Amends TCA Title 36; Title 37 and Title 68, Chapter 3, Part 3.

This bill makes the following changes and additions to present law concerning adoption and placement of children: (1) Present law generally prohibits any person, other than the department of children's services (DCS), or a licensed child-placing agency or licensed clinical social worker, from charging or accepting a fee from any person legally adopting or accepting a child for rendering placement services in connection with the placement of such child for adoption or in connection with the placement of such child for foster care or adoption with someone other than the child's parents. The general prohibition does not apply to payment for various birth-related expenses, legal expenses, and counseling fees. Also, the general prohibition does not apply to payment for housing, food, maternity clothing, child's clothing, utilities, or transportation for up to 90 days prior to or 45 days after the birth or surrender or parental consent to the adoption of the child, unless a court specifically approves a longer payment period in a written order. This bill extends from 45 to 60 days the maximum time period that payments may continue following the adoption, surrender, or parental consent, without necessity of judicial approval. This bill specifies that payments for counseling for a surrendering or consenting parent may be made for in-person and virtual counseling services. This bill authorizes a prospective birth parent and prospective adoptive parent to voluntarily enter into a written contract under which the adoptive parent agrees to pay or reimburse the birth parent for payment of birth-related expenses; (2) Present law requires that all surrenders of parental rights must be made in chambers before a judge. This bill removes the requirement that surrenders be made in chambers. Surrenders will still have to be made before a judge; (3) If a person, DCS, or the licensed child-placing agency to whom a child is surrendered or to whom parental consent is given has physical custody or has otherwise complied with the requirements for a valid surrender, present law authorizes the court, contemporaneously with the surrender or the filing of an adoption petition, to enter an order giving the person guardianship of the child immediately upon written motion by the person or the person's attorney. If the surrender is to a licensed child-placing agency or DCS, the court is required to enter an order giving the licensed child-placing agency or DCS guardianship of the child. This bill makes the entry of an order giving guardianship mandatory for a person to whom a child is surrendered or to whom parental consent is given to the same extent as entry of such an order is required for cases in which DCS or a licensed child-placing agency is the moving party; (4) Under present law, a person who executes a surrender has three calendar days to revoke the surrender. This bill authorizes a court to waive the three-day revocation period if the birth parent is represented by an attorney who is licensed in Tennessee; (5) Present law lists 15 grounds that may serve as the basis for initiation of termination of parental or guardianship rights. One of the grounds is that the parent has been convicted of aggravated rape, rape, or rape of a child from which crime the child was conceived. This bill adds especially aggravated rape and especially aggravated rape of a child to the list of offenses to which such ground applies. This bill also adds that it is a ground for initiation of termination of parental or guardianship rights if the parent was or charged with one of the foregoing offenses from which the child was conceived and entered into a plea agreement under which the parent pled guilty to a lesser included offense; (6) Present law lists four circumstances under which DCS is required to petition to terminate the parental rights of a child's parents (or, if such a petition has been filed by another party, seek to be joined as a party to the petition), and, concurrently, to identify, recruit, process, and approve a qualified family for an adoption. One such circumstance is a juvenile court making a finding of severe child abuse. This bill adds that when a finding of severe child abuse compels DCS to file a petition, the petition must be filed within 14 days of the finding. This bill also adds two more circumstances under which DCS will be required to file a petition, as follows: (A) If a child has been in foster care under the responsibility of the department for six months or more and the child's parents have not made reasonable progress toward obtaining custody of the child during the six-month period; or (B) If two or more of the grounds for termination of parental rights set out in the list referred to in (5) apply to the child's parent; (7) Present law requires that a hearing on a petition for termination of parental rights takes place within six months of the date the petition is filed, unless the court determines an extension is in the best interests of the child. This bill reduces the time within which a hearing is generally required from six months to 90 days of the filing date; (8) Present law generally requires that a petitioner for adoption live and maintain their regular place of abode in Tennessee when the adoption is filed. A nonresident may file an adoption petition if they file the petition in the county where a court granted the nonresident, a licensed child-placing agency, or DCS guardianship or legal custody of the child, or where the child was placed in the legal custody of the licensed child-placing agency or DCS. This bill limits the venue where a nonresident may file a petition for adoption to the county where a court granted the nonresident or a licensed child-placing agency partial or complete guardianship or legal custody of the child; (9) Under present law, the parental rights of a putative father who has not filed a petition to establish paternity, or established paternity, of the child who is the subject of an adoption proceeding and who meets any one of five specified criteria must be terminated by surrender, parental consent, termination of parental rights, or by waiver of interest, before the court may enter an order of adoption concerning that child. One such criteria is when the biological father has claimed to the child's biological mother, or to the petitioners, DCS, a licensed child-placing agency, or a licensed clinical social worker who or that is involved in the care, placement, supervision, or study of the child that the biological father believes that the biological father is the father of the child; provided, that if the biological father has previously notified the department of the biological father's claim to paternity of the child pursuant to the putative father registry, the biological father is subject to all the requirements for notifying the registry of a change address and telephone number within 10 days of the change, and to all requirements for filing a paternity petition. This bill adds to the requirements of such criteria that the biological father must have paid financial support to or for the benefit of the child or the child's mother, or made a court filing or appearance consistent with the biological father's claim of paternity; (10) Another of the five criteria referred to in (9) is that the biological father is openly living with the child at the time the adoption proceeding is commenced and is holding himself out as the father of the child. This bill changes such criteria to be that the biological father is openly living with the child and is holding himself out as the father of the child or has openly lived with the child and held himself out as the father of the child; (11) This bill shortens from six to three months the minimum time that an adoption petition must be on file prior to an order of adoption being entered; (12) If a child has already resided in the home of the petitioners for adoption for six months, the court has received the final court report concerning the circumstances of the child and the petitioners, and is satisfied that the adoption will be in the best interest of the child, present law authorizes the court to waive the six-month waiting period discussed in (11) and enter an order of adoption. In addition to reducing the waiting period to three months, this bill removes the requirement that the child has already resided in the petitioner's home; (13) This bill reduces from one year to six months from the date of entry of a final order of adoption, the statute of repose for overturning or collaterally attacking an adoption; (14) When a child is removed from such child's home and is in the care, custody or guardianship of DCS, present law requires DCS to attempt to place the child with a relative for kinship foster care. This bill requires that DCS continue to attempt to locate an appropriate kinship foster care placement for the child for at least 30 days following removal from the child's home; (15) This bill adds to the eligibility requirements for a kinship foster parent completion of a home study performed by DCS in the same manner as required for foster parents; (16) This bill prohibits DCS from placing a child with, or allow a child to remain in the home of, a kinship foster parent if the kinship foster parent shares a residence with the child's parent who has had parental rights to the child terminated; (17) Present law specifies 25 tenets concerning foster parent rights, which DCS is required to implement through rulemaking. One such tenet is that DCS notify the foster parents of all court hearings and that, subject to the court's discretion, the foster parents be permitted to attend such hearings. This bill changes the portion of such tenet concerning attending hearings to be that the foster parents are permitted to attend hearings as a necessary witness and, if the foster parent or parents have had custody of the child for six months or longer or are in the process of adopting the child, to address the court, when appropriate; (18) In addition to the present law provisions discussed in (17), present law requires DCS to notify the foster parents or any prospective adoptive parent or relative providing care for a child in state custody with notice of any review or hearing to be held with respect to the child. The foster parents of such a child and any prospective adoptive parent or relative providing care for the child must be provided with notice of the right to be heard in any review or hearing to be held with respect to the child. This bill adds that a third-party provider who has provided services for the child while the child was in the custody of DCS must be permitted to attend such hearings as a necessary witness; and (19) Present law generally requires that prospective adoptive parents obtain a home study or a preliminary home study concerning the suitability of their home and themselves as adoptive parents before filing a petition for adoption. This bill adds that DCS must accept a home study performed by a licensed child-placing agency or licensed clinical social worker, and shall not require a prospective adoptive parent who has had a valid home study completed by a licensed child-placing agency or licensed clinical social worker to undergo an additional home study by DCS in order to adopt a child who is DCS's custody. ON APRIL 6, 2023, THE SENATE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED SENATE BILL 528, AS AMENDED. AMENDMENT #1 makes the following changes to this bill: (1) Removes the provision that extends from 45 to 60 days the maximum time period that payments may continue following the adoption, surrender, or parental consent, without necessity of judicial approval; (2) Removes the provision that revises the present law requirement that surrenders be made in chamber before a judge; (3) Revises the provision that authorizes a court to waive the three-day revocation period for a person who executes a surrender if the birth parent is represented by an attorney who is licensed in Tennessee, such that it provides, instead, that the court is authorized to reduce the revocation period to 24 hours; (4) Removes the provision that adds to present law that it is a ground for initiation of termination of parental or guardianship rights if the parent entered into a plea agreement under which the parent pled guilty to a lesser included offense, after being charged with the offense of rape, aggravated rape, especially aggravated rape, rape of a child, or especially aggravated rape of a child, from which the child was conceived; (5) Revises the provision that adds to present law the requirement that when a finding of severe child abuse compels DCS to file a petition to terminate the parental rights of a child's parents, the petition must be filed within 14 days of the finding, by increasing 14 days to 90 days; (6) Removes the provision that reduces the time within which a hearing on a petition for termination of parental rights is generally required to take place from six months to 90 days of the filing date; (7) Removes the provision that limits the venue where a nonresident may file a petition for adoption to the county where a court granted the nonresident or a licensed child-placing agency partial or complete guardianship or legal custody of the child; (8) Revises the provisions relative to the requirement that the parental rights of a putative father who meets certain criteria must be terminated before a court may enter an order of adoption concerning the child to clarify the following: (A) One such criteria is when the biological father has claimed to the child's biological mother, or to the petitioners, DCS, a licensed child-placing agency, or a licensed clinical social worker who is involved in the care, placement, supervision, or study of the child that the biological father believes that the biological father is the father of the child and has either paid financial support to or for the benefit of the child or the child's mother during the pregnancy or when the mother had physical custody of the child, or has made a court filing or appearance consistent with the biological father's claim of paternity; provided, that if the biological father has previously notified the department of the biological father's claim to paternity of the child pursuant to the putative father registry, the biological father is subject to all the requirements for notifying the registry of a change address and telephone number within 10 days of the change, and to all requirements for filing a paternity petition; and (B) Another of the criteria is that the biological father has openly lived with the child and has held himself out as the father of the child; however, if custody of the child has been removed from the biological mother by court order, then notice must be given to any man who was openly living with the child at the time of the initiation of the custody or guardianship proceeding that resulted in the removal of the custody or guardianship of the child from the biological mother or biological father, if the man held himself out to be the father of the child at the time of the removal; (9) Removes the provisions that shorten from six to three months the minimum time that an adoption petition must be on file prior to an order of adoption being entered; (10) Removes the provision that adds revisions to the eligibility standards for becoming a kinship foster parent; (11) Requires the department of children's services to develop and implement eligibility standards for temporary kinship placements; (12) Revises the provision that prohibits the department of children's services from placing a child with, or allowing a child to remain in the home of, a kinship foster parent if the kinship foster parent shares a residence with the child's parent who has had parental rights to the child terminated, to add an exception for when such placement is in the best interest of the child; (13) Rewrites the provision relative to foster parents' rights to, instead, add to the present law provision that a foster parent who has served as the physical placement for the child for a period of nine months or more must be permitted to appear and actively participate in any permanency hearing or dispositional hearing for that child with regard to the best interests of the child; (14) Removes the provision that authorizes a third-party provider who has provided services for the child while the child was in the custody of DCS to be permitted to attend any review or hearing to be held with respect to the child as a necessary witness, and, instead, adds to the present law, provisions that: (A) Clarify that the present law provision must not be construed to require that any foster parent, prospective adoptive parent, or relative providing care for the child who has served as the physical placement for the child for a period of fewer than nine continuous months be made a party to such a review or hearing solely on the basis of such notice and right to be heard; and (B) Require that any foster parent who has served as the physical placement for the child for a period of nine or more continuous months be permitted to appear for the sole purpose of presenting evidence with regard to the best interests of the child; (15) Revises present law provisions governing where a termination or adoption petition may be filed, by adding that an adoption petition may also be filed in a county that is adjacent to the county: (A) Where the petitioners reside; (B) Where the child resides; (C) Where, at the time the petition is filed, any respondent resides; (D) In which is located any licensed child-placing agency or institution operated under the laws of this state having custody or guardianship of the child or to which the child has been surrendered as provided in this part; (E) Where the child became subject to the care and control of a public or private child-caring or child-placing agency; or (F) Where the child became subject to partial or complete guardianship or legal custody of the petitioners as provided in this part; and (16) Revises present law provisions governing foster care by adding provisions that provide that a foster parent or kinship caregiver with whom a child has resided for six months or more is a person who has a significant relationship with the child; and, absent evidence to the contrary, authorize the department of children's services, foster care advisory review board, or court to presume that continuation of the child's placement with, or adoption by, the child's current caregivers is in the child's best interests. ON APRIL 6, 2023, THE HOUSE SUBSTITUTED SENATE BILL 528 FOR HOUSE BILL 551, ADOPTED AMENDMENT #2, AND PASSED SENATE BILL 528, AS AMENDED. AMENDMENT #2 incorporates the changes made by Senate Amendment #1 but changes the statute of repose, as described in (13) of the Bill Summary to nine months and clarifies that such time limit applies to actions of trial courts.