BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2872
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Date of Hearing: April 12, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
Mark Stone, Chair
AB 2872
(Patterson) - As Amended April 5, 2016
PROPOSED CONSENT
SUBJECT: ADOPTION
KEY ISSUE: SHOULD VARIOUS LAWS BE CHANGED AND CLARIFIED TO
BETTER FACILITATE ADOPTIONS IN CALIFORNIA?
SYNOPSIS
This is the Academy of California Adoption Lawyers' annual bill
to help better facilitate adoptions in California. This
non-controversial bill makes several changes to the adoption
laws law. First, it clarifies who may conduct a stepparent
adoption investigation and makes clear that if the stepparent is
using a private investigator, then he or she does not have to
pay the court an investigation fee for a public investigator.
Second, the bill helps make the process for prospective adoptive
parents to take home a drug-exposed newborn easier by requiring
hospitals to complete a required form. Finally the bill ensures
that specified investigators, whether court-order or statutorily
required, are able to examine the relevant child's juvenile
court case file. There is no opposition to this measure.
SUMMARY: Makes changes to adoption processes. Specifically,
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this bill:
1)Clarifies that the investigation required as part of a
stepparent adoption may be, at the request of the adoption
petitioner, completed by a licensed social worker or therapist
or a private adoption agency, in which case the petitioner is
not required to pay any investigation fees. Provides that if
the petitioner does not request that a licensed social worker
or therapist or a private adoption agency complete the
investigation, the court may collect an investigation fee and
assign a probation officer, court investigator or, if so
authorized by the county board of supervisors, the county
welfare department to complete the investigation.
2)Requires, at the request of a parent of a newborn, that
appropriate hospital personnel complete a Health Facility
Minor Release (HFMR) Report, which allows a hospital to
release a minor to someone other than the parents, and provide
copies of the report as specified. Provides that hospital
personnel may not refuse to complete the report, even if the
newborn is ineligible for release at that time.
3)Provides that a statutorily-authorized or court-appointed
investigator, who is conducting an investigation a) as part of
a stepparent adoption, b) as part of a court procedure to
terminate parental rights in order to identify alleged fathers
and presumed parents, or c) as part of a court procedure to
free a child from parental custody and control, is authorized
to inspect a juvenile court case file, provided that the
investigator is acting within the scope of his or her
investigative duties for an active case.
EXISTING LAW:
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1)Provides a streamlined procedure for a stepparent to adopt a
stepchild. Requires an investigation of the proposed
stepparent adoption to be prepared, as specified, by
particular individuals, and payment of an investigation fee,
but does not require a homestudy, unless the court orders
otherwise. (Family Code Section 9000 et seq.)
2)Provides that a peace officer may, without warrant, take a
minor who is in the hospital into temporary custody if release
of the minor to a prospective adoptive parent or a
representative of a licensed adoption agency poses an
immediate danger to the child's health or safety. (Welfare &
Institutions Code Section 305.6 (a).)
3)Notwithstanding #2), above, provides that a peace officer may
not, without a warrant, take into custody a newborn who is in
the hospital if, among other things, all of the following
apply:
a) The newborn or birth mother tested positive for illegal
drugs.
b) The newborn is the subject of a proposed adoption.
c) An HFMR Report has been completed by the hospital and
signed as required. Provides that the HFMR Report does not
constitute consent to adoption or relinquishment of
parental rights and that the birth parents may reclaim the
child at any time, as provided.
d) Release of the newborn to a prospective adoptive parent
or an authorized representative of a licensed adoption
agency does not pose an immediate danger to the child.
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e) The prospective adoptive parents or the representative
of a licensed adoption agency have provided the peace
officer in the hospital seeking to take custody of the
newborn with, among other things, a fully executed HFMR
Report. (Welfare & Institutions Code Section 305.6 (b).)
4)Limits access to juvenile case files, as defined, to specified
individuals and officials, including the child's parent or
guardian, attorneys for the parties, court and state
personnel, including law enforcement and child protective
services, and school district officials. Allows a
court-appointed investigator when acting within the scope of
his or her duties in a guardianship case to inspect the
juvenile court case file in that case. Prohibits any party
authorized to inspect a dependency court case file from
disseminating the file or its contents unless otherwise
permitted. (Welfare and Institutions Code Section 827.)
FISCAL EFFECT: As currently in print this bill is keyed fiscal.
COMMENTS: This is the Academy of California Adoption Lawyers'
annual bill to help better facilitate adoptions in California.
This bill seeks to make three changes to the law. First, it
clarifies who may conduct a stepparent adoption investigation
and makes clear that if the stepparent is using a private
investigator, then he or she does not have to pay the court an
investigation fee for a public investigator. Second, the bill
helps make the process for prospective adoptive parents to take
home a drug-exposed newborn easier by requiring hospitals to
complete a required form. Finally the bill ensures that
specified investigators, whether court-order or statutorily
required and generally used during the adoption process, are
able to examine the relevant child's juvenile court case file.
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Clarifies who may conduct a stepparent investigation. Adoption
of a child by a stepparent generally is a more simple and
streamlined process than that of a typical adoption. While an
investigation is required, the more time consuming homestudy is
generally not required. Under current law, specified
individuals, including probation officers, court investigators,
licensed clinical social workers and licensed marriage
therapists and the county welfare agency, if authorized by the
county board of supervisors, can conduct the stepparent
investigation. The court may not make an order of adoption
until after a report and recommendation on the stepparent
adoption has been filed and considered by the court. The
investigation is intended to assure the court that the adoption
is in the child's best interest.
According to the sponsor, some counties are misconstruing the
language and requiring that a county employee do the
investigation or requiring an investigative fee in all cases,
even when a private investigator is used. This bill clarifies
that a petitioner, at his or her option, may get the
investigation performed by a licensed clinical social worker, a
licensed marriage and family therapist or a private adoption
agency. In this case, the bill provides that the court may not
charge an investigation fee. If the petitioner does not elect
to have a private entity perform the investigation, the court
may then collect an investigation fee and may assign either a
probation officer, a court investigator or, if so authorized by
the county in which the adoption is pending, the county welfare
department. This will ensure that a fee is only charged by the
court when a public entity is doing the investigation. If the
petitioner elects to use a private entity to conduct the
investigation, the petitioner will pay the fee for that
investigation directly to the private entity.
Makes the process for prospective adoptive parents to take home
a drug-exposed newborn easier. In 2002, a law was enacted to
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prevent child protective services agencies from unnecessarily
taking drug-exposed newborns from the hospital into the foster
care system when an adoption plan was in place and an adoptive
home was waiting for them. (AB 2279 (La Suer), Chap. 920,
Stats. 2002.) Several pieces of legislation, most recently AB
973 (A. Strickland), Chap. 440, Stats. 2010, tried to correct
implementation difficulties with the original bill, which
required that the newborn be the subject of an adoption
petition, but that document is generally not available until
after the mother and child have been discharged from the
hospital. The revised process allows the newborn to be released
upon completion of a HFMR Report, developed by the Department of
Social Services, which must be signed by a parent and the
prospective adoptive parent or representative of a licensed
adoption agency stating that the child is the subject of a
proposed adoption; listing the names, identifying information
and contact information for the newborn, the prospective
adoptive parents and each birth parent, to the extent the
information is known; and stating the adoptive parents'
agreement to provide a conformed copy of the adoption request to
the county child welfare agency within five days after filing.
The HFMR Report includes information about adoption and child
abandonment. The report must be completed, in part, by hospital
personnel.
According to the bill's sponsor, hospital personnel are not
always cooperative in completing the required HFMR Report. If
the hospital refuses to complete the Report, it may become
impossible for prospective adoptive parents to take temporary
custody of a drug-exposed baby at the hospital and keep the
child out of the foster care system. This bill seeks to correct
this problem by requiring that hospital personnel complete the
report, even if the newborn is not yet ready for release. This
should help ensure that, when the newborn is ready for release,
the prospective adoptive parent may take the child home and
avoid an unnecessary placement in foster care.
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Expands the investigators who may inspect a juvenile case file.
Juvenile court case files -- both dependency and delinquency
files -- are closed to the public and may only be inspected by a
limited group of individuals, including court personnel,
attorneys in the case, and the juvenile's parents. Included in
that list is a court-appointed investigator who is actively
participating in guardianship cases and acting within the scope
of his or her duties. This bill expands that list to allow a
statutorily-authorized or court-appointed investigator who is
investigating a stepparent adoption, attempting to find a parent
for purposes of adoption, or investigating matters for purposes
of emancipation of a child to inspect a juvenile court case
file, provided the investigator is acting within the scope of
his or her investigative duties for an active case. In each of
these instances, the investigator likely cannot fully complete
the investigation without reviewing the juvenile court case
file. This bill allows for such review, but it is narrowly
drafted to ensure that the review can only be made of the
relevant case file when the investigator is acting within the
scope of his or her duties relevant to that case. Moreover,
because existing law prohibits any party authorized to inspect a
juvenile court case file from disseminating the file or its
contents unless otherwise permitted, the information in the file
is protected.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Academy of California Adoption Lawyers/Academy of California
Family Formation Lawyers (sponsor)
AB 2872
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Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Leora Gershenzon / JUD. / (916) 319-2334