Introduced Version
Senate Bill 153 History
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Senate Bill No. 153
(By Senators Yost and Fitzsimmons)
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[Introduced February 14, 2013; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary .]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §48-23-601 of the Code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended; and to amend said code by adding
thereto a new section, designated §48-23-602, all relating to
compiling and making available nonidentifying social and
medical histories of birth parents prior to an adoption.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §48-23-601 the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted; and that said code be amended by adding
thereto a new section, designated §48-23-602, all to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 23. VOLUNTARY ADOPTION REGISTRY.
PART 6. HEALTH HISTORY; SOCIAL AND GENETIC HISTORY.
§48-23-601. Compilation of nonidentifying information on health history and social and genetic history.
(a) Prior to placement for adoption, the court shall require
that the licensed adoption agency or, where an agency is not
involved, the person, entity or organization handling the adoption,
shall compile and provide to the prospective adoptive parents a
detailed written health history, genetic and social history of the
child. These histories must exclude information that would
identify birth parents or members of a birth parent's family. The
histories must be set forth in a document that is separate from any
document containing such identifying information.
(b) The court, or an agency designated by the court, or judge
thereof, shall provide to an agency, person, or organization
handling the adoption the forms which must be utilized in the
acquisition of the above-described detailed nonidentifying written
health history and genetic and social history of the child. If the
records cannot be obtained, the court shall make specific findings
as to why the records are unobtainable.
(c) Records containing such nonidentifying information and
which are set forth on a document described in subsection (a)
above, separate from any document containing identifying data:
(1) Shall be retained by the clerk of the court for ninety-
nine years; and
(2) Shall be available upon request, throughout the time specified in subdivision (1) of this subsection together with any
additional nonidentifying information which may have been added on
health or on genetic and provided pursuant to section six hundred
two of this article, containing the medical and social history of
the birth parents, but which excludes information identifying any
birth parent or member of a birth parent's family, or the adoptee
or any adoptive parent of the adoptee, to the following persons
only:
(A) The adoptive parents of the child or, in the event of
death of the adoptive parents, the child's guardian;
(B) The adoptee upon reaching the age of eighteen;
(C) In the event of the death of the adoptee, the adoptee's
spouse if he or she is the legal parent of the adoptee's child or
the guardian of any child of the adoptee;
(D) In the event of the death of the adoptee, any progeny of
the adoptee who is age eighteen or older; and
(E) The birth parent of the adoptee.
(d) The person requesting nonidentifying health history and
genetic and social history shall pay the actual and reasonable
costs of providing that information. This provision requiring
payment of costs is subject to sections of this article that
provide for the adoptee to obtain information by petitioning the
court.
§48-23-602. Taking social and medical histories of birth parents.
(a) The Division of Human Services shall prescribe and supply
forms for the taking of social and medical histories of the birth
parents of minors available for adoption.
(b) The licensed adoption agency, or, where an agency is not
involved, the person, entity or organization handling the adoption
shall designate an assessor who shall record the social and medical
histories of the birth parents of a minor available for adoption,
unless the minor is to be adopted by the minor's stepparent or
grandparent. The assessor shall use the forms prescribed pursuant
to subsection (a) of this section. The assessor shall not include
on the forms identifying information about the birth parents or
other ancestors of the minor.
(c) A social history shall describe and identify the age;
ethnic, racial, religious, marital and physical characteristics;
and educational, cultural, talent and hobby, and work experience
background of the birth parents. A medical history shall identify
major diseases, malformations, allergies, ear or eye defects, major
conditions and major health problems of the birth parents that are
or may be congenital or familial. These histories may include
other social and medical information relative to the birth parents
and shall include social and medical information relative to the
minor's other ancestors.
The social and medical histories may be obtained through
interview with the birth parents or other persons and from any
available records if a birth parent or any legal guardian of a
birth parent consents to the release of information contained in a
record. An assessor who considers it necessary may request that a
birth parent undergo a medical examination. In obtaining social
and medical histories of a birth parent, an assessor shall inform
the birth parent, or person other than a birth parent who provides
information pursuant to this section, of the purpose and use of the
histories and of the birth parent's or other person's right to
correct or expand the histories at any time.
(d) A birth parent, or another person who provided information
in the preparation of the social and medical histories of the birth
parents of a minor, may cause the histories to be corrected or
expanded to include different or additional types of information.
The birth parent or other person may cause the histories to be
corrected or expanded at any time prior or subsequent to the
adoption of the minor, including any time after the minor becomes
an adult. A birth parent may cause the histories to be corrected or
expanded even if the birth parent did not provide any information
to the assessor at the time the histories were prepared.
(1) To cause the histories to be corrected or expanded, a
birth parent or other person who provided information shall provide the information to be included or specify the information to be
corrected to whichever of the following is appropriate under the
circumstances:
(A) Subject to paragraph (B) of this subdivision, if the birth
parent or other person knows the assessor who prepared the
histories, to the assessor;
(B) If the birth parent or person does not know the assessor
or finds that the assessor has ceased to perform assessments, to
the court involved in the adoption or, if that court is not known,
to the Division of Human Services.
(2) An assessor who receives information from a birth parent
or other person pursuant to paragraph (B), subdivision (1) of this
subsection shall determine whether the information is of a type
that subsections (b) and (c) of this section permit to be included
in the histories. If the assessor determines the information is of
a permissible type, the assessor shall cause the histories to be
corrected or expanded to reflect the information. If, at the time
the information is received, the histories have been filed with the
court as required by subsection (e) of this section, the court
shall cooperate with the assessor in correcting or expanding the
histories.
(3) If the Division of Human Services or a court receives
information from a birth parent or other person pursuant to paragraph (B), subdivision (1) of this subsection, it shall
determine whether the information is of a type that subsections (b)
and (c) of this section permit to be included in the histories. If
a court determines the information is of a permissible type, the
court shall cause the histories to be corrected or expanded to
reflect the information. If the Division of Human Services so
determines, the court involved shall cooperate with the division in
the correcting or expanding of the histories.
(4) An assessor or the Division of Human Services shall notify
a birth parent or other person in writing if the assessor or
division determines that information the birth parent or other
person provided or specified for inclusion in a history is not of
a type that may be included in a history. On receipt of the notice,
the birth parent or other person may petition the court involved in
the adoption to make a finding as to whether the information is of
a type that may be included in a history. On receipt of the
petition, the court shall issue its finding without holding a
hearing. If the court finds that the information is of a type that
may be included in a history, it shall cause the history to be
corrected or expanded to reflect the information.
(e) An assessor shall file the social and medical histories of
the birth parents prepared pursuant to subsections (b) and (c) of
this section with the court with which a petition to adopt the birth parents' child is filed. The court promptly shall provide a
copy of the social and medical histories filed with it to the
petitioner. In a case involving the adoption of a minor by any
person other than the minor's stepparent or grandparent, a court
may refuse to issue an interlocutory order or final decree of
adoption if the histories of the birth parents have not been so
filed, unless the assessor certifies to the court that information
needed to prepare the histories is unavailable for reasons beyond
the assessor's control.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to facilitate compiling and
making available nonidentifying social and medical histories of
birth parents prior to an adoption.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
§48-23-602 is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring
have been omitted.