Family law: adoption.

(1) Existing law provides for the termination of parental rights in adoption proceedings. In connection with those proceedings, existing law requires a court to inquire of the mother and other specified persons and entities in an effort to identify the natural father of the child to be adopted. This bill would permit a court to extend its inquiry as to the child's parentage, in cases involving stepparent adoptions, to the licensed clinical social worker or licensed marriage and family therapist investigating the adoption, if applicable. (2) Existing law provides that parental rights may be terminated under certain circumstances, including where the child has been abandoned, neglected, or abused by his or her parent or parents, and if the child has been declared a dependent of the juvenile court. This bill would eliminate superseded statutory provisions concerning the termination of the parental rights of dependent children. (3) Under existing law, when a petition to declare a child free from parental custody and control is filed, the person having custody or control of the child must be served with a citation requiring that person and the child to appear in court, except as specified. A proceeding to declare a child free from parental custody and control is required to be set for trial within 45 days of service of the petition. This bill would require the party or attorney responsible for serving the citation in a proceeding to declare a child free from parental custody and control to serve the citation promptly. The bill would further require the hearing on the petition be held within 45 days of the filing of the petition. Additionally, this bill would authorize a court to issue an order in that proceeding without a trial if service has been completed and no interested person appears to contest the petition. (4) Existing law provides that, after a consent to an adoption is signed by the birth parent or parents, the birth parent or parents signing the consent have 30 days to take one of specified actions, including signing a waiver of the right to revoke consent. Under existing law, a waiver must be signed in the presence of a representative of the department or the delegated county adoption agency, the adoption service provider who advised the birth mother and witnessed the signing of the consent to the adoption if the birth parent or parents are represented by independent legal counsel, or if the birth parent or parents are represented by independent legal counsel, the waiver can also be signed in the presence of a judicial officer of the court of record or an adoption service provider. This bill would permit a relinquishing birth parent to sign a waiver of the right to revoke relinquishment in the presence of a representative of the department or delegated county adoption agency, a public adoption agency of another state, or, if the birth parent or parents are represented by independent legal counsel, an authorized representative of a licensed private adoption agency in or outside of California, or by a judicial officer of a court in or outside of California. The bill would also set forth the role of independent legal counsel, as specified. The bill would set forth a specified certificate for that counsel to use in those proceedings. To the extent that this bill would impose new duties on county agencies, it would impose a state-mandated local program. (5) Under existing law, a petition for adoption may be filed in the county in which the petitioner resides, where the birth parent or parents relinquished the child, where the placing birth parent or parents resided when the adoption placement agreement was signed, where the adoption agency, department, or public adoption agency is located, or, in the case of a dependent child, in the county where the child was freed for adoption. This bill would revise and consolidate these provisions by providing that an adoption petition of a nondependent child may be filed in any of those locations. The bill would not alter the venue provisions for the adoption of dependent children. (6) Existing law requires prospective adoptive parents to pay a fee to the department or delegated county adoption agency for the cost of investigating the adoption petition. Petitioners with valid preplacement evaluations are charged a lesser fee for that investigation. Under this bill, petitioners with an agency adoption home study less than 2 years old would also be eligible for this lesser fee. In addition, this bill would provide that petitioners with a valid preplacement evaluation are eligible for the lesser fee only if that evaluation is less than one year old. (7) Existing law permits a court investigator, probation officer, or domestic relations investigator to investigate and file a report containing recommendations concerning a proposed guardianship of a person. If the investigation reveals that any party to the proposed guardianship is alleging that the minor's parent is unfit, the court is required to refer the case to the county agency designated to investigate potential dependencies. Under existing law, the guardianship proceedings cannot be completed until the dependency investigation is completed and the probate court receives the agency's report. This bill would give a court in a guardianship proceeding involving a minor discretion to order an investigation by Child Protective Services. Under the bill, the probate court could take any reasonable steps the court deemed necessary to protect the child's safety, including appointing a temporary guardian or issuing a temporary restraining order. The bill would also provide that the author of any guardianship investigation reports and dependency investigation reports could be examined in probate court concerning the report, and would authorize the court to make the final decision regarding guardianship. Further, this bill would make all guardianship investigation reports and dependency investigation reports confidential. (8) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.