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Wyoming panel advances bill adding relative guardianship as new ground for termination of parental rights
Summary
The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced Senate File 22 after witnesses described grandparents and other relatives raising children for years; committee adopted amendments specifying "at least 24 consecutive months" and requiring a court finding of parental unfitness before termination.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Olsen on the committee's voice vote advanced Senate File 22, a proposal to add the existence of a long-term guardianship with a relative as a tenth statutory ground for termination of parental rights in Wyoming.
The bill's sponsor, Senator Schueller, said the measure would allow courts to terminate parental rights where “the child has been appointed a guardian who is a relative of the child; the child has been under the guardian's care for more than 24 months; and the parent is unfit to have the custody and control of the child.” He told the committee that relatives are increasingly raising children and that permanency can reduce trauma for children who have been “bounced around.”
Supporters described cases in which grandparents and other relatives have provided stable homes for children while parents struggled with addiction or criminal involvement. Pat…
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