Whereas, under current law, when a child is removed from parents by the Department of Human Services, the parents have a right to know where the child has been placed in foster care; and

Whereas, when the foster parents are interested in trying to adopt that child, the provision of such information dictates an open adoption; and

Whereas, the unintended consequence of the current law is to effectively exclude a very large group of prospective adoptive parents who are not comfortable with the completely open arrangement that the current law requires; and

Whereas, amending the current law to provide judicial discretion regarding the provision of such information would make a major difference to children in need of stability; and

Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, therefore,

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:

Sec. 1. 22 MRSA §4033, sub-§3-B is enacted to read:

3-B.__Judicial discretion in providing information.__ Notwithstanding subsection 3-A, the court need not provide the information required by subsection 3-A, paragraph B if the substitute caregiver is accepting placement with an interest in filing a petition to adopt the child under Title 18-A, Article IX.

Emergency clause. In view of the emergency cited in the preamble, this Act takes effect when approved.

SUMMARY

Under current law, when a child is removed from parents or custodians by the Department of Human Services, the parents have the right to know where the child has been placed in foster care. When the foster parents are interested in attempting to adopt that child, the provision of such information dictates an open adoption. This bill allows the court discretion in the provision of such information.