1     
ADOPTION ACT AMENDMENTS

2     
2017 GENERAL SESSION

3     
STATE OF UTAH

4     
Chief Sponsor: Lyle W. Hillyard

5     
House Sponsor: Val K. Potter

6     Cosponsor:
Ralph Okerlund

7     

8     LONG TITLE
9     General Description:
10          This bill modifies the Utah Adoption Act relating to professional counselors.
11     Highlighted Provisions:
12          This bill:
13          ▸     replaces "professional counselor" with "clinical mental health counselor"; and
14          ▸     makes technical changes.
15     Money Appropriated in this Bill:
16          None
17     Other Special Clauses:
18          None
19     Utah Code Sections Affected:
20     AMENDS:
21          78B-6-103, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2015, Chapters 137 and 194
22          78B-6-128, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2013, Chapter 458
23     

24     Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
25          Section 1. Section 78B-6-103 is amended to read:
26          78B-6-103. Definitions.
27          As used in this part:
28          (1) "Adoptee" means a person who:

29          (a) is the subject of an adoption proceeding; or
30          (b) has been legally adopted.
31          (2) "Adoption" means the judicial act that:
32          (a) creates the relationship of parent and child where it did not previously exist; and
33          (b) except as provided in Subsection 78B-6-138(2), terminates the parental rights of
34     any other person with respect to the child.
35          (3) "Adoption document" means an adoption-related document filed with the office, a
36     petition for adoption, a decree of adoption, an original birth certificate, or evidence submitted
37     in support of a supplementary birth certificate.
38          (4) "Adoption service provider" means a:
39          (a) child-placing agency; or
40          (b) licensed counselor who has at least one year of experience providing professional
41     social work services to:
42          (i) adoptive parents;
43          (ii) prospective adoptive parents; or
44          (iii) birth parents.
45          (5) "Adoptive parent" means [a person] an individual who has legally adopted an
46     adoptee.
47          (6) "Adult" means [a person] an individual who is 18 years of age or older.
48          (7) "Adult adoptee" means an adoptee who is 18 years of age or older and was adopted
49     as a minor.
50          (8) "Adult sibling" means [a] an adoptee's brother or sister [of the adoptee], who is 18
51     years of age or older and whose birth mother or father is the same as that of the adoptee.
52          (9) "Birth mother" means the biological mother of a child.
53          (10) "Birth parent" means:
54          (a) a birth mother;
55          (b) a man whose paternity of a child is established;
56          (c) a man who:

57          (i) has been identified as the father of a child by the child's birth mother; and
58          (ii) has not denied paternity; or
59          (d) an unmarried biological father.
60          (11) "Child-placing agency" means an agency licensed to place children for adoption
61     under Title 62A, Chapter 4a, Part 6, Child Placing.
62          (12) "Cohabiting" means residing with another person and being involved in a sexual
63     relationship with that person.
64          (13) "Division" means the Division of Child and Family Services, within the
65     Department of Human Services, created in Section 62A-4a-103.
66          (14) "Extra-jurisdictional child-placing agency" means an agency licensed to place
67     children for adoption by a district, territory, or state of the United States, other than Utah.
68          (15) "Genetic and social history" means a comprehensive report, when obtainable, [on
69     an adoptee's birth parents, aunts, uncles, and grandparents, which] that contains the following
70     information on an adoptee's birth parents, aunts, uncles, and grandparents:
71          (a) medical history;
72          (b) health status;
73          (c) cause of and age at death;
74          (d) height, weight, and eye and hair color;
75          (e) ethnic origins;
76          (f) where appropriate, levels of education and professional achievement; and
77          (g) religion, if any.
78          (16) "Health history" means a comprehensive report of the adoptee's health status at the
79     time of placement for adoption, and medical history, including neonatal, psychological,
80     physiological, and medical care history.
81          (17) "Identifying information" means information that is in the possession of the
82     office[, which] and that contains the name and address of a pre-existing parent or an adult
83     adoptee, or other specific information that by itself or in reasonable conjunction with other
84     information may be used to identify [that person] a pre-existing parent or an adult adoptee,

85     including information on a birth certificate or in an adoption document.
86          (18) "Licensed counselor" means [a person] an individual who is licensed by the state,
87     or another state, district, or territory of the United States as a:
88          (a) certified social worker;
89          (b) clinical social worker;
90          (c) psychologist;
91          (d) marriage and family therapist;
92          (e) [professional counselor] clinical mental health counselor; or
93          (f) an equivalent licensed professional of another state, district, or territory of the
94     United States.
95          (19) "Man" means a male individual, regardless of age.
96          (20) "Mature adoptee" means an adoptee who is adopted when the adoptee is an adult.
97          (21) "Office" means the Office of Vital Records and Statistics within the Department
98     of Health operating under Title 26, Chapter 2, Utah Vital Statistics Act.
99          (22) "Parent," for purposes of Section 78B-6-119, means any person described in
100     Subsections 78B-6-120(1)(b) through (f) from whom consent for adoption or relinquishment
101     for adoption is required under Sections 78B-6-120 through 78B-6-122.
102          (23) "Potential birth father" means a man who:
103          (a) is identified by a birth mother as a potential biological father of the birth mother's
104     child, but whose genetic paternity has not been established; and
105          (b) was not married to the biological mother of the child described in Subsection
106     (23)(a) at the time of the child's conception or birth.
107          (24) "Pre-existing parent" means:
108          (a) a birth parent; or
109          (b) [a person] an individual who, before an adoption decree is entered, is, due to an
110     earlier adoption decree, legally the parent of the child being adopted.
111          (25) "Prospective adoptive parent" means [a person] an individual who seeks to adopt
112     an adoptee.

113          (26) "Relative" means:
114          (a) an adult who is a grandparent, great grandparent, aunt, great aunt, uncle, great
115     uncle, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, stepparent, first cousin, stepsibling, sibling of a child, or
116     first cousin of [the] a child's parent; and
117          (b) in the case of a child defined as an "Indian child" under the Indian Child Welfare
118     Act, 25 U.S.C. Sec. 1903, an "extended family member" as defined by that statute.
119          (27) "Unmarried biological father" means a [person] man who:
120          (a) is the biological father of a child; and
121          (b) was not married to the biological mother of the child described in Subsection
122     (27)(a) at the time of the child's conception or birth.
123          Section 2. Section 78B-6-128 is amended to read:
124          78B-6-128. Preplacement adoptive evaluations -- Exceptions.
125          (1) (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, a child may not be placed in an
126     adoptive home until a preplacement adoptive evaluation, assessing the prospective adoptive
127     parent and the prospective adoptive home, has been conducted in accordance with the
128     requirements of this section.
129          (b) Except as provided in Section 78B-6-131, the court may, at any time, authorize
130     temporary placement of a child in a potential adoptive home pending completion of a
131     preplacement adoptive evaluation described in this section.
132          (c) Subsection (1)(a) does not apply if a pre-existing parent has legal custody of the
133     child to be adopted and the prospective adoptive parent is related to that child or the
134     pre-existing parent as a stepparent, sibling by half or whole blood or by adoption, grandparent,
135     aunt, uncle, or first cousin, unless the evaluation is otherwise requested by the court. The
136     prospective adoptive parent described in this Subsection (1)(c) shall obtain the information
137     described in Subsections (2)(a) and (b)[,] and file that documentation with the court prior to
138     finalization of the adoption.
139          (d) The required preplacement adoptive evaluation must be completed or updated
140     within the 12-month period immediately preceding the placement of a child with the

141     prospective adoptive parent. If the prospective adoptive parent has previously received custody
142     of a child for the purpose of adoption, the preplacement adoptive evaluation must be completed
143     or updated within the 12-month period immediately preceding the placement of a child with the
144     prospective adoptive parent and after the placement of the previous child with the prospective
145     adoptive parent.
146          (2) The preplacement adoptive evaluation shall include:
147          (a) criminal history record information regarding each prospective adoptive parent and
148     any other adult living in the prospective home, prepared no earlier than 18 months immediately
149     preceding placement of the child in accordance with the following:
150          (i) if the child is in state custody, each prospective adoptive parent and any other adult
151     living in the prospective home shall:
152          (A) submit fingerprints for a Federal Bureau of Investigation national criminal history
153     record check through the Criminal and Technical Services Division of the Department of
154     Public Safety in accordance with the provisions of Section 62A-2-120; or
155          (B) submit to a fingerprint based Federal Bureau of Investigation national criminal
156     history record check through a law enforcement agency in another state, district, or territory of
157     the United States; or
158          (ii) subject to Subsection (3), if the child is not in state custody, each prospective
159     adoptive parent and any other adult living in the prospective home shall:
160          (A) submit fingerprints for a Federal Bureau of Investigation national criminal history
161     records check as a personal records check; or
162          (B) complete a criminal records check, if available, for each state and country where
163     the prospective adoptive parent and any adult living in the prospective adoptive home resided
164     during the five years immediately preceding the day on which the adoption petition is to be
165     finalized;
166          (b) a report containing all information regarding reports and investigations of child
167     abuse, neglect, and dependency, with respect to each prospective adoptive parent and any other
168     adult living in the prospective home, obtained no earlier than 18 months immediately preceding

169     the day on which the child is placed in the prospective home, pursuant to waivers executed by
170     each prospective adoptive parent and any other adult living in the prospective home, that:
171          (i) if the prospective adoptive parent or the adult living in the prospective adoptive
172     parent's home is a resident of Utah, is prepared by the Department of Human Services from the
173     records of the Department of Human Services; or
174          (ii) if the prospective adoptive parent or the adult living in the prospective adoptive
175     parent's home is not a resident of Utah, prepared by the Department of Human Services, or a
176     similar agency in another state, district, or territory of the United States, where each
177     prospective adoptive parent and any other adult living in the prospective home resided in the
178     five years immediately preceding the day on which the child is placed in the prospective
179     adoptive home;
180          (c) in accordance with Subsection (6), an evaluation conducted by:
181          (i) an expert in family relations approved by the court;
182          (ii) a certified social worker;
183          (iii) a clinical social worker;
184          (iv) a marriage and family therapist;
185          (v) a psychologist;
186          (vi) a social service worker, if supervised by a certified or clinical social worker; or
187          (vii) a [professional counselor] clinical mental health counselor; and
188          (d) in accordance with Subsection (7), if the child to be adopted is a child who is in the
189     custody of any public child welfare agency, and is a child who has a special need as defined in
190     Section 62A-4a-902, the preplacement evaluation shall be conducted by the Department of
191     Human Services or a child-placing agency that has entered into a contract with the department
192     to conduct the preplacement evaluations for children with special needs.
193          (3) For purposes of Subsection (2)(a)(ii):
194          (a) if the adoption is being handled by a human services program, as defined in Section
195     62A-2-101:
196          (i) the criminal history check described in Subsection (2)(a)(ii)(A) shall be submitted

197     through the Criminal Investigations and Technical Services Division of the Department of
198     Public Safety, in accordance with the provisions of Section 62A-2-120; and
199          (ii) subject to Subsection (4), the criminal history check described in Subsection
200     (2)(a)(ii)(B) shall be submitted in a manner acceptable to the court that will:
201          (A) preserve the chain of custody of the results; and
202          (B) not permit tampering with the results by a prospective adoptive parent or other
203     interested party; and
204          (b) if the adoption is being handled by a private attorney, and not a human services
205     program, the criminal history checks described in Subsection (2)(a)(ii) shall be:
206          (i) submitted in accordance with procedures established by the Criminal Investigations
207     and Technical Services Division of the Department of Public Safety; or
208          (ii) subject to Subsection (4), submitted in a manner acceptable to the court that will:
209          (A) preserve the chain of custody of the results; and
210          (B) not permit tampering with the results by a prospective adoptive parent or other
211     interested party.
212          (4) In order to comply with Subsection (3)(a)(ii) or (b)(ii), the manner in which the
213     criminal history check is submitted shall be approved by the court.
214          (5) Except as provided in Subsection 78B-6-131(2), in addition to the other
215     requirements of this section, before a child in state custody is placed with a prospective foster
216     parent or a prospective adoptive parent, the Department of Human Services shall comply with
217     Section 78B-6-131.
218          (6) (a) [A person] An individual described in Subsection (2)(c) shall be licensed to
219     practice under the laws of:
220          (i) this state; or
221          (ii) the state, district, or territory of the United States where the prospective adoptive
222     parent or other person living in the prospective adoptive home resides.
223          (b) The evaluation described in Subsection (2)(c) shall be in a form approved by the
224     Department of Human Services.

225          (c) Neither the Department of Human Services nor any of its divisions may proscribe
226     who qualifies as an expert in family relations or who may conduct evaluations under
227     Subsection (2)(c).
228          (7) Any fee assessed by the evaluating agency described in Subsection (2)(d) is the
229     responsibility of the adopting parent or parents.
230          (8) The person [or agency] conducting the preplacement adoptive evaluation shall, in
231     connection with the evaluation, provide the prospective adoptive parent or parents with
232     literature approved by the Division of Child and Family Services relating to adoption, including
233     information relating to:
234          (a) the adoption process;
235          (b) developmental issues that may require early intervention; and
236          (c) community resources that are available to the prospective adoptive parent or
237     parents.
238          (9) A copy of the preplacement adoptive evaluation shall be filed with the court.