A bill introduced in the Pennsylvania House on Sept. 17, 2025 would create a new Chapter 30 in Title 23 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes to allow courts to reinstate parental rights for parents whose rights were previously terminated by an agency and to set procedures, timelines and evidentiary standards for those petitions.

The measure, introduced by Representatives Krajewski, Delozier, Waxman, Hill-Evans, Webster, McNeill, Samuelson, Rivera, Sanchez, Fiedler, Cepeda-Freytiz, Howard and Hohenstein and referred to the Committee on Children and Youth on Sept. 22, 2025, lays out who may file a petition, the required contents of the petition, which parties must receive notice and the standard of proof the petitioner must meet.

Under the bill, petitions to reinstate parental rights may be filed by the agency, the child (or the child's attorney) or the former parent (or that parent's attorney) when the original termination was agency-initiated and the termination order is final. A petition is permitted only after at least one year has passed since the termination order, or if the child is at least 17 years old, and if one of several conditions applies — for example, the child has not been adopted, the child is in agency custody, or a related petition concerning the adoptive parent has been or will be filed.

The bill requires the petition to include identifying information for the petitioner, the former parent and the child; a statement of the grounds on which the original termination was entered; a summary of facts the petitioner believes show the former parent is willing and able to provide day-to-day care and maintain the child's health, safety and welfare; and, if the child is 12 or older, whether the child consents (or an averment that the child's position cannot be ascertained).

The court must serve notice on the child or the child's representative, the agency attorney, the child's attorney, the former parent (if not the petitioner), the adoptive parent unless parental rights have already been terminated, and, when applicable, the tribal service agent under the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978. The court must appoint counsel or a guardian ad litem to represent the child and must appoint counsel for a former parent if the court determines the former parent cannot afford counsel or that payment would cause substantial financial hardship.

Procedural timelines are specified: a prehearing conference must be held no later than 30 days after filing to confirm compliance with petition and representation requirements and to resolve discovery; if requirements are met, the court must schedule an evidentiary hearing not later than 60 days after the prehearing conference and must hold the hearing within that 60-day window. The petitioner bears the burden of proof. The bill states that, subject to additional considerations for children under 12, a court may grant reinstatement only if it finds by clear and convincing evidence that reinstatement is in the child's best interest, one of the enumerated conditions about adoption or custody is met, the child (if 12 or older) consents and the former parent is willing and able to care for the child.

If the child has been adopted, the bill requires the consent of the adoptive parent and, for children age 12 or older, the child's consent. The bill sets rules for consents to reinstatement executed by adoptive parents, including a 30-day revocation period after execution (with narrower windows and standards for challenging consent for fraud or duress), formal witness or notarization requirements, and prescribed language that must appear in the consent form.

The bill requires courts to issue written orders within 30 days after the hearing, with findings and detailed reasons when granting or denying the petition. If the petition is granted, the court must state that the former parent's legal rights, powers and obligations regarding custody, care and support are reinstated. If denied, the order must prohibit filing another petition regarding the same former parent's rights before the first anniversary of the denial.

The measure includes several related amendments: it adds a provision allowing attachment of original consents to petitions confirming consent to reinstatement; it amends the petition-for-involuntary-termination section so that certain petitioners need not aver that adoption is presently contemplated; and it adds retroactivity language stating the reinstatement chapter applies retroactively to any child under the court’s jurisdiction at the time of the hearing regardless of when parental rights were terminated. The bill also states that a parent whose rights are reinstated is not liable for child support or costs of services provided to the child for the period from the date of termination to the date of reinstatement.

Next steps: House Bill 133 was referred to the House Committee on Children and Youth; if it advances from committee it would need to pass the House and Senate and be signed by the governor before becoming law. The bill includes an effective-date provision stating it would take effect 60 days after enactment.