BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1701| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: AB 1701 Author: Patterson (R), et al. Amended: 8/5/14 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 6/24/14 AYES: Jackson, Anderson, Corbett, Lara, Leno, Monning, Vidak SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8 ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 5/15/14 (Consent) - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Family law: adoption SOURCE : Academy of California Adoption Lawyers DIGEST : This bill makes several changes to adoption processes and adoptive placement considerations. ANALYSIS : 1. Existing law authorizes, among others, a childs natural parent to bring an action to declare the existence or nonexistence of a presumed parent and child relationship. Existing law requires the court to join to that action specified parties, including prospective adoptive parents who have physical custody of a child, who have not been joined as parties without the necessity of a motion for joinder. CONTINUED AB 1701 Page 2 This bill authorizes a child's natural mother to bring that action and also requires the court to join to that action additional specified parties who have not been joined as parties, including a licensed California adoption agency to which the mother proposes to relinquish the child for adoption. 2. Existing law provides for the adoption of unmarried minors and prohibits a married person, not lawfully separated from the person's spouse, from adopting a child without the consent of the spouse if the spouse is capable of giving that consent. This bill additionally provides that the consent of the spouse shall not establish any parental rights or responsibilities on the part of the consenting spouse unless he/she has consented to adopt the child in writing, filed with the court and is named in the final decree as an adoptive parent of the child. This bill authorizes the court to dispense with a spouse's consent in certain circumstances and, if consent has been dispensed, prohibits the spouse from being named as an adoptive parent in the final decree. 3. Existing law generally provides that a child having a presumed father shall not be adopted without the consent of the child's birth parents, if living. However, if one birth parent has been awarded custody by judicial order, or has custody by agreement of both parents, and the other birth parent for a period of one year willfully fails to communicate with, and to pay for, the care, support, and education of the child when able to do so, then the birth parent having sole custody may consent to the adoption, after the birth parent who does not have custody has been served with a specified citation. Failure of a birth parent to pay for the care, support, and education of the child for the one-year period or the failure of a birth parent to communicate with the child for the period of one year is prima facie evidence that the failure was willful and without lawful excuse. This bill authorizes the court to issue a temporary custody order if the birth mother of a child for whom there is not a presumed father leaves the child in certain circumstances, including in the physical care of a licensed private adoption CONTINUED AB 1701 Page 3 agency, and fails to sign a placement agreement, consent, or relinquishment for adoption. This bill authorizes the temporary custody order to be voided upon the birth mother's request to have the child returned to her care and custody. 4. Existing law requires, if a mother relinquishes for or consents to, or proposes to relinquish for or consent to, the adoption of a child, or if a child otherwise becomes the subject of an adoption proceeding, one of several specified persons to file a petition to terminate the parental rights of the alleged father, except as specified. Existing law permits an interested person to file a petition for an order or judgment declaring a child free from the custody and control of either or both parents. This bill permits a single petition to be filed to terminate the parental rights of the alleged father or fathers of two or more biological siblings or to terminate the parental rights of two or more alleged fathers of the same child. This bill also permits a single petition to be filed to free a child, or more than one child if the children are biological siblings, from the custody and control of both parents. This bill authorizes a court to grant one of these joint petitions, in whole or in part, and specifies that the court retains the discretion to bifurcate a case in which a joint petition was filed. This bill requires a court to bifurcate a case in which a joint petition was filed whenever it is necessary to protect the interests of a party or a child who is the subject of the proceeding. 5. Existing law authorizes the court to waive the personal appearance of a prospective adoptive parent and permit him/her to appear at an adoption proceeding through an attorney if there is clear and convincing evidence that it is impossible or impracticable for the prospective adoptive parent to appear at the adoption proceeding. This bill authorizes the court to permit a prospective adoptive parent to appear by telephone, videoconference, or other remote electronic means that the court deems reasonable, prudent, and reliable. 6. Existing law governs independent adoptions, which are defined to mean adoptions in which neither the Department of Social CONTINUED AB 1701 Page 4 Services (DSS) nor an agency licensed by DSS is a party to or joins in the adoption petition, and sets forth the procedures for completing an independent adoption. Existing law also requires, as a part of the independent adoption procedures, DSS or the delegated county adoption agency to investigate the proposed independent adoption and submit a report to the court of the facts disclosed by its inquiry with a recommendation regarding the granting of the adoption petition. This bill provides that when DSS or a delegated county adoption agency is investigating a proposed adoption, it is not required to reinvestigate matters addressed in a valid preplacement evaluation or a valid private agency adoption home study, if no new information has been discovered and no new event has occurred subsequent to the approval of the evaluation or home study that creates a reasonable belief that further investigation is necessary, except that DSS must complete all background clearances required by law. 7. Existing law requires DSS or a delegated county adoption agency to interview the petitioners within 45 working days after the filing of the adoption petition and to interview all persons from whom consent is required and whose addresses are known, as soon as 50% of the fee has been paid. Existing law requires the agency, at the interview, to give the placing parent an opportunity to sign either a statement revoking consent, or a waiver of the right to revoke consent. In order to facilitate the interview, existing law requires the petitioner, at the time the petition is filed, to file, among other things, a copy of the petition and 50% of the fee, with DSS or with the delegated county adoption agency responsible for the investigation of the adoption. This bill instead requires DSS or delegated county adoption agency to interview the petitioners within 45 working days after receiving 50% of the fee together with a stamped file copy of the adoption petition, and to interview all persons from whom consent is required and whose addresses are known. This bill provides that DSS is not required to provide the placing parent an opportunity to sign a statement revoking consent, or a waiver of the right to revoke consent, if the parent has already signed a waiver of the right to revoke consent, or if the time period allowed to revoke consent has CONTINUED AB 1701 Page 5 expired and requires the petitioner, within five days of filing the petition, to provide the department or delegated county adoption agency, among other things, a stamped file copy of the petition together with 50% of the fee and a copy of any valid preplacement evaluation or any valid private agency adoption home study. 8. Existing law requires the court, in an independent adoption, if a birth parent who did not place a child for adoption has refused to give the required consent, or a birth parent revokes consent, or, before the time when a revocable consent becomes permanent, a birth parent requests the return of the child, to order the child restored to the care and custody of the birth parent. This bill instead requires, in these circumstances, the child to be restored to the care and custody of his/her birth parent, unless the court orders otherwise. 9. Existing law authorizes a parent who is a minor to relinquish his/her child to DSS, county adoption agency, or licensed adoption agency and sign a consent for the adoption. Existing law provides that the relinquishment and consent are not subject to revocation by reason of minority. This bill provides that the relinquishment and consent are not subject to revocation because the parent or guardian of the minor parent was not served with notice of the relinquishment or consent, unless the minor parent previously provided written authorization to serve his/her parent or guardian with those notices. 10.Existing law establishes the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, which may adjudge certain children to be dependents of the juvenile court under certain circumstances. Existing law authorizes, in all cases in which a minor is adjudged a dependent child of the juvenile court under those circumstances, the court to limit the control to be exercised over the dependent child by any parent or guardian. Existing law provides that those provisions do not limit the ability of a parent to voluntarily relinquish his/her child to DSS or to a county adoption agency at any time while the child is a dependent child of the juvenile court, if DSS or county adoption agency is willing to accept the relinquishment. CONTINUED AB 1701 Page 6 This bill provides that those provisions do not limit the ability of the parent of a dependent child to voluntarily relinquish that child to a licensed private adoption agency. This bill requires the juvenile court, when a child who is the subject of a petition, to declare him/her a dependent child of the juvenile court, or a child who has been adjudged a dependent child of the juvenile court, has been relinquished to a licensed private adoption agency, after notice and a hearing, to determine whether the relinquishment should be approved or denied. This bill authorizes the court to dispense with notice and a hearing and issue an ex parte order approving the relinquishment if the relinquishment is accompanied by the written agreement of all parties. This bill requires notification of a parent relinquishing a child to a licensed private adoption agency that the relinquishment is subject to court approval. This bill also requires, when a child who is the subject of a petition, to declare him/her a dependent child of the juvenile court, or a child who has been adjudged a dependent child of the juvenile court, has been relinquished to DSS or a county adoption agency, DSS or the county adoption agency to file notice of the relinquishment with the court and all parties and their counsel. This bill makes other clarifying and technical changes. Background Every year, the Academy of California Adoption Lawyers seeks to clarify or modify provisions in the Family and related codes which they have identified as having either technical errors or as being the basis for conflicting court rulings that could potentially prolong the adoption process. Prior legislation AB 848 (Patterson, Chapter 743, Statutes of 2013) made several changes to adoption processes and adoptive placement considerations including clarifying when a birth parent's waiver of the right to revoke consent to an adoption is void or able to be rescinded, and that an abbreviated home study assessment may only be used for specified individuals. CONTINUED AB 1701 Page 7 AB 687 (Fletcher, Chapter 462, Statutes of 2011) streamlined the process for determining parent-child relationships, and made other technical and substantive changes to adoption laws. AB 2020 (Fletcher, Chapter 588, Statutes of 2010) among other things, streamlined the process for determining parent-child relationships and made other substantive and technical changes to adoption laws. SB 1726 (Scott, Chapter 534, Statutes of 2008) made several substantive and technical changes to adoption law, including providing that consolidated guardianship and adoption cases shall be heard and decided by the court in which the adoption is pending. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: Yes SUPPORT : (Verified 8/6/14) Academy of California Adoption Lawyers (source) Angels of Grace California Alliance of Child and Family Services Infant of Prague Valley Teen Ranch OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/6/14) Concerned United Birth Parents ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 5/15/14 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Bigelow, Bloom, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gorell, Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández, Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, John A. Pérez, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, Atkins NO VOTE RECORDED: Mansoor, Vacancy CONTINUED AB 1701 Page 8 AL:d 8/6/14 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED