B. Williams, Wachtmann, R. Hagan
BILL SUMMARY
ADOPTION PROVISIONS
· Adds the birth mother's living expenses (up to $3,000) incurred during pregnancy and up to two months after the child is born to the payments that may be made in connection with a child's permanent surrender, placement, or adoption.
· Requires the Director of Job and Family Services to adopt rules aligning the adoption and foster care home study content, time periods, and processes.
· Eliminates the requirement that a juvenile court consent to an adoption before a probate court can grant certain adoption petitions involving legal guardians or custodians.
· Provides, generally, that an interlocutory order of adoption is to become final not less than six months and not more than one year from the date of the adoptee's placement in the adoptive home rather than from the date of the order's issuance.
· Requires a juvenile court to consider an adoptive parent's ability to meet the needs of all other children residing in the adoptive home when deciding whether to issue a support order when the adoptive parent enters into an agreement with a PCSA or PCPA to place his or her adopted child into the temporary custody of the agency.
· Requires certain programs to emphasize adoption as an option for unintended pregnancies.
· Requires the Department of Job and Family Services to establish a Child-Centered Recruitment Task Force and details the function, members, and expiration date of the Task Force.
· Prohibits a juvenile court from extending a temporary custody order beyond two years from the earlier of the date the complaint was filed or the date the child was placed in shelter care.
CHILD WELFARE PROVISIONS
· Adds additional criteria to one of the factors, regarding involuntary termination of parental rights with respect to a sibling, that a juvenile court must consider during a permanent custody hearing.
· Requires a juvenile court to place a child in the permanent custody of a PCSA or PCPA under certain circumstances.
· Specifies that when a child must remain in residential or institutional care the care must be needed for a significant period of time beyond the date of the child's dispositional hearing if a juvenile court is considering placing the child in a planned permanent living arrangement.
CONTENT AND OPERATION
(R.C. 3107.055)
Under current law, an attorney, private noncustodial agency (PNA), private child placing agency (PCPA), petitioner (prospective adoptive parent), or person acting on the petitioner's behalf may pay for specific expenses connected with a child's permanent surrender, placement, or adoption. Generally these expenses include physician or hospital expenses incurred by the birth mother or child around the time of the child's birth; attorney, agency, or court expenses related to permanent surrender, placement, or the adoption; the child's temporary routine maintenance and medical costs if the prospective adoptive parent refuses placement; guardian ad litem fees; and temporary foster care expenses. No other payments related to the permanent surrender, placement, or adoption, are permitted.
The bill adds the birth mother's living expenses to the list of approved payments connected with a child's permanent surrender, placement, or adoption. The living expenses cannot exceed $3,000 and must be incurred during pregnancy and up to two months after the child is born. Payments from the petitioner to the birth mother for living expenses must be made through the attorney or agency arranging the adoption.
(R.C. 3107.033 and 5103.03)
Generally, current law requires both prospective foster parents and prospective adoptive parents to undergo home studies to ascertain their suitability to foster or adopt a child.
The bill requires that any rules adopted by the Director of Job and Family Services regarding home studies align the foster care and adoption home study content, time periods, and processes.
(R.C. 3107.101)
Current law requires the assessor providing placement or post-placement services in a prospective adoptive home to conduct a prospective adoptive home visit in that home not later than seven days after the child to be adopted is placed and every 30 days thereafter until a probate court issues a final decree of adoption.
The bill requires that the home visits be conducted monthly, rather than every 30 days.
(R.C. 3107.06)
Under current law, a juvenile court must consent to an adoption before the probate court can grant certain adoption petitions. This occurs in situations where the child has a legal guardian or custodian and the legal guardian or custodian is not authorized by law or a court order to consent to the adoption.
The bill removes the juvenile court's jurisdiction in such cases.
(R.C. 3107.07)
A parent's consent to the adoption of his or her child is not needed if a probate court finds that the parent has failed without justifiable cause to (1) communicate with his or her child or (2) provide for the maintenance and support of the child for at least one year prior to the filing of an adoption petition or placement of the child in the prospective adoptive home. The bill specifies that to avoid having consent to adoption not be needed the parent must regularly communicate with the child and significantly provide for the maintenance and support of the child.
(R.C. 3107.14)
When a probate court holds a final adoption petition hearing, and the adoption is generally in the best interest of the child and all other relevant requirements have been met, the court may issue an interlocutory order of adoption instead of a final decree of adoption. An interlocutory order allows the court time for observation, investigation, and a further report on the adoptive home. It must include a date on which the order automatically becomes final. Except in adoptions by foster parents or relatives, this date must be between six months and one year from the date the court issues the order (but can be sooner vacated for good cause). The bill changes the start of the time period of the interlocutory order to the date the person to be adopted is placed in the adoptive home.
(R.C. 2151.361)
When an adoptive parent enters into an agreement with a public children services agency (PCSA) or PCPA to place his or her adopted child in the temporary custody of the agency, a juvenile court may issue an order that requires the adoptive parent to pay for the care, support, maintenance, and education of the child while in temporary custody. The court must consider a number of factors, including, the ability of the parents to pay for the care, support, maintenance, and education of the child, when deciding whether to issue such an order. The bill requires that the court also consider the ability of the parents to meet the needs of all other children residing in the home when deciding whether to issue the order.
(R.C. 3107.66)
Current law allows a birth parent of an adopted person, a birth sibling over age 18 years, or a birth family member of a deceased birth parent to submit a written request to the agency or attorney who arranged the adopted person's adoption, or the probate court that finalized the adoption, for nonidentifying information about the adopted person or adoptive parent contained in the agency's, attorney's, or court's adoption records. Unless the agency or attorney has permanently ceased to arrange adoptions, the agency, attorney, or court must provide the birth parent, birth sibling, or birth family member the information sought within a reasonable amount of time and may charge a reasonable fee for providing the information.
The bill specifies that a birth parent may request the nonidentifying information only if the adopted person is at least 18 years old. The bill also defines "nonidentifying information" as information that does not include a person's first name, last name, maiden name, alias, social security number, address, telephone number, place of employment, Statewide Education Management Information System number, or any other number federal or state law requires or permits to be used to identify the person.
(R.C. 3313.6011, 3317.024, 5107.30, 5153.122, and 5153.123)
The bill requires all of the following to emphasize adoption as an option for unintended pregnancies:
· Instruction in venereal disease education that must be included in the curriculum of schools under the control of a board of education, governing board of an educational service center, or cooperative education school district;[1]
· Graduation, reality, and dual-role skills (GRADS) programs that are designed to provide intervention and instruction to pregnant and parenting students in eligible school districts or joint vocational school districts;
· The Learning, Earning, and Parenting Program designed to encourage pregnant or parenting teens participating in Ohio Works First to attend and complete high school or the equivalent.
The bill also requires PCSA caseworker training and PCSA caseworker supervisor training to include courses on educating pregnant or parenting persons on adoption as an option for unintended pregnancies.
(Section 3)
The bill requires the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) to establish a Child-Centered Recruitment Task Force. ODJFS must also provide the members with meeting space and administrative support. The Task Force is to consist of the ODJFS Director, adoption professionals, and at least one professional from a PCSA, PNA, and PCPA. One member of the Task Force is to represent an agency that has created, utilized, or is currently utilizing, child-centered recruitment. The members are to serve without compensation.
The Task Force must compile all effective procedures, models, and other relevant information regarding child-centered recruitment that PCSAs, PNAs, and PCPAs currently using child-centered recruitment utilize when seeking adoptive families for children in permanent custody. After compiling the procedures, models, or other relevant information, the Task Force must create a uniform child-centered recruitment model based on the information compiled. The model must include recommendations for finding an adoptive family for children who have been in the custody of a PCSA for at least one year and children who are nine years of age or older, in the custody of PCSAs, and do not have potential adoptive families identified. Not later than December 1, 2008, the Task Force must disseminate the model to all PCSAs, PNAs, and PCPAs in Ohio. On dissemination of the uniform child-centered recruitment model, the Task Force is to cease to exist.
Current law allows a juvenile court to make one of several dispositions for a child who is adjudicated an abused, neglected, or dependent child.
(R.C. 2151.353 and 2151.415)
One of the dispositions that a juvenile court may make in the case of an adjudicated abused, neglected, or dependent child is to place the child in the temporary custody of (1) a PCSA, (2) a PCPA, (3) either parent or a relative, (4) a probation officer for placement in a certified foster home, or (5) any other court-approved home. The temporary custody order expires one year after either the date that the complaint was filed or the date the child was first placed in shelter care, whichever is earlier. However, the temporary custody order continues in effect beyond that time if the PCSA or PCPA that has temporary custody of the child files a motion for the court to make a new disposition regarding the child. In this case, the temporary custody order does not terminate until the court makes the new disposition.
One of the new dispositions the court may make is to extend the temporary custody order for an additional six months. The temporary custody order may then be extended another six months, for a total of one year.
The bill prohibits the court from extending the original temporary custody order beyond two years from the date the complaint was filed or when the child was placed in shelter care, whichever is earlier and regardless of any previous extensions.
(R.C. 2151.353, 2151.414, and 2151.415)
Permanent custody is another disposition a juvenile court may make in a case of an adjudicated abused, neglected, or dependent child.
Factors in awarding permanent custody. If a juvenile court determines, by clear and convincing evidence, at a permanent custody hearing that one or multiple specific factors exist as to each of a child's parents, the court must enter a finding that the child cannot be placed with either parent within a reasonable time or should not be placed with either parent.
Whether a parent, under current Ohio law, has had parental rights involuntarily terminated with respect to a sibling of a child is among the factors that require a juvenile court to enter such a finding. The bill provides that the involuntary termination does not have to have occurred under current Ohio law but may also have occurred under an existing or former law in Ohio, any other state, or the United States that is substantially equivalent. The bill adds that the parent must have failed to provide clear and convincing evidence that, notwithstanding the prior termination, the parent can provide a legally secure permanent placement and adequate care for the health, welfare, and safety of the child.
Mandatory permanent custody. Currently, if a PCSA or PCPA files for permanent custody of a child, a juvenile court may grant, modify, or dispose of the motion for permanent custody. If all of the following circumstances exist, the bill requires the court to place such a child in the permanent custody of a PCSA or PCPA:
· The court determines by clear and convincing evidence that the child cannot be placed with one of the child's parents within a reasonable time or should not be placed with either parent and certain factors exist with respect to the parents;
· The child has been in an agency's custody for two years or longer and no longer qualifies for temporary custody;
· The child does not meet the requirements for a planned permanent living arrangement;
· Prior to the dispositional hearing, no relative or other interested person has filed, or has been identified in, a motion for legal custody of the child.
(R.C. 2151.353 and 2151.415)
Another disposition a juvenile court may make is to place the child in a planned permanent living arrangement with a PCSA or PCPA. The court may place the child in a planned permanent living arrangement if certain circumstances exist, one of which is that the child is unable to function in a family-like setting because of physical, mental, or psychological problems or needs and must remain in residential or institutional care. The bill specifies that this circumstance is that the child must remain in residential or institutional care "now and for the foreseeable future beyond the date of the child's dispositional hearing."
HISTORY
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ACTION |
DATE |
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Introduced |
02-20-07 |
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Reported, H. Health |
05-15-08 |
h0007-rh-127.doc/kl
[1] A student's parent or
guardian may request that the student be excused from the venereal disease
education under current law (R.C. 3313.60(A)(5)(c)).