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Committee advances two adoption-related measures: enforceable post-adoption contact agreements to print and counseling included in birth-parent reimbursement
Summary
Committee voted to send RS32268 (post-adoption contact agreements) to print and to send Senate Bill 11-04 to the Senate floor with a due pass recommendation. Sponsors and advocates said the measures are voluntary and intended to clarify options and reimbursements for birth parents and adoptive families.
Senator Julie Van Norden introduced RS 32268, a drafting request concerning post-adoption contact agreements. Van Norden said the RS would make clear that when the parties voluntarily sign a post-adoption contact agreement it could be approved by the court and made enforceable without making adoption contingent on such an agreement. She said the agreement would not prevent adoptive parents from moving out of state and could be modified with consent; violation of the contact agreement would not be grounds to set aside an adoption or to recover monetary damages.
The committee voted unanimously by voice vote to send RS32268 to print. Senator Ricks moved the motion to send RS32268 to print; Senator Shippey seconded.
Later in the meeting Senator Tammy Nichols introduced Senate Bill 11-04, which clarifies that counseling services may be reimbursable as part of the existing $2,000 cap on pregnancy-related birth-parent expenses (legal and medical costs). Nichols and a witness from Unplanned Good, Teresa Marcroft, said counseling and independent legal counsel are important voluntary services for birth parents and that the bill does not mandate counseling but ensures counseling and the availability of independent legal advice are codified and disclosed.
Senator Lent moved to send SB 11-04 to the Senate floor with a due pass recommendation; Senator Ricks seconded. The committee approved the motion by voice vote.
Ending: Both measures advanced. Sponsors and advocates characterized the proposals as voluntary and designed to make options and reimbursements clearer for birth parents while protecting the finality of adoptions.
