| Chapter 405 |
| 2021 -- H 5400 Enacted 07/14/2021 |
| 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 |
| 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 that 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 of 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 of 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 that 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 the 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 the 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 of children, |
| youth, and families for at least twelve (12) months, and the parents were offered or received services |
| to correct the situation which that 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 |
| (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 (6) 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 subsection (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 that 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 subsection |
| (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 the 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 |
| 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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