BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2488
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 3, 2006
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Judy Chu, Chair
AB 2488 (Leno) - As Amended: April 19, 2006
Policy Committee: JudiciaryVote:9 -
0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill seeks to make it easier for adoptees to locate
biological siblings. Specifically, this bill:
1)Lowers the age, from 21 to 18, at which an adoptee may request
contact with any biological siblings, regardless of parental
consent.
2)Allows adoptees under 18 years of age to request contact with
biological siblings with the consent of his or her adoptive
parents.
3)Allows adoptees to petition the court for a confidential
intermediary who can attempt to locate biological siblings and
obtain written consent of the biological sibling and his or
her parent if there is no waiver on file.
4)Requires that the department or private agency handling the
adoption act as the confidential intermediary.
FISCAL EFFECT
Currently, the state receives only 2 or 3 inquiries a month from
adoptees looking for biological siblings. This legislation
should not increase that number considerably. Therefore any
costs associated with an increased workload should be
absorbable.
COMMENTS
Rationale.
AB 2488
Page 2
The state has long recognized the importance of keeping
biological siblings together as often as possible within the
foster care system. In fact, California leads the nation in
legislative efforts to preserve foster children's sibling
relationship. These siblings often represent the only biological
ties the children have.
Contrary to the practice in foster care, the statute guiding
services for children that have been adopted out of the foster
care program continues to prohibit DSS or an adoption agency
from providing any sibling contact information unless both
siblings have reached the age of 21 and have signed a
confidentiality waiver. This bill will lower the age of consent
to 18 and will allow adoption agencies to take a more active
role by allowing them to solicit a waiver from a sibling or a
birth parent.
These changes will assist in allowing children to maintain
contact or reestablish contact with biological siblings, thus
strengthening their familial bonds and relationships. In the
case of an older sibling who remains in foster care and an
infant sibling that is adopted, the older child must wait until
the age of 21 before she can provide written consent to make
contact. After that, she must wait until her young sibling
reaches 21 and perhaps decides to file a waiver as well.
Analysis Prepared by : Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916)
319-2081