Nine months after Tennessee's abortion ban went into effect, state lawmakers are considering multiple bills that aim to make adopting children easier.
"We believe this is a year to really change the landscape concerning adoption and foster care," Sen. Ferrell Haile, R-Gallatin, said to the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 14.
Haile said he has been working with various agencies on a package of bills related to adoption and foster care since June.
Last June the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 landmark decision Roe v. Wade, which said a woman had a right to obtain an abortion. State law making all abortions illegal went into effect in August.
"Our idea is to make it easier, cheaper and faster to adopt or become a foster parent," Haile said. "Our desire is that Tennessee be the leader in adoption and foster care policy."
Most of the bills involve changes to the timelines and deadlines in the processes of adoption and termination of parental rights. The goal of all the bills is to take into consideration the best interest of the child, Haile said.
Senate Bill 264/House Bill 312
One bill, known as SB 264/HB 312, makes various changes in regard to maintaining and securing documents in certain parental rights proceedings, including ending the practice of adoption records being maintained by the secretary of state.
"Over time, that has been, become very cumbersome and a slow process and expensive process," Haile said, adding that state Department of Children's Services case managers keep those records, so it's unnecessary for duplicate records to be kept by the secretary of state.
Currently, courts conducting adoption proceedings are required to send records to the Department of Children's Services at various times during the adoption process, which Haile said is an unnecessary duplication of records.
"It gets repeated and repeated and takes up time and energy when it can be done at the end when the adoption is finalized," Haile said.
The bill also changes the timeline for termination of parental rights in cases in which a child is removed from a home before a petition is filed, starting the timeline for termination when the child is removed from the home.
Senate Judiciary Committee member Sen. Sara Kyle, D-Memphis, expressed concern at the March 14 hearing that the bill would terminate parental rights earlier than current law allows.
"It just really bothers me when we are taking away parental rights," Kyle said, adding that a parent may not be able to exercise those rights due to factors such as drug rehabilitation, not being able to secure a job or a lack of family support.
"It just breaks my heart to see a child permanently removed from a parent who may exercise their rights in cleaning up, getting their life straight and being able to parent that child in the future," Kyle said. "We're talking about a child who belongs to one individual and terminating those rights. Those repercussions are lifelong affecting."
Senate Judiciary Committee member London Lamar, D-Memphis, asked if the law would prevent a parent who was in a yearlong rehabilitation program from regaining custody of their child.
"Every case is different, but for termination of parental rights, the ground in and of itself is not the only thing that has to be proven," said Sammi Maifair, deputy general counsel for the Department of Children's Services. "You have to prove at least one ground and also prove that it's in the child's best interests to terminate a parent's rights."
A separate statute sets out all the factors a court can consider in determining best interests, Maifair said.
The bill passed the Senate with Sen. Bo Watson, R-Hixson, among the 23 senators who voted in favor, while five voted no and two were present but did not vote. The bill will go before the House Finance, Ways and Means Committee on April 4.
Senate Bill 270/House Bill 318
Another bill, known as SB 270/HB 318, incorporates several amendments that aim to make adoption easier.
"This legislation seeks to make adoption more user-friendly, efficient and attractive as an alternative to abortion for unplanned pregnancies," co-prime House sponsor Rep. Iris Rudder, R-Winchester, said to the House Finance, Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday.
The bill authorizes interested adoptive parents to pay a reasonable amount for costs related to the pregnancy to the biological mother for the duration of the pregnancy and 90 days after the birth or surrender of the child. Present law allows for such payments during the last trimester through 45 days post birth.
The bill also allows for up to two years of counseling for the biological mother to be paid for by the interested adoptive parents. The current length of time allowed is one year.
It also authorizes surrenders of children to be made either in chambers before a judge, as is required now, or over a virtual video platform on which the court sees the person surrendering the child. Judges have the opportunity to decide which will be required, Haile said before the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 14.
The bill would authorize surrenders or parental consent to be made at any time prior to birth, under certain conditions, but consent to surrender must be reaffirmed within three days after the birth.
"It gives an opportunity to start the paperwork out," Haile said, adding that he and his wife left adoption paperwork in their kitchen for a period of time as they considered their decision to adopt one of their children.
The law would allow for judicial waiver on adoption finalization, reducing the length of time an adoption could be overturned by the court by half, from one year to six months.
It also prohibits identifying information from sealed adoption records from being released if the adopted person's biological parent requested the redaction of identifying information when the adopted person was less than 6 months old.
The bill was placed on the regular calendar for the House for April 6 and was re-referred to the Senate Calendar Committee on March 30.
Senate Bill 534/House Bill 164
Another bill, known as SB 534/HB 164, authorizes the court, if a child was voluntarily left at a facility under the Safe Haven Law and has resided within an adoption petitioner's home for at least three months, to waive the six-month waiting period to enter an order of adoption.
The Tennessee Safe Haven Law allows mothers to confidentially surrender their unharmed newborn within 14 days of birth to staff at any Safe Haven facility, including hospitals and walk-in medical clinics.
According to House bill sponsor Rep. Ed Butler, R-Rickman, 94% of parents who surrender a child under the Safe Haven Law do not return for their child.
The bill was placed on the regular calendar for the House of Representatives for April 3, and the bill was referred back to the Senate Calendar Committee March 30.
Senate Bill 535/House Bill 163
Additional legislation, known as SB 535/ HB 163, revises the definition of abandonment for purposes of termination of parental rights to include circumstances where the parent or guardian fails to visit or support the child for a period of three consecutive months if the child is less than 4 years of age, and requires the court to waive the six-month waiting period after the filing of an adoption petition if the child is less than 4 years of age and certain circumstances have been met.
The bill passed the House on first consideration, with Reps. Patsy Hazlewood, R-Signal Mountain, Greg Martin, R-Hixson, Esther Helton-Haynes, R-East Ridge, and Yusuf Hakeem, D-Chattanooga, voting in favor. The Senate bill was re-referred to the body's calendar committee March 30.
Senate Bill 528/House Bill 551
Legislation referred to as the "omnibus adoption bill" by Senate sponsor Haile and House sponsor Rep. Mary Littleton, R-Dickson -- otherwise known as SB 528/ HB 551 -- addresses a range of adoption-related issues, including adjusting the allowable expenses that can be paid by a potential adoptive parent.
Adoptive parents are currently allowed to pay for the mother's housing, food, maternity clothing, child's clothing, utilities or transportation for up to 90 days prior to or 45 days after the birth or surrender, unless a court specifically approves a longer payment period in a written order.
The bill extends from 45 to 60 days the maximum time payments may continue following the adoption or surrender, without necessity of judicial approval. It also authorizes a prospective birth parent and prospective adoptive parent to voluntarily enter into a written contract under which the adoptive parent agrees to pay or reimburse the birth parent for payment of birth-related expenses.
Under present law, a person who surrenders a child has three calendar days to revoke the surrender. The bill authorizes a court to waive the three-day revocation period if the birth parent is represented by an attorney when surrendering a child.
The bill permits the termination of parental rights to be based on the parent having been charged or convicted of a rape from which the child was conceived. It also requires the Department of Children's Services to file a petition to terminate parental rights within 90 days of a severe child abuse finding.
The bill reduces by half the period an adoption can be overturned by the court, from one year to six months.
Lamar asked Haile to explain the reason behind the reduction in time that an adoption could be overturned.
"We've had situations where people just show up at the last minute," Haile said. "What we're doing with this bill to accommodate this is that we're asking the department to put more emphasis on finding any kinship care."
When a child is removed from their home and is in the care of the Department of Children's Services, present law requires the department to attempt to place the child with a relative for kinship foster care. The bill requires the department to continue to attempt to locate a relative for at least 30 days following removal.
Lamar asked if the law would prevent a parent who is in rehabilitation from getting custody of their child once released.
Haile said it would not apply, because the law would only apply to cases in which the adoption is being finalized and the child has been in the adoptive home for six months, not cases concerning the termination of parental rights.
Lamar asked if a 17-year-old mother goes through the adoption process and decides nine months later, when she's 18 and has a good job, that she wants to keep the child, can she get the child back?
"The judge goes through a whole litany of questions and concerns with the biological parent," Haile said of the process of termination of parental rights. "That's the time that they have the opportunity. This would not apply to that individual."
Sen. Jon Lundberg, R-Bristol, questioned whether increasing the expenses adoptive parents can cover for the biological mother would give people who are able to cover more expenses an advantage over adoptive parents who cannot offer as much and whether there is a limit to what expenses can be covered.
Maifair said the statute listing eligible expenses must still be followed. The new law would extend the period those allowable expenses could be covered.
"Adoption is expensive, and to be honest, it's very elitist because it's mostly people who can afford to do all these things," Lamar said. "Do you feel like this process will create somewhat of coercion for women who are turning to adoption because they are experiencing financial burdens, over actually wanting to really do it?"
Adoption statutes as a whole include many safeguards to prevent the sort of situation Lamar described, Maifair said, giving as examples the level of judicial oversight during the adoption process and the reporting of expenses paid.
If adopting through the Department of Children's Services, most aspects of the adoption process are free, Maifair said, so the law would apply primarily to private adoptions.
(READ MORE: $20,000 or more to expand your family? How to pay for adoption)
Lamar asked what safeguards are in place to allow a woman to feel comfortable with changing her mind about giving up her child, rather than feeling coerced because a family has paid for her expenses.
Maifair said parents typically surrender their parental rights in front of a judge who asks them questions, including whether they feel coerced. Many licensed child-placing agencies also provide counseling to parents, she said.
Kyle said she adopted two of her four children and is sensitive to issues surrounding adoption.
"People who are going to do these adoptions have money," Kyle said. "I think we're looking at an uneven playing field. I'm not going to be in support of this bill, but that doesn't mean that I don't understand the passion for a child. I just have to look at the whole circumstances."
The bill also gives foster parents more opportunity to be involved in court proceedings and requires the Department of Children's Services to accept outside home studies for adoptive parents in some circumstances.
Present law requires all surrenders of parental rights must be made in chambers before a judge. This bill removes the requirement that surrenders be made in chambers, but surrenders will still have to be made before a judge.
The bill was placed on the regular House calendar for April 6 and was re-referred to the Senate Calendar Committee on March 30.
Contact Emily Crisman at ecrisman@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6508.