AB 2488 Assembly Bill

BILL NUMBER: AB 2488	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 6, 2006

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 amended, 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  further authorize the disclosure of the names
and addresses of an adoptee and his or her half-sibling or
step-sibling to one another, if the above-described requirements are
met. The bill would also  lower  that   the
 age of consent to 18 years of age, and would authorize an
adoptee  or sibling, as defined,  who is under 18 years of
age to file that request with the consent of his or her adoptive
parents  or, if a sibling, with the consent of a parent or
guardian, or the court under specified circumstances  . If an
adoptee  or sibling  has not filed a waiver with the
department or adoption agency, the bill would also authorize 
a biological   the adoptee or  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  or the sibling  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 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 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.  
   (f) Notwithstanding the age requirement described in subdivision
(a), an adoptee or sibling who is under 18 years of age may file a
written request for the release of his or her contact information
pursuant to this section provided that, if an adoptee, the adoptive
parent consents, and, if a sibling, the sibling's legal parent or
guardian consents. If the sibling is under the jurisdiction of the
dependency court and has no legal parent or guardian able or
available to provide consent, the court may provide that consent.
 
   (g) Notwithstanding subdivisions (a) and (e), an adoptee or
sibling who seeks contact with the other 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 court shall grant the petition unless it
finds that it would be detrimental to the adoptee or sibling with
whom contact is sought. The intermediary shall have access to all
records of the adoptee and shall locate and attempt to obtain the
consent of the adoptee, sibling, or adoptive or birth parent, as
required to make the disclosure authorized by this section. If
contact is sought with an adoptee or sibling who is under 18 years of
age, the confidential intermediary shall contact and obtain the
consent of that child's legal parent before contacting the child. If
the sibling is under the jurisdiction of the dependency court and has
no legal parent or guardian able or available to provide consent,
the intermediary shall obtain that consent from the court.  

   (h) For purposes of this section, "sibling" means a biological
sibling, half-sibling, or step-sibling of the adoptee. 
  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.