Bill Text: VA SB1423 | 2015 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Foster care; placement of children, local board shall request a search of Putative Father Registry.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2015-03-23 - Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0531) [SB1423 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2015-SB1423-Chaptered.html
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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia: 1. That §§63.2-900, 63.2-1250, 63.2-1251, and 63.2-1252 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows: §63.2-900. Accepting children for placement in homes, facilities, etc., by local boards. A. Pursuant to §63.2-319, a local board shall have the right to accept for placement in suitable family homes, children's residential facilities or independent living arrangements, subject to the supervision of the Commissioner and in accordance with regulations adopted by the Board, such persons under 18 years of age as may be entrusted to it by the parent, parents or guardian, committed by any court of competent jurisdiction, or placed through an agreement between it and the parent, parents or guardians where legal custody remains with the parent, parents, or guardians. The Board shall adopt regulations for the provision of foster care services by local boards, which shall be directed toward the prevention of unnecessary foster care placements and towards the immediate care of and permanent planning for children in the custody of or placed by local boards and that shall achieve, as quickly as practicable, permanent placements for such children. The local board shall first seek out kinship care options to keep children out of foster care and as a placement option for those children in foster care, if it is in the child's best interests, pursuant to §63.2-900.1. In cases in which a child cannot be returned to his prior family or placed for adoption and kinship care is not currently in the best interests of the child, the local board shall consider the placement and services that afford the best alternative for protecting the child's welfare. Placements may include but are not limited to family foster care, treatment foster care and residential care. Services may include but are not limited to assessment and stabilization, diligent family search, intensive in-home, intensive wraparound, respite, mentoring, family mentoring, adoption support, supported adoption, crisis stabilization or other community-based services. The Board shall also approve in foster care policy the language of the agreement required in §63.2-902. The agreement shall include at a minimum a Code of Ethics and mutual responsibilities for all parties to the agreement. Within 30 days of accepting for foster care placement a person under 18 years of age whose father is unknown, the local board shall request a search of the Putative Father Registry established pursuant to Article 7 (§63.2-1249 et seq.) of Chapter 12 to determine whether any man has registered as the putative father of the child. If the search results indicate that a man has registered as the putative father of the child, the local board shall contact the man to begin the process to determine paternity. The local board shall, in accordance with the regulations adopted by the Board and in accordance with the entrustment agreement or other order by which such person is entrusted or committed to its care, have custody and control of the person so entrusted or committed to it until he is lawfully discharged, has been adopted or has attained his majority. Whenever a local board places a child where legal custody remains with the parent, parents or guardians, the board shall enter into an agreement with the parent, parents or guardians. The agreement shall specify the responsibilities of each for the care and control of the child. The local board shall have authority to place for adoption, and to consent to the adoption of, any child properly committed or entrusted to its care when the order of commitment or entrustment agreement between the parent or parents and the agency provides for the termination of all parental rights and responsibilities with respect to the child for the purpose of placing and consenting to the adoption of the child. The local board shall also have the right to accept temporary custody of any person under 18 years of age taken into custody pursuant to subdivision B of §16.1-246 or §63.2-1517. The placement of a child in a foster home, whether within or without the Commonwealth, shall not be for the purpose of adoption unless the placement agreement between the foster parents and the local board specifically so stipulates. B. Prior to the approval of any family for placement of a child, a home study shall be completed and the prospective foster or adoptive parents shall be informed that information about shaken baby syndrome, its effects, and resources for help and support for caretakers is available on a website maintained by the Department as prescribed in regulations adopted by the Board. C. Prior to placing any such child in any foster home or children's residential facility, the local board shall enter into a written agreement with the foster parents, pursuant to §63.2-902, or other appropriate custodian setting forth therein the conditions under which the child is so placed pursuant to §63.2-902. However, if a child is placed in a children's residential facility licensed as a temporary emergency shelter, and a verbal agreement for placement is secured within eight hours of the child's arrival at the facility, the written agreement does not need to be entered into prior to placement, but shall be completed and signed by the local board and the facility representative within 24 hours of the child's arrival or by the end of the next business day after the child's arrival. D. Within 72 hours of placing a child of school age in a foster care placement, as defined in §63.2-100, the local social services agency making such placement shall, in writing, (i) notify the principal of the school in which the student is to be enrolled and the superintendent of the relevant school division or his designee of such placement, and (ii) inform the principal of the status of the parental rights. If the documents required for enrollment of the foster child pursuant to §22.1-3.1, 22.1-270 or 22.1-271.2, are not immediately available upon taking the child into custody, the placing social services agency shall obtain and produce or otherwise ensure compliance with such requirements for the foster child within 30 days after the child's enrollment. §63.2-1250. Registration; notice; form. A. Except as otherwise provided in subsection C, a man who
desires to be notified of a placement of a child by a local board pursuant
to §63.2-900, a proceeding for adoption B. A man will not prejudice any rights by failing to register if: 1. A father-child relationship between the man and the child has been established pursuant to §20-49.1, 20-49.8, or if the man is a presumed father as defined in §63.2-1202; or 2. The man commences a proceeding to adjudicate his paternity before a petition to accept consent or waive adoption consent is filed in the juvenile and domestic relations district court, or a petition for adoption or a petition for the termination of his parental rights is filed with the court. C. Failure to register pursuant to subsection A shall waive all rights of a man who is not an acknowledged, presumed, or adjudicated father to withhold consent to an adoption proceeding unless the man was led to believe through the birth mother's fraud that (i) the pregnancy was terminated or the mother miscarried when in fact the baby was born or (ii) that the child died when in fact the child is alive. Upon the discovery of the fraud, the man shall register with the Putative Father Registry within 10 days. D. The child-placing agency or adoptive parent(s) shall give
notice of a placement of a child by a local board pursuant to §63.2-900, a proceeding
for E. Any man who has engaged in sexual intercourse with a woman is deemed to be on legal notice that a child may be conceived and the man is entitled to all legal rights and obligations resulting therefrom. Lack of knowledge of the pregnancy does not excuse failure to timely register. In the event that the identity and whereabouts of the birth father are reasonably ascertainable, written notice of the existence of an adoption plan and the availability of registration with the Putative Father Registry shall be provided by personal service or by certified mailing to the man's last known address. The man shall have no more than 10 days from the date of such personal service or certified mailing to register. The personal service or certified mailing may be done either prior to or after the birth of the child. F. The Department shall prepare a form for registering with the agency that shall require (i) the registrant's name, date of birth and social security number; (ii) the registrant's driver's license number and state of issuance; (iii) the registrant's home address, telephone number and employer; (iv) the name, date of birth, ethnicity, address and telephone number of the putative mother, if known; (v) the state of conception; (vi) the place and date of birth of the child, if known; (vii) the name and gender of the child, if known; and (viii) the signature of the registrant. No form for registering with the Putative Father Registry pursuant to this subsection shall be complete unless signed by the registrant. G. The form shall also state that (i) timely registration entitles the registrant to notice of a proceeding for adoption of the child or termination of the registrant's parental rights, (ii) registration does not commence a proceeding to establish paternity, (iii) the information disclosed on the form may be used against the registrant to establish paternity, (iv) services to assist in establishing paternity are available to the registrant through the Department, (v) the registrant should also register in another state if conception or birth of the child occurred in another state, (vi) information on registries of other states may be available from the Department, (vii) the form is signed under penalty of perjury, and (viii) procedures exist to rescind the registration of a claim of paternity. §63.2-1251. Furnishing information; confidentiality; penalty. A. The Department is not required to locate the mother of a child who is the subject of a registration, but the Department shall send a copy of the notice of registration to the mother if an address is provided. B. Information contained in the registry is confidential and may only be released on request to: 1. A court or a person designated by the court; 2. The mother of the child who is the subject of the registration; 3. An agency authorized by law to receive such information; 4. A licensed child-placing agency; 5. A support enforcement agency; 6. The child's guardian ad litem; 7. A party or the party's attorney of record in an adoption
proceeding, custody proceeding, paternity proceeding, or in a proceeding of
termination of parental rights, regarding a child who is the subject of the
registration; 8. A putative father registry in another state; and 9. A local department of social services for the purpose of establishing paternity of a child accepted for placement by a local board pursuant to §63.2-900. C. Information contained in the registry shall be exempt from disclosure under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (§2.2-3700 et seq.). D. An individual who intentionally releases information from the registry to an individual or agency not authorized to receive the information in this section is guilty of a Class 4 misdemeanor. §63.2-1252. Search of registry. A. If no father-child relationship has been established pursuant to §20-49.1, a petitioner for adoption shall obtain from the Department a certificate that a search of the Putative Father Registry was performed. If the conception or birth of the child occurred in another state, a petitioner for adoption shall obtain a certificate from that state indicating that a search of the putative father registry was performed, if that state has a putative father registry. B. The Department shall furnish to the requester a certificate
of search of the registry upon the request of an individual, court, or agency
listed in § C. A petitioner shall file the certificate of search with the court before a proceeding for adoption of, or termination of parental rights regarding, a child may be concluded. D. A certificate of search of the Putative Father Registry is admissible in a proceeding for adoption of, or termination of parental rights regarding, a child and, if relevant, in other legal proceedings. |
