SB 141 — AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 13 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO TERMINATION AND TRANSFER OF PARENTAL RIGHTS IN ADOPTION PROCEEDINGS.

Summary

This Act is the result of over 6 years of work and collaboration among the Family Court, Department of Justice, Department of Services for Youth, Children, and their Families, the Office of the Child Advocate, private adoption agencies, and the Family Law Section of the Delaware Bar Association to modernize Delaware’s termination of parental rights (“TPR”) statute. This Act makes numerous technical and substantive revisions to conform and update the TPR statute with current practices and procedure, provide clarity to and ease of use for certain portions of the statute, and conform the TPR statute with the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. Notable changes include: (1) Several changes to the grounds for terminating parental rights: elimination of the ground of mental incompetence, addition of murder or manslaughter of the other parent as a ground, and creation of a new ground for parents in private TPR proceedings who have failed to alleviate circumstances causing their children to be dependent or neglected in their care after receiving notice and a reasonable opportunity to address the issues. (2) Reclassifying abandonment of a child under the Safe Arms program from an involuntary TPR to a voluntary consent. (3) Increasing the standard to terminate the rights of only 1 parent from “harmful to the child” to “serious physical or emotional harm to the child.” (4) Eliminating the requirement to note the gender of a child in a TPR petition and, except where necessary in the context of a provision, replacing gender-based identifiers (man, woman, mother, father) with “parent.” (5) Enumerating clear requirements for the contents of a social report and providing DSCYF and licensed agencies more time to complete the social report in non-DSCYF custody cases. (6) Relocating the required statement that a parent has been notified of the parent’s right to file a written notarized statement with the Office of Vital Statistics denying the release of identifying information under 13 Del.C. § 923(b) from the petition to the social report. (7) Eliminating DSCYF’s ongoing obligation to report to the Court after permanent guardianship or guardianship is granted and DSCYF holds parental rights, and codifying Family Court Civil Rule 220 relating to Post-Termination Placement Orders. (8) Clarifying that the Family Court has discretion whether to accept a TPR consent, DSCYF has sole discretion to plan with a parent if it has established a ground to be relieved from planning with that parent, and the time for filing an appeal begins to run after issuance of the Court’s written order. (9) Making technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual, including revising language to use the active voice rather than the passive voice.

Bill Text

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The bill updates definitions and modifies language related to the termination of parental rights in adoption proceedings as outlined in Title 13 of the Delaware Code.

• § 1101

  “Abandoned” shall be interpreted as referring to a basis for termination of parental rights as described in § 1103(a)(2) of this title. → “Abandoned” shall be interpreted as referring to a basis for termination of parental rights as described in § 1103(a)(2) of this title.

  The definition for 'Abandoned' is clarified for consistency.

• § 1101

  “Child” means any male or female who has not attained his or her eighteenth birthday as defined in § 302 of Title 1. → “Child” means any male or female who has not attained his or her eighteenth birthday as defined in § 302 of Title 1.

  The gender-specific language in the definition of 'Child' has been removed.

• § 1101

  “Court” shall mean means the Family Court of the State of Delaware. → “Court” shall mean the Family Court of the State of Delaware.

  The language was simplified by removing the redundant 'means'.

• § 1101

  “Father” means the biological or adoptive male parent of the child an individual who has established a father-child relationship under § 8-201(b) of this title. → “Father” means an individual who has established a father-child relationship under § 8-201(b) of this title.

  The definition of 'Father' now focuses solely on the established relationship without unnecessary detail.

• § 1101

  “Infant” means any a child who is less than 6 months of age old. → “Infant” means a child who is less than 6 months old.

  The definition of 'Infant' is corrected for grammatical clarity.

• § 1101

  “Licensed agency” means any an agency granted a license by to which the Delaware Department of Education has granted a license to place children for adoption. → “Licensed agency” means any agency to which the Delaware Department of Education has granted a license to place children for adoption.

  This definition is streamlined by removing redundant words.

• § 1101

  “Parental responsibilities” means the care, support and control care or support of the a child in a manner that does both of the following: → “Parental responsibilities” means the care or support of a child in a manner that does both of the following:

  The redundant wording in the definition of 'Parental responsibilities' has been eliminated.

• § 1101

  The Court may order a termination of parental rights based upon abandonment if the Court finds that the following occurred and that the respondent intended to abandon the child: → The Court may order a termination of parental rights based upon abandonment if it finds that the following occurred and that the respondent intended to abandon the child:

  The phrase was simplified for grammatical precision.

• § 1101

  Whenever the Family Court shall assume If the Court assumes jurisdiction for the purposes of under this chapter, it shall be is deemed to have retained jurisdiction for the purpose of proceeding under Chapter 9 of this title relating to adoption. → Whenever the Family Court assumes jurisdiction under this chapter, it shall retain jurisdiction for the purpose of proceedings under Chapter 9 of this title relating to adoption.

  The jurisdiction language has been clarified and made more concise.

Action History

1. September 30, 2021

   Signed by Governor

2. June 24, 2021

   Passed By House. Votes: 40 YES 1 ABSENT

3. June 15, 2021

   Reported Out of Committee (Judiciary) in House with 9 On Its Merits

4. June 10, 2021

   Assigned to Judiciary Committee in House

5. June 09, 2021

   Passed By Senate. Votes: 19 YES 2 NO

6. June 08, 2021

   Reported Out of Committee (Judiciary) in Senate with 2 Favorable, 2 On Its Merits

7. May 18, 2021

   Introduced and Assigned to Judiciary Committee in Senate

Sponsors

• Kyle Evans Gay · Primary
• Paul S. Baumbach · Cosponsor
• Bryan Townsend · Primary
• Krista Griffith · Primary
• David P. Sokola · Cosponsor
• Nnamdi O. Chukwuocha · Cosponsor
• Bruce C. Ennis · Cosponsor
• Valerie Longhurst · Primary

Votes

Subjects