BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SB 1040 (Hill) - Adoptions: rehoming
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|Version: April 26, 2016 |Policy Vote: JUD. 7 - 0 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: No |
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|Hearing Date: May 9, 2016 |Consultant: Jolie Onodera |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: SB 1040 would define "rehoming" as an action taken by
an adoptive parent to avoid permanent parental responsibility by
placing the adopted minor in the physical custody of another
person without court approval. This bill would authorize the
rehoming of an adopted child if specified requirements are met.
Additionally, this bill would require the Department of Social
Services (DSS) to establish a working group to review the
challenges faced by families with adopted and special needs
children, and would require a report to be submitted to the
Legislature by June 1, 2018, as specified.
Fiscal
Impact:
DSS working group : One-time costs potentially in excess of
$150,000 (General Fund) to establish the working group,
collaborate with working group members to develop
recommendations, and submit the legislative report.
Judicial Council : Minor costs (General Fund) to participate
SB 1040 (Hill) Page 1 of
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in the working group.
Background: Existing law makes it a misdemeanor for a person or
organization to advertise adoption services in any periodical or
newspaper, by radio, or by other public medium, if the person or
organization does not hold a valid license to place children for
adoption (Family Code § 8609.)
Despite this prohibition under existing law, numerous articles
have highlighted the existence of the practice of adoptive
parents seeking permanent homes for their children without the
involvement of adoption agencies, child welfare officials,
attorneys, or the courts. As reported by Thomson Reuters in its
series of investigations entitled, "The Child Exchange:
Americans use the internet to abandon children adopted from
overseas (September 2013),"
The teenager had been tossed into America's
underground market for adopted children, a loose
Internet network where desperate parents seek new
homes for kids they regret adopting. Like Quita, now
21, these children are often the casualties of
international adoptions gone sour.
Through Yahoo and Facebook groups, parents and others
advertise the unwanted children and then pass them to
strangers with little or no government scrutiny,
sometimes illegally, a Reuters investigation has
found. It is a largely lawless marketplace. Often,
the children are treated as chattel, and the needs of
parents are put ahead of the welfare of the orphans
they brought to America.
The practice is called "private re-homing," a term
typically used by owners seeking new homes for their
pets. Based on solicitations posted on one of eight
similar online bulletin boards, the parallels are
striking?
SB 1040 (Hill) Page 2 of
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Reuters analyzed 5,029 posts from a five-year period
on one Internet message board, a Yahoo group. On
average, a child was advertised for re-homing there
once a week. Most of the children ranged in age from
6 to 14 and had been adopted from abroad - from
countries such as Russia and China, Ethiopia and
Ukraine. The youngest was 10 months old.
After learning what Reuters found, Yahoo acted
swiftly. Within hours, it began shutting down
Adopting-from-Disruption, the six-year-old bulletin
board. A spokeswoman said the activity in the group
violated the company's terms-of-service agreement.
The company subsequently took down five other groups
that Reuters brought to its attention.
Proposed Law:
This bill defines "rehome" or "rehoming" to mean an action
taken to provide a new, permanent home for an adopted minor with
a person or persons other than the adoptive parents, and
provides that an adoptive parent, individual, or entity having
custody of an adopted minor may rehome that minor only if both
of the following requirements are met:
The adoptive parent, individual, or entity having
custody of the minor and the prospective parent or guardian
both obtain independent counsel within 60 days of placing
the minor in the physical custody of the prospective parent
or guardian.
The adoptive parent, individual, or entity having
custody of the minor initiates a lawful guardianship or
adoption proceeding within 90 days of placing the minor in
the physical custody of the prospective parent or guardian,
consistent with the requirements under existing law.
This bill provides that "rehoming" does not apply to either of
the following:
A child placed with a relative, as defined in WIC §
361.3(c)(2).
Temporary placement of a minor by a parent, individual,
or entity for a designated short-term period with a
SB 1040 (Hill) Page 3 of
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specified intent and time period for return of the minor,
if the temporary placement is due to a vacation or a
school-sponsored function or activity or the incarceration,
military service, medical treatment, or incapacity of a
parent or guardian.
This bill would require the DSS to establish a working group to
review the challenges facing families with adopted and special
needs children. Specifically, this bill:
Requires DSS to establish the working group in
consultation with child advocacy organizations, attorneys
specializing in adoption and guardianships, the Judicial
Council, foster caregiver organizations, and individuals
with expertise in the area of positive youth development.
Requires the working group to consider all of the
following as it develops recommendations to the Legislature
as to the services that may be helpful to these adoptive
families:
o The specific challenges facing the following
families: families with special needs children,
families with children adopted through the foster care
system, and families with internationally adopted
children.
o The distinct resources that are available to
the different types of families specified above, and
whether any of the resources available to one type of
family would also be beneficial to another type.
o The training and education that is necessary
to equip mental health professionals with the tools
necessary to provide the specified families with
services tailored to their unique needs.
o How to effectively recruit more prospective
adoptive families that are able to provide new,
permanent, and loving homes to children coming out of
disrupted adoptions.
o The feasibility of creating a clearinghouse of
persons and entities that are knowledgeable in
addressing the needs of, and finding subsequent
placements for, children at risk of being rehomed,
including adoption agencies, social workers,
attorneys, mental health professionals, and
prospective adoptive parents.
Requires the working group to meet no later than June 1,
2017, and submit the recommendations in a report to the
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appropriate policy committees of the Legislature on or
before June 1, 2018.
Includes codified language stating, "The Legislature
acknowledges that adoptive families often face special
challenges. This is particularly true in the case of
international adoptions, adoptions of special needs
children, and adoptions of dependent children who often
have experienced abuse, neglect, and multiple placements.
The Legislature finds and declares that it is the public
policy of the State of California to assist adoptive
families and adopted children, and intends this section to
ensure that these families receive the support needed to
maintain the family unit, and when necessary, find new,
permanent homes for youth."
Staff
Comments: The DSS would likely incur additional workload to
establish the workgroup, facilitate meetings and discussions
with workgroup members, develop recommendations, and submit the
report to the Legislature. The impact on the Judicial Council to
participate in the workgroup is estimated to be minor and
absorbable.
Recommended Amendments: The duties of the working group appear
to conclude with the submission of the legislative report by
June 1, 2018, however, there is no specific sunset to the
existence of the working group itself. The author may wish to
consider an amendment to address this issue.
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