BILL NUMBER: AB 2488	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Leno

                        FEBRUARY 23, 2006

   An act to amend Section 9205 of the Family Code, relating to
adoption.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2488, as introduced, Leno  Adoption.
   Existing law authorizes the State Department of Social Services or
an adoption agency, as defined, that joined in an adoption petition
to release the names and addresses of biological siblings to one
another if both siblings have attained 21 years of age and have filed
a specified request and waiver of rights with respect to the
disclosure with the department or agency.
   This bill would lower that age of consent to 18 years of age, and
would authorize an adoptee who is under 18 years of age to file that
request with the consent of his or her adoptive parents. If an
adoptee has not filed a waiver with the department or adoption
agency, the bill would also authorize a biological sibling to
petition the court to appoint the department or adoption agency that
conducted the adoptee's adoption as a confidential intermediary,
which would have the authority to contact the adoptee and his or her
adoptive parents with regard to disclosure, as appropriate.
   By imposing additional duties on, among others, licensed county
adoption agencies to act as a confidential intermediary, as described
above, and by increasing the number of sibling and adoptee requests,
this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
  The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Section 9205 of the Family Code is amended to read:
   9205.  (a) Notwithstanding any other law, the department or
adoption agency that joined in the adoption petition shall release
the names and addresses of biological siblings to one another if both
of the siblings have attained  the age of 21  
18  years  of age  and have filed the following with
the department or agency:
   (1) A current address.
   (2) A written request for contact with any biological sibling
whose existence is known to the person making the request.
   (3) A written waiver of the person's rights with respect to the
disclosure of the person's name and address to the sibling, if the
person is an adoptee.
   (b) Upon inquiry and proof that a person is the biological sibling
of an adoptee who has filed a waiver pursuant to this section, the
department or agency may advise the sibling that a waiver has been
filed by the adoptee. The department or agency may charge a
reasonable fee, not to exceed fifty dollars ($50), for providing the
service required by this section.
   (c) An adoptee may revoke a waiver filed pursuant to this section
by giving written notice of revocation to the department or agency.
   (d) The department shall adopt a form for the request authorized
by this section. The form shall provide for an affidavit to be
executed by a person seeking to employ the procedure provided by this
section that, to the best of the person's knowledge, the person is
an adoptee or biological sibling of an adoptee. The form also shall
contain a notice of an adoptee's rights pursuant to subdivision (c)
and a statement that information will be disclosed only if there is a
currently valid waiver on file with the department or agency. The
department may adopt regulations requiring any additional means of
identification from a person making a request pursuant to this
section as it deems necessary, and for obtaining the consent of the
birth parents of the adoptee and the sibling in order to make the
disclosure authorized by this section in any case in which the
sibling remained in the custody and control of the birth parents
until  the age of  18 years  of age  .
   (e) The department or agency may not solicit the execution of a
waiver authorized by this section. However, the department shall
announce the availability of the procedure authorized by this
section, utilizing a means of communication appropriate to inform the
public effectively.  
   (f) Notwithstanding the age requirement described in subdivision
(a), an adoptee who is under 18 years of age may file a written
request for the release of his or her personal information pursuant
to this section with the consent of his or her adoptive parents.
 
   (g) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a biological sibling who
seeks contact with an adopted sibling for whom no waiver is on file
may petition the court to appoint a confidential intermediary, which
shall be the department or adoption agency that conducted the adoptee'
s adoption. The intermediary shall have access to all records of the
adoptee and may locate and attempt to obtain the consent of the
adoptee and adoptive parents, if appropriate, to make the disclosure
authorized by this section. 
  SEC. 2.  If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this
act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local
agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant
to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of
the Government Code.