House File 2169 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 2169 BY HEATON A BILL FOR An Act relating to cooperative agreements for continued contact 1 and communication between a biological parent, siblings, and 2 other family members of a minor child and the adopted minor 3 child following the issuance of a final adoption decree. 4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 5 TLSB 5815YH (2) 86 pf/nh

H.F. 2169 Section 1. Section 600.7A, Code 2016, is amended to read as 1 follows: 2 600.7A Adoption services provided by or through department 3 of human services —— selection of adoptive parent criteria —— 4 cooperative postadoption contact and communication agreements . 5 1. The department of human services shall adopt rules 6 which provide that if adoption services are provided by or 7 through the department, notwithstanding any other selection of 8 adoptive parent criteria, the overriding criterion shall be a 9 preference for placing a child in a stable home environment as 10 expeditiously as possible. 11 2. The supreme court shall adopt rules to provide for 12 the entering of a written cooperative agreement between the 13 biological parent and the adoptive parent who are parties 14 to the adoption, to provide for continuing contact and 15 communication between the biological parent, siblings, or other 16 family members of a minor child and the minor child following 17 issuance of a final adoption decree, if adoption services are 18 provided by or through the department of human services, the 19 biological parent has voluntarily terminated the parent-child 20 relationship and consented to the adoption, and the child is 21 ten years of age or older at the time the adoption petition is 22 filed. The rules shall require that the cooperative agreement 23 states with specificity the contact and communication terms to 24 which the parties have agreed, and that the biological parent 25 and adoptive parent have signed and submitted the cooperative 26 agreement to the juvenile court or court prior to the issuance 27 of a final adoption decree, subject to approval by the juvenile 28 court or court. The juvenile court or court shall retain 29 jurisdiction to enforce or modify such approved cooperative 30 agreements. 31 Sec. 2. Section 600.13, Code 2016, is amended by adding the 32 following new subsection: 33 NEW SUBSECTION . 6. The juvenile court or court shall 34 review any cooperative agreement filed in accordance with rules 35 -1- LSB 5815YH (2) 86 pf/nh 1/ 4

H.F. 2169 adopted pursuant to section 600.7A relating to provision of 1 continuing contact and communication between the biological 2 parent, siblings, or other family members of the minor child 3 and the minor child following issuance of a final adoption 4 decree to determine if the provisions of the cooperative 5 agreement are in the best interest of the child, and shall 6 approve or disapprove the cooperative agreement prior to 7 issuance of a final adoption decree under this section. 8 Sec. 3. Section 600.16, subsection 1, Code 2016, is amended 9 by adding the following new paragraph: 10 NEW PARAGRAPH . e. The biological parent who is a party to a 11 cooperative agreement as specified in section 600.7A, providing 12 for continuing contact and communication between the biological 13 parent, siblings, or other family members of the minor child 14 and the minor child following issuance of a final adoption 15 decree, approved by the juvenile court or court prior to the 16 issuance of the final adoption decree. 17 Sec. 4. Section 600.16, subsections 2 and 4, Code 2016, are 18 amended to read as follows: 19 2. Information regarding an adopted person’s existing 20 medical and developmental history and family medical history, 21 which meets the definition of background information in section 22 600.8, subsection 1 , paragraph “c” , shall be made available as 23 provided in subsection 1 . However, the identity of the adopted 24 person’s biological parents shall not be disclosed unless 25 subsection 1, paragraph “e” , is applicable . 26 4. Any person other than the adopting parents or the adopted 27 person, or a biological parent to whom subsection 1, paragraph 28 “e” , is applicable, who discloses information in violation of 29 this section , is guilty of a simple misdemeanor for the first 30 offense, a serious misdemeanor for a second offense, and an 31 aggravated misdemeanor for a third or subsequent offense. 32 Sec. 5. Section 600.16A, Code 2016, is amended by adding the 33 following new subsection: 34 NEW SUBSECTION . 4A. Notwithstanding any provision to the 35 -2- LSB 5815YH (2) 86 pf/nh 2/ 4

H.F. 2169 contrary under this section, a biological parent who is a party 1 to a cooperative agreement as specified in section 600.7A which 2 has been approved by the juvenile court or court prior to the 3 issuance of a final adoption decree, and the adopted person 4 who is the subject of the adoption who is an adult, shall have 5 access to all papers and records pertaining to a termination 6 of parental rights under chapter 600A and to the permanent 7 adoption record. 8 Sec. 6. Section 600.16A, subsection 6, Code 2016, is amended 9 to read as follows: 10 6. Any person, other than the adopting parents or the 11 adopted person, or a biological parent to whom subsection 4A 12 is applicable, who discloses information in violation of this 13 section , is guilty of a simple misdemeanor. 14 EXPLANATION 15 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 16 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 17 This bill directs the supreme court to adopt rules to provide 18 for cooperative agreements between a biological parent and an 19 adoptive parent for continued contact and communication between 20 the biological parent, siblings, or any other family members 21 of the minor child and the minor child following the issuance 22 of a final adoption decree. Such cooperative agreements 23 are only available to parties to an adoption relative to 24 which the department of human services is providing adoption 25 services, the biological parent has voluntarily terminated the 26 parent-child relationship and consented to the adoption of the 27 minor child, and the minor child is 10 years of age or older at 28 the time of filing of the adoption petition. The rules are to 29 require that the cooperative agreement states with specificity 30 the contact and communication terms to which the parties have 31 agreed, and that the biological parent and adoptive parent have 32 signed and submitted the cooperative agreement to the juvenile 33 court or court prior to the issuance of a final adoption 34 decree, subject to approval of the juvenile court or court. 35 -3- LSB 5815YH (2) 86 pf/nh 3/ 4

H.F. 2169 The juvenile court or court retains jurisdiction to enforce or 1 modify such approved cooperative agreements. 2 The bill directs the juvenile court or court to review any 3 cooperative agreement filed to determine if the provisions 4 of the cooperative agreement are in the best interest of the 5 child, and to approve or disapprove the cooperative agreement 6 prior to issuing a final adoption decree. 7 The bill also makes conforming changes to provisions 8 relating to access to adoption records and other information 9 relative to an adoption and termination of parental rights 10 proceedings to provide access to this information by the 11 biological parent who is a party to a cooperative agreement, 12 in addition to the adoptive parent and others who are already 13 provided such access under the law. 14 -4- LSB 5815YH (2) 86 pf/nh 4/ 4