A bill for an act authorizing the waiver of preplacement investigations and reports in certain adoption proceedings.(Formerly SSB 1006 .)

Senate

File

154

-

Introduced

SENATE

FILE

154

BY

COMMITTEE

ON

JUDICIARY

(SUCCESSOR

TO

SSB

1006)

A

BILL

FOR

An

Act

authorizing

the

waiver

of

preplacement

investigations

1

and

reports

in

certain

adoption

proceedings.

2

BE

IT

ENACTED

BY

THE

GENERAL

ASSEMBLY

OF

THE

STATE

OF

IOWA:

3

TLSB

1687SV

(1)

91

dg/ko

S.F.

154

Section

1.

Section

600.8,

subsection

2,

paragraph

a,

1

subparagraph

(2),

Code

2025,

is

amended

to

read

as

follows:

2

(2)

A

report

of

a

preplacement

investigation

that

has

3

approved

a

prospective

adoption

petitioner

for

a

placement

4

shall

not

authorize

placement

of

a

minor

person

with

that

5

petitioner

after

two

years

from

the

date

of

the

report’s

6

issuance.

However,

if

the

prospective

adoption

petitioner

7

is

a

relative

within

the

fourth

degree

of

consanguinity

who

8

described

by

subsection

12,

paragraph

“a”

,

subparagraph

(1)

or

9

(2),

and

has

assumed

custody

of

a

minor

person

to

be

adopted,

10

a

preplacement

investigation

of

this

petitioner

and

a

report

11

of

the

investigation

may

be

completed

at

a

time

established

by

12

the

juvenile

court

or

court

or

may

be

waived

as

provided

in

13

subsection

12

.

14

Sec.

2.

Section

600.8,

subsections

7

and

12,

Code

2025,

are

15

amended

to

read

as

follows:

16

7.

a.

Any

An

investigation

or

report

shall

not

be

required

17

under

this

section

shall

not

apply

when

the

in

any

of

the

18

following

circumstances:

19

(1)

The

person

to

be

adopted

is

an

adult

or

when

the

.

20

(2)

The

prospective

adoption

petitioner

or

adoption

21

petitioner

is

a

stepparent

of

the

person

to

be

adopted.

22

However,

in

the

case

of

a

stepparent

adoption,

the

juvenile

23

court

or

court,

upon

the

request

of

an

interested

person

or

24

on

its

own

motion

stating

the

reasons

therefor

of

record,

may

25

order

an

investigation

or

report

pursuant

to

this

section

.

26

Additionally,

if

27

b.

If

an

adoption

petitioner

discloses

a

criminal

conviction

28

or

deferred

judgment

for

an

offense

,

other

than

a

simple

29

misdemeanor

,

or

founded

child

abuse

report

pursuant

to

section

30

600.5

,

the

petitioner

shall

notify

the

court

of

the

inclusion

31

of

this

information

in

the

petition

prior

to

the

final

adoption

32

hearing,

and

the

court

shall

make

a

specific

ruling

regarding

33

whether

to

waive

any

investigation

or

report

required

under

34

subsection

1

.

35

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154

12.

a.

Any

investigation

and

report

required

under

1

subsection

1

may

be

waived

by

the

A

juvenile

court

or

court

2

if

the

may

waive

an

investigation

and

report

required

under

3

subsection

1

in

any

of

the

following

circumstances:

4

(1)

The

adoption

petitioner

is

related

within

the

fourth

5

degree

of

consanguinity

to

the

person

to

be

adopted.

However,

6

if

7

(2)

The

adoption

petitioner

meets

all

of

the

following

8

requirements:

9

(a)

The

adoption

petitioner

is

the

current

legal

guardian

10

for

the

person

to

be

adopted.

11

(b)

The

adoption

petitioner

has

been

the

legal

guardian

for

12

the

person

to

be

adopted

for

the

thirty-six

consecutive

months

13

immediately

preceding

the

date

the

adoption

petition

is

filed.

14

(c)

The

adoption

petitioner

has

complied

with

section

15

232D.402

for

the

thirty-six

consecutive

months

immediately

16

preceding

the

date

the

adoption

petition

is

filed.

17

b.

Notwithstanding

paragraph

“a”

,

if

an

adoption

petitioner

18

discloses

a

criminal

conviction

or

deferred

judgment

for

an

19

offense

,

other

than

a

simple

misdemeanor

,

or

founded

child

20

abuse

report

pursuant

to

section

600.5

,

the

petitioner

shall

21

notify

the

court

of

the

inclusion

of

this

information

in

the

22

petition

prior

to

the

final

adoption

hearing

,

and

the

court

23

shall

make

a

specific

ruling

regarding

whether

to

waive

any

24

investigation

or

report

required

under

subsection

1

.

25

EXPLANATION

26

The

inclusion

of

this

explanation

does

not

constitute

agreement

with

27

the

explanation’s

substance

by

the

members

of

the

general

assembly.

28

This

bill

relates

to

the

waiver

of

preplacement

29

investigations

and

reports

in

certain

adoption

proceedings.

30

The

bill

authorizes

a

juvenile

court

or

court

to

waive

a

31

preplacement

investigation

and

report

for

an

adoption

if

the

32

adoption

petitioner

is

the

current

legal

guardian

for

the

33

person

to

be

adopted

and

has

been

for

the

36

consecutive

months

34

immediately

preceding

the

date

the

adoption

petition

was

35

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filed.

The

petitioner

must

have

complied

with

the

duties

and

1

responsibilities

of

a

guardian

for

those

36

consecutive

months.

2

Current

law

only

authorizes

the

court

to

waive

a

preplacement

3

investigation

and

report

if

the

adoption

petitioner

is

related

4

to

the

person

to

be

adopted

within

the

fourth

degree

of

5

consanguinity.

6

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