HB4186ham002 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Adoption Reform

Filed: 2/8/2006

09400HB4186ham002 LRB094 14135 DRJ 55613 a

AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 4186

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 4186, AS AMENDED, with reference to page and line numbers of House Amendment No. 1, on page 1, line 5, by replacing "5 and 35.1" with "5, 25, and 35.1"; and

on page 20, lines 23 and 24, by deleting ", to be conducted at least annually"; and

on page 21, line 30, after "payments", by inserting "to caregivers"; and

on page 22, after line 26, by inserting the following:

"(20 ILCS 505/25) (from Ch. 23, par. 5025)

Sec. 25. Grants, gifts, or legacies; Putative Father Registry fees.

(a) To accept and hold in behalf of the State, if for the public interest, a grant, gift or legacy of money or property to the State of Illinois, to the Department, or to any institution or program of the Department made in trust for the maintenance or support of a resident of an institution of the Department, or for any other legitimate purpose connected with such institution or program. The Department shall cause each gift, grant or legacy to be kept as a distinct fund, and shall invest the same in the manner provided by the laws of this State as the same now exist, or shall hereafter be enacted, relating to securities in which the deposit in savings banks may be invested. But the Department may, in its discretion, deposit in a proper trust company or savings bank, during the continuance of the trust, any fund so left in trust for the life of a person, and shall adopt rules and regulations governing the deposit, transfer, or withdrawal of such fund. The Department shall on the expiration of any trust as provided in any instrument creating the same, dispose of the fund thereby created in the manner provided in such instrument. The Department shall include in its required reports a statement showing what funds are so held by it and the condition thereof. Monies found on residents at the time of their admission, or accruing to them during their period of institutional care, and monies deposited with the superintendents by relatives, guardians or friends of residents for the special comfort and pleasure of such resident, shall remain in the custody of such superintendents who shall act as trustees for disbursement to, in behalf of, or for the benefit of such resident. All types of retirement and pension benefits from private and public sources may be paid directly to the superintendent of the institution where the person is a resident, for deposit to the resident's trust fund account.

(b) The Department shall hold all Putative Father Registry fees collected under Section 12.1 of the Adoption Act in a distinct fund for the Department's use in maintaining the Putative Father Registry. The Department shall invest the moneys in the fund in the same manner as moneys in the funds described in subsection (a) and shall include in its required reports a statement showing the condition of the fund.

(Source: P.A. 83-1362.)"; and

on page 39, lines 3 and 4, by replacing "Section 18.3" with "Sections 12.1 and 18.3"; and

on page 39, after line 4, by inserting the following:

"(750 ILCS 50/12.1)

Sec. 12.1. Putative Father Registry. The Department of Children and Family Services shall establish a Putative Father Registry for the purpose of determining the identity and location of a putative father of a minor child who is, or is expected to be, the subject of an adoption proceeding, in order to provide notice of such proceeding to the putative father. The Department of Children and Family Services shall establish rules and informational material necessary to implement the provisions of this Section. The Department shall have the authority to set reasonable fees for the use of the Registry. All such fees for the use of the Registry that are received by the Department or its agent shall be deposited into the fund authorized under subsection (b) of Section 25 of the Children and Family Services Act. The Department shall use the moneys in that fund for the purpose of maintaining the Registry.

(a) The Department shall maintain the following information in the Registry:

(1) With respect to the putative father:

(i) Name, including any other names by which the putative father may be known and that he may provide to the Registry;

(ii) Address at which he may be served with notice of a petition under this Act, including any change of address;

(iii) Social Security Number;

(iv) Date of birth; and

(v) If applicable, a certified copy of an order by a court of this State or of another state or territory of the United States adjudicating the putative father to be the father of the child.

(2) With respect to the mother of the child:

(i) Name, including all other names known to the putative father by which the mother may be known;

(ii) If known to the putative father, her last address;

(iii) Social Security Number; and

(iv) Date of birth.

(3) If known to the putative father, the name, gender, place of birth, and date of birth or anticipated date of birth of the child.

(4) The date that the Department received the putative father's registration.

(5) Other information as the Department may by rule determine necessary for the orderly administration of the Registry.

(b) A putative father may register with the Department before the birth of the child but shall register no later than 30 days after the birth of the child. All registrations shall be in writing and signed by the putative father. No fee shall be charged for the initial registration. The Department shall have no independent obligation to gather the information to be maintained.

(c) An interested party, including persons intending to adopt a child, a child welfare agency with whom the mother has placed or has given written notice of her intention to place a child for adoption, the mother of the child, or an attorney representing an interested party may request that the Department search the Registry to determine whether a putative father is registered in relation to a child who is or may be the subject to an adoption petition.

(d) A search of the Registry may be proven by the production of a certified copy of the registration form, or by the certified statement of the administrator of the Registry that after a search, no registration of a putative father in relation to a child who is or may be the subject of an adoption petition could be located.

(e) Except as otherwise provided, information contained within the Registry is confidential and shall not be published or open to public inspection.

(f) A person who knowingly or intentionally registers false information under this Section commits a Class B misdemeanor. A person who knowingly or intentionally releases confidential information in violation of this Section commits a Class B misdemeanor.

(g) Except as provided in subsections (b) or (c) of Section 8 of this Act, a putative father who fails to register with the Putative Father Registry as provided in this Section is barred from thereafter bringing or maintaining any action to assert any interest in the child, unless he proves by clear and convincing evidence that:

(1) it was not possible for him to register within the period of time specified in subsection (b) of this Section; and

(2) his failure to register was through no fault of his own; and

(3) he registered within 10 days after it became possible for him to file.

A lack of knowledge of the pregnancy or birth is not an acceptable reason for failure to register.

(h) Except as provided in subsection (b) or (c) of Section 8 of this Act, failure to timely register with the Putative Father Registry (i) shall be deemed to be a waiver and surrender of any right to notice of any hearing in any judicial proceeding for the adoption of the child, and the consent or surrender of that person to the adoption of the child is not required, and (ii) shall constitute an abandonment of the child and shall be prima facie evidence of sufficient grounds to support termination of such father's parental rights under this Act.

(i) In any adoption proceeding pertaining to a child born out of wedlock, if there is no showing that a putative father has executed a consent or surrender or waived his rights regarding the proposed adoption, certification as specified in subsection (d) shall be filed with the court prior to entry of a final judgment order of adoption.

(j) The Registry shall not be used to notify a putative father who is the father of a child as a result of criminal sexual abuse or assault as defined under Article 12 of the Criminal Code of 1961.

(Source: P.A. 89-315, eff. 1-1-96; 90-15, eff. 6-13-97.)".