2021 -- H 5400

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LC000568

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2021

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO DOMESTIC RELATIONS -- ADOPTION OF CHILDREN

     Introduced By: Representatives O'Brien, Corvese, Noret, and Craven

     Date Introduced: February 05, 2021

     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 reasonable period

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

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     (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

sufficient capacity to express a reasonable preference.

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

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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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