Text of Senate Bill 27

Effective Date: March 16, 2002

Bill Sponsors

REPRESENTATIVES: Kearns, Seitz D.. Miller R., Miller Jolivette, Beatty, Patton, Barnes, Cirelli, Olman, Allen, Carey, Roman, Sulzer ,Hoops, Coates, Barrett ,Webster, White, Widowfield, Carmichael Salerno, Latell, Collier, Schaffer, Hagan, Distel, Redfern, Flowers, Young, Latta, Clancy, Schmidt, Reidelbach, Otterman, Woodard, Key, Jones, Fessler ,Willamowski

SENATORS: Mumper, Jacobson, Blessing, Amstutz, Spada, Carnes, Fingerhut, Mead, McLin, Espy, Robert Gardner, Nein, Harris

Senate Bill 27, signed into law by Ohio Governor Robert Taft on December 14, 2001, broadens disclosure requirements to include children who being placed for adoption with their foster caregivers or any other prospective adoptive parents. The disclosure provisions place a particular emphasis of ensuring that prospective adoptive parents receive information that bears on the child's emotional and psychological health. Section 6 of the new law calls for the creation of a task force to study ways of providing more effective assistance to foster and adoptive parents of children with mental and emotional problems. The law will go into effect on March 16, 2002.

Contents of this page:

• A Standardized Procedure for Disclosing Background Information to Prospective Adoptive Parents

• Disclosure for Foster Caregivers Who Adopt

• New Requirements for the Adoption Assessors

• Disclosure Requirements in Cases Where the Child Has Previously Been Adjudicated a Delinquent

• Creation of a Mental Health Task Force

• Criteria for Child Support Order in Situations Where an Adopted Child is Placed in the Temporary Custody Of A Public Or Private Agency

Section 3107.017 (New): A Standardized Procedure for Disclosing Background Information to Prospective Adoptive Parents.

This new section of the Ohio Revised Code (ORC) requires:

• The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services to develop a standardized form for the disclosure of information about a prospective adoptive child to prospective adoptive parents.
• The information must "include all background information available on the child."
• The state agency to distribute the form to all adoption placement agencies.

Section 3107.013 (Amended): Disclosure Requirements for Agencies That Arrange an Adoption By the Child's Foster Caregivers.

The amended section of ORC 3107.013 strengthens the disclosure requirements for agencies that arrange adoptions of children by their foster caregivers.

• Instead of requiring the agency "to offer" information, the amended language requires the agency to provide the foster to adopt parents with information about adoption including information about state adoption law, adoption assistance available pursuant to section 5153.163 of the Revised Code and Title IV-E of the "Social Security Act," 94 Stat. 501, 42 U.S.C.A. 670 (1980) and other adoption issues the department of job and family services identifies."
• S.B. 27 also adds the requirement for the agency to provide information about "the types of behavior that the prospective adoptive parents may anticipate from children who have experienced abuse and neglect, suggested interventions and the assistance available if the child exhibits those types of behavior after adoption."

Section 3107.12. (Amended) New Requirements for the Adoption Assessors

Under previous law the assessor had to file a report with the court before the issuance of an interlocutory or final decree of adoption. The report was to address:

• The adjustment of the minor and the petitioner to the adoptive placement;
• The present and anticipated needs of the minor and the petitioner, as determined by a review of the minor's medical and social history, for adoption-related services, including assistance under Title IV-E of the "Social Security Act," 94 Stat. 501 (1980), 42 U.S.C.A. 670, as amended, or section 5153.163 of the Revised Code and counseling, case management services, crisis services, diagnostic services, and therapeutic counseling.
• The physical, mental, and developmental condition of the minor;
• If known, the minor's biological family background, including identifying information about the biological or other legal parents;
• The reasons for the minor's placement with the petitioner, the petitioner's attitude toward the proposed adoption, and the circumstances under which the minor was placed in the home of the petitioner;
• The attitude of the minor toward the proposed adoption, if the minor's age makes this feasible.

The amended Section 3107.12 adds two new requirements: The Assessor must

• Provide known information on "the minor's psychological background, including prior abuse of the child and behavioral problems of the child."; and
• File the prefinalization report with the court not later than twenty days prior to the date scheduled for the final hearing on the adoption unless the court determines there is good cause for filing the report at a later date.

Section 2156.62 (Amended): Disclosure Requirements for Prospective Adoptive Parents in Cases Where the Child Has Previously Been Adjudicated a Delinquent for a Serious Offense, Including Those of a Violent Nature.

Previous law required extensive disclosure to foster caregivers in cases where the an agency intended to place a child in their home who had been adjudicated delinquent for certain serious offenses. The amended language applies these same disclosure provisions to adoptive placements and to prospective adoptive parents. Before placing a child previously adjudicated delinquent as a result of certain serious offenses, the placing entity must provide the adoptive parents with:

• A written report describing the child's social history;

A written report describing all the acts committed by the child the entity knows of that resulted in the child being adjudicated a delinquent child and the disposition made by the court, unless the records pertaining to the acts have been sealed pursuant to section 2151.358 of the Revised Code;

• A written report describing any other violent act committed by the child of which the entity is aware;
• The substantial and material conclusions and recommendations of any psychiatric or psychological examination conducted on the child; or
• If no psychological or psychiatric examination of the child is available, the substantial and material conclusions and recommendations of an examination to detect mental and emotional disorders conducted in compliance with the requirements of Chapter 4757. of the Revised Code by an independent social worker, social worker, professional clinical counselor, or professional counselor licensed under that chapter.

Paragraph (C) of Revised Section 2151.62. requires that an entity placing a child for adoption child must conduct a psychological examination of the child in cases where he or she has previously been adjudicated a delinquent for one the identified offenses. The only exceptions are

• If a psychological examination was conducted no earlier than one year prior to the placement of the child with prospective adoptive parents.
• In the case of placement for adoption with the child's foster care giver a psychological examination was conducted no earlier than two years before the proposed date of the adoption.

The report detailing the "substantial and material conclusions and recommendations" must be provided to prospective adoptive parents, including the child's foster caregivers within 60 days after the child is placed for adoption.

The responsibility for compiling the information and paying for a psychological examination falls either to:

• The juvenile court that grants temporary or permanent custody to a public or private agency. The court will then provide a copy of the information to the agency and the agency will provide a written acknowledgement that the information has been received.
• In all other placements, the expenses for providing information and conducting required assessments will be born by the entity that places the child for adoption or contracts with another agency to assist with the placement.

Amended ORC Section 2156.62 also sets forth the requirements to ensure that the prospective adoptive parents receive the information about the child's background and emotional state.

• Paragraph (D) (3) (C) specifies that the agency receiving the information will provide a copy to the prospective adoptive parents.
• Paragraph (F) provides that the parents will provide a written acknowledgment to the entity that placing entity. .
• Paragraph (G) makes persons employed by an adoption placing entity subject to the disclosure provisions of ORC 2156.62 in providing the information to prospective adoptive parents in the case of children being placed for adoption who were previously adjudicated delinquent.. .

Creation of a Mental Health Task Force

Section 6 of the bill calls for the creation of joint Job and Family Services and Department of Mental Health task force to:

advise the General Assembly on the development and evaluation of caseworker assessment education and training programs, assessment standards and criteria, and other programs or initiatives that may better assist foster and adoptive parents in dealing with children with behavioral problems. The members of the task force shall include professionals from the mental health field with expertise in the evaluation of at risk or special needs children and representatives of other organizations the Directors consider appropriate.

The task force is to submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the Ohio General Assembly by July 1, 2002.

2151.361 (New) Criteria That A Juvenile Judge Must Consider When Deciding Whether to Issue a Child Support Order to the Adoptive Parents Order in Situations Where the Parents Reach an Agreement to Place the Child in the Temporary Custody of a Public or Private Agency.

This new section requires the judge to consider the following when deciding whether to "issue an order pursuant to Chapters 3119., 3121., 3123., and 3125. of the Revised Code requiring that the parents pay for the care, support, maintenance, and education of the child if the parents adopted the child.

• The ability of the parents to pay for the care, support, maintenance, and education of the child;
• The chances for reunification of the parents and child;
• Whether issuing the order will encourage the reunification of the parents and child or undermine that reunification;
• Whether the problem underlying the agreement to place the child into temporary custody existed prior to the parents' adoption of the child and whether the parents were informed of the problem prior to that adoption;
• Whether the problem underlying the agreement to place the child into temporary custody began after the parents' adoption of the child;
• Whether the parents have contributed to the child's problems;
• Whether the parents are part of the solution to the child's problems.