S.F. 2225 Section 1. Section 600.8, subsection 1, Code 2014, is 1 amended to read as follows: 2 1. a. A preplacement investigation shall be directed to and 3 a report of this investigation shall answer the following: 4 (1) Whether the home of the prospective adoption petitioner 5 is a suitable one for the placement of a minor person to be 6 adopted. 7 (2) How the prospective adoption petitioner’s emotional 8 maturity, finances, health, relationships, and any other 9 relevant factor may affect the petitioner’s ability to accept, 10 care, and provide a minor person to be adopted with an adequate 11 environment as that person matures. 12 (3) Whether the prospective adoption petitioner has been 13 convicted of a crime under a law of any state or has a record of 14 founded child abuse. The preplacement investigation and report 15 shall include an examination of the criminal and child abuse 16 records of the prospective adoption petitioner including all 17 of the following: 18 (a) Criminal, child abuse, and sex offender registries 19 maintained by the state. 20 (b) Child abuse registries maintained by any other state in 21 which the prospective adoption petitioner has resided during 22 the five years prior to the issuance of the preplacement 23 investigation report. 24 (c) National biometric identification-based criminal 25 records. For the purposes of international adoption 26 preplacement investigations, the national biometric 27 identification-based criminal record check results obtained 28 pursuant to the standards of the United States department 29 of homeland security shall satisfy the requirement of this 30 subparagraph division. 31 b. A postplacement investigation and a report of this 32 investigation shall: 33 (1) Consist of no fewer than three face-to-face visits with 34 the minor person to be adopted and the adoption petitioner to 35 -1- LSB 5632XS (8) 85 pf/nh 1/ 6

S.F. 2225 be conducted within thirty days, ninety days, and one hundred 1 eighty days following the placement and during completion of 2 the minimum residence period specified in section 600.10. 3 (1) (2) Verify the allegations of the adoption petition 4 and its attachments and of the report of expenditures required 5 under section 600.9 . 6 (2) (3) Evaluate the progress of the placement of the minor 7 person to be adopted. 8 (3) (4) Determine whether adoption by the adoption 9 petitioner may be in the best interests of the minor person to 10 be adopted. 11 (5) Include documentation verifying that any unique needs 12 of the minor person to be adopted are being appropriately 13 met in the placement before the investigator recommends 14 finalization of the adoption. 15 c. (1) A background information investigation of the 16 medical and social history of the biological parents of the 17 minor person to be adopted and a report of the investigation 18 shall be made by the agency, the person making an independent 19 placement, or an investigator prior to the placement of the 20 minor person to be adopted with any prospective adoption 21 petitioner . 22 (2) The background information investigation and report 23 shall not disclose the identity of the biological parents of 24 the minor person to be adopted. 25 (3) The completed report shall be completed and filed 26 with the court prior to the holding of the adoption hearing 27 prescribed in section 600.12 . 28 (4) The report shall be in substantial conformance with the 29 prescribed medical and social history forms designed by the 30 department pursuant to section 600A.4, subsection 2 , paragraph 31 “f” . 32 (5) A copy of the background information investigation 33 report shall be furnished to the prospective adoption 34 petitioners within thirty days after the filing of the adoption 35 -2- LSB 5632XS (8) 85 pf/nh 2/ 6

S.F. 2225 petition petitioner prior to placement of the minor person to 1 be adopted with the prospective adoption petitioner . 2 (6) Any person, including a juvenile court, who has gained 3 relevant background information concerning a minor person 4 subject to an adoption petition shall, upon request, fully 5 cooperate with the conducting of a background information 6 investigation by disclosing any relevant background 7 information, whether contained in sealed records or not. 8 Sec. 2. Section 600.8, subsection 2, paragraph a, Code 2014, 9 is amended to read as follows: 10 a. (1) A preplacement investigation and report of the 11 investigation shall be completed and the prospective adoption 12 petitioner approved for a placement by the person making the 13 investigation prior to any agency or independent placement of 14 a minor person in the petitioner’s home in anticipation of an 15 ensuing adoption. 16 (2) A report of a preplacement investigation that has 17 approved a prospective adoption petitioner for a placement 18 shall not authorize placement of a minor person with that 19 petitioner after one year two years from the date of the 20 report’s issuance. However, if the prospective adoption 21 petitioner is a relative within the fourth degree of 22 consanguinity who has assumed custody of a minor person to 23 be adopted, a preplacement investigation of this petitioner 24 and a report of the investigation may be completed at a time 25 established by the juvenile court or court or may be waived as 26 provided in subsection 12 . 27 Sec. 3. Section 600.15, Code 2014, is amended to read as 28 follows: 29 600.15 Foreign and international adoptions. 30 1. A decree establishing a parent-child relationship by 31 adoption which is issued pursuant to due process of law by a 32 juvenile court or court of any other jurisdiction within or 33 outside the United States shall be recognized in this state. 34 2. For an adoption based on a decree issued by a foreign 35 -3- LSB 5632XS (8) 85 pf/nh 3/ 6

S.F. 2225 jurisdiction within the United States, an investigator shall 1 conduct a postplacement investigation and issue a postplacement 2 report as provided in section 600.8. 3 3. a. For an adoption based on a decree issued by a 4 jurisdiction outside the United States, an investigator shall 5 conduct a postplacement investigation that consists of a 6 minimum of three face-to-face visits with the minor person 7 and the adoptive parents during the first year after the 8 placement, with the first such visit to be conducted within 9 sixty days of the placement of the minor person in the adoptive 10 home. Additional visits shall be conducted if required by the 11 jurisdiction that issued the decree. 12 b. The postplacement investigation and report under this 13 subsection shall include documentation that any unique needs 14 of the minor person are being appropriately met through the 15 placement. 16 EXPLANATION 17 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 18 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 19 This bill relates to adoption requirements. 20 The bill provides that a preplacement investigation and 21 report shall include examination of the criminal and child 22 abuse records of the prospective adoption petitioner including 23 criminal, child abuse, and sex offender registries maintained 24 by the state; child abuse registries maintained by any other 25 state in which the prospective adoption petitioner has 26 resided during the five years prior to the issuance of the 27 preplacement investigation report; and national biometric 28 identification-based criminal records. Additionally, 29 the bill provides that for the purposes of international 30 adoption preplacement investigations, the national biometric 31 identification-based criminal record check results obtained 32 pursuant to the standards of the United States department of 33 homeland security shall satisfy the requirement. 34 The bill provides that a postplacement investigation and a 35 -4- LSB 5632XS (8) 85 pf/nh 4/ 6

S.F. 2225 report shall, in addition to current requirements, consist of 1 no fewer than three face-to-face visits with the minor person 2 to be adopted and the adoption petitioner to be conducted 3 within 30, 90, and 180 days following the placement and during 4 completion of the minimum residence period which is 180 days 5 unless otherwise provided. Additionally, the preplacement 6 investigation and report is to include documentation verifying 7 that any unique needs of the minor person to be adopted 8 are being appropriately met in the placement before the 9 investigator recommends finalization of the adoption. 10 The bill specifies that the background information 11 investigation is to be of the medical and social history of the 12 biological parents of the minor person to be adopted; that a 13 report of the investigation shall be made by the agency, the 14 person making an independent placement, or an investigator 15 prior to the placement of the minor person to be adopted with 16 any prospective adoption petitioners; that the completed report 17 is to be filed with the court prior to the holding of the 18 adoption hearing; and that a copy of the background information 19 investigation report shall be furnished to the prospective 20 adoption petitioners prior to placement of the minor person to 21 be adopted with the prospective adoption petitioners. 22 The bill extends from one year to two years the period 23 during which a report of a preplacement investigation that has 24 approved a prospective adoption petitioner for a placement may 25 be used to authorize placement of a minor person with that 26 petitioner. 27 With regard to foreign and international adoptions, the 28 bill provides that for an adoption based on a decree issued 29 by a jurisdiction within the United States, postplacement 30 investigations and reports are to be conducted as required 31 for in-state adoptions. For an adoption based on a decree 32 issued by a jurisdiction outside the United States, an 33 investigator shall conduct a postplacement investigation 34 and issue a postplacement report which investigation shall 35 -5- LSB 5632XS (8) 85 pf/nh 5/ 6

S.F. 2225 include a minimum of three face-to-face visits with the minor 1 person and the adoptive parents during the first year after 2 the placement of the minor person in the adoptive home. In 3 addition to the minimum visits required, additional visits 4 shall be conducted if required by the jurisdiction that issued 5 the decree. Additionally, any postplacement investigation and 6 report relating to adoptions issued by a jurisdiction outside 7 the United States are to include documentation that any unique 8 needs of the minor person are being appropriately met through 9 the placement. 10 -6- LSB 5632XS (8) 85 pf/nh 6/ 6