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Committee sends Safe Haven update to print to speed licensed placements for abandoned newborns
Summary
Senator Tammy Nichols presented RS32140, an update to Idaho Code section 39-8202 that would require the Department of Health and Welfare to maintain a list of licensed adoption agencies and set timelines and notification rules for placements of infants left at Safe Haven locations. The committee voted to send the draft to print.
Senator Tammy Nichols, representing District 10, told the Senate Health and Welfare Committee that RS32140 would amend Idaho Code section 39-8202 to clarify placement procedures for infants left at Safe Haven locations such as hospitals and fire stations. "This legislation amends section 39-8202 of the Idaho code updating the Safe Haven Act to include new definitions and provisions," Nichols said when she introduced the proposal.
The measure would require the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare to maintain a list of licensed adoption agencies for placement of infants left at Safe Haven sites. Under the draft, custody would be transferred to a designated licensed adoption agency within 24 hours unless urgent circumstances exist. If an infant requires medical care and an adoptive family has not been identified within 48 hours, the bill would keep the child in the hospital and require notification to the court and the prosecutor to initiate a shelter care hearing. The draft also requires immediate notification to a child’s tribe or the Bureau of Indian Affairs when there is reason to believe the child is an Indian child, with required notices issued within 10 days.
Nichols said the changes aim to place abandoned infants with vetted adoptive families and reduce the number entering foster care. "Idaho has long, been a leader and is becoming more so for good adoption legislation and this bill continues that path," she said. She also told the committee the amendments were intended to clarify and streamline procedures without increasing costs to state or local governments.
Committee members asked procedural and background questions, including how placements are handled now and how the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) would apply. Nichols answered that under current practice such infants would often enter the foster system and said the bill is intended to provide a faster path to placement with adoptive families. She offered to provide fuller background at a formal hearing if the committee requests one.
Senator Keiser moved to send RS32140 to print; the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote. The bill will proceed in the legislative process as a printed draft.
