2019 -- H 5482

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LC000370

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2019

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO DOMESTIC RELATIONS -- ADOPTION OF CHILDREN

     Introduced By: Representatives O'Brien, McEntee, Vella-Wilkinson, Slater, and
Corvese

     Date Introduced: February 14, 2019

     Referred To: House Judiciary

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Section 15-7-7 of the General Laws in Chapter 15-7 entitled "Adoption of

Children" is hereby amended to read as follows:

     15-7-7. Termination of parental rights.

     (a) The court shall, upon a petition duly filed by a governmental child placement agency

or licensed child placement agency, or by the birthmother or guardian of a child born under

circumstances referenced in subsection (a)(2)(viii) of this section, after notice to the parent and a

hearing on the petition, terminate any and all legal rights of the parent to the child, including the

right to notice of any subsequent adoption proceedings involving the child, if the court finds as a

fact by clear and convincing evidence that:

     (1) The parent has willfully neglected to provide proper care and maintenance for the

child for a period of at least one year where financially able to do so. In determining whether the

parent has willfully neglected to provide proper care and maintenance for the child, the court may

disregard contributions to support which are of an infrequent and insubstantial nature; or

     (2) The parent is unfit by reason of conduct or conditions seriously detrimental to the

child; such as, but not limited to, the following:

     (i) Institutionalization of the parent, including imprisonment, for a duration as to render it

improbable for the parent to care for the child for an extended period of time;

     (ii) Conduct toward any child of a cruel or abusive nature;

     (iii) The child has been placed in the legal custody or care of the department for children,

youth, and families and the parent has a chronic substance abuse problem and the parent's

prognosis indicates that the child will not be able to return to the custody of the parent within a

reasonable period of time, considering the child's age and the need for a permanent home. The

fact that a parent has been unable to provide care for a child for a period of twelve (12) months

due to substance abuse shall constitute prima facie evidence of a chronic substance abuse

problem;

     (iv) The child has been placed with the department for children, youth, and families and

the court has previously involuntarily terminated parental rights to another child of the parent and

the parent continues to lack the ability or willingness to respond to services which would

rehabilitate the parent and provided further that the court finds it is improbable that an additional

period of services would result in reunification within a reasonable period of time considering the

child's age and the need for a permanent home;

     (v) The parent has subjected the child to aggravated circumstances, which circumstances

shall be abandonment, torture, chronic abuse and sexual abuse;

     (vi) The parent has committed murder or voluntary manslaughter on another of his or her

children or has committed a felony assault resulting in serious bodily injury on that child or

another of his or her children or has aided or abetted, attempted, conspired or solicited to commit

such a murder or voluntary manslaughter; or

     (vii) The parent has exhibited behavior or conduct that is seriously detrimental to the

child, for a duration as to render it improbable for the parent to care for the child for an extended

period of time; or

     (viii) The parent has been convicted of sexual assault upon the birthmother and

parenthood is a result of that sexual assault, which shall be established by proving that the child

was conceived as a result of a conviction for any offense set forth in §§ 11-37-2, 11-37-6 or 11-

37-8.1. Conception as a result of sexual assault may be proved by DNA tests and upon conviction

of the putative father, and after a fact finding hearing establishing paternity, said father's parental

rights shall be terminated by order of the court. Termination of the parental rights of the father

shall include the loss of all parental rights without limitation, including the adoption of said child.

The father shall also have no right to any visitation with the minor child and shall have no right to

any inheritance from a child conceived as a result of sexual assault as specified.

     (3) The child has been placed in the legal custody or care of the department for children,

youth, and families for at least twelve (12) months, and the parents were offered or received

services to correct the situation which led to the child being placed; provided, that there is not a

substantial probability that the child will be able to return safely to the parents' care within a

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reasonable period of time considering the child's age and the need for a permanent home; or

     (4) The parent has abandoned or deserted the child. A lack of communication or contact

with the child for at least a six (6) month period shall constitute prima facie evidence of

abandonment or desertion. In the event that parents of an infant have had no contact or

communication with the infant for a period of six (6) months the department shall file a petition

pursuant to this section and the family court shall conduct expedited hearings on the petition.

     (b)(1) In the event that the petition is filed pursuant to subdivisions (a)(1), (a)(2)(i),

(a)(2)(iii), or (a)(2)(vii) of this section, the court shall find as a fact that, prior to the granting of

the petition, such parental conduct or conditions must have occurred or existed notwithstanding

the reasonable efforts which shall be made by the agency prior to the filing of the petition to

encourage and strengthen the parental relationship so that the child can safely return to the family.

In the event that a petition is filed pursuant to subdivisions (a)(2)(ii), (a)(2)(iv), (a)(2)(v),

(a)(2)(vi) or (a)(4) of this section, the department has no obligation to engage in reasonable

efforts to preserve and reunify a family.

     (2) Any duty or obligation on the part of a licensed or governmental child placing agency

to make reasonable efforts to strengthen the parental relationship shall cease upon the filing of a

petition under this section. This provision shall not be construed and is not intended to limit or

affect in any way the parents' right to see or visit with the child during the pendency of a petition

under this section.

     (3) Upon the filing of a termination of parental rights petition, the agency has an

affirmative duty to identify, recruit, process and approve a qualified family for adoption or other

permanent living arrangement for the child.

     (c)(1) In considering the termination of rights as pursuant to subsection (a), the court

shall give primary consideration to the physical, psychological, mental, and intellectual needs of

the child insofar as that consideration is not inconsistent with other provisions of this chapter.

     (2) The consideration shall include the following: If a child has been placed in foster

family care, voluntarily or involuntarily, the court shall determine whether the child has been

integrated into the foster family to the extent that the child's familial identity is with the foster

family and whether the foster family is able and willing to permanently integrate the child into the

foster family; provided, that in considering integrating into a foster family, the court should

consider:

     (i) The length of time child has lived in a stable, satisfactory environment and the

desirability of maintaining that environment and continuity for the child; and

     (ii) The reasonable preference of the child, if the court determines that the child has

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sufficient capacity to express a reasonable preference.

     (d) If the court finds that the parental rights of the parent should be terminated as

specified in subsection (a), it shall by decree duly entered, appoint some suitable person to give or

withhold consent in any subsequent adoption proceedings. In the case of petitions filed by

licensed or governmental child placement agencies, the court shall appoint the agency to be the

sole party to give or withhold consent to the adoption of the child and further vest the agency with

all rights of guardianship over the child.

     (e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the introduction of expert

testimony with respect to any illness, medical or psychological condition, trauma, incompetency,

addiction to drugs, or alcoholism of any parent who has exhibited behavior or conduct that is

seriously detrimental to a child, to assist the court in evaluating the reason for the conduct or its

probable duration.

     (f) The record of the testimony of the parties adduced in any proceeding terminating

parental rights to a child shall be entitled to the confidentiality provided for in § 8-10-21 and

more specifically shall not be admissible in any civil, criminal, or other proceeding in any court

against a person named a defendant or respondent for any purpose, except in subsequent

proceedings involving the same child or proceedings involving the same respondent.

     (g) In the event any child, the parental rights to whom have been finally terminated, has

not been placed by the agency in the home of a person or persons with the intention of adopting

the child within thirty (30) days from the date of the final termination decree, the family court

shall review the status of the child and the agency shall file a report that documents the steps the

agency is taking to find an adoptive family or other permanent living arrangement for the child, to

place the child with an adoptive family, a fit and willing relative, a legal guardian, or in another

planned permanent living arrangement, and to finalize the adoption or legal guardianship. At a

minimum, this documentation shall include child specific recruitment efforts, such as the use of

state, regional and national adoption exchanges, including electronic exchange system.

     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO DOMESTIC RELATIONS -- ADOPTION OF CHILDREN

***

     This act would terminate all parental rights of any person convicted of sexual assault

which results in the birth of a child from said assault. Termination of parental rights would take

effect after a fact finding hearing in the family court which established the conviction of the

accused father and after establishing paternity through the use of DNA.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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