Florida 2023 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H0373 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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3	3	HB 373 2023
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8	8	hb0373-00
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10	10	F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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14	14	A bill to be entitled 1
15	15	An act relating to release of adoption information; 2
16	16	amending s. 63.162, F.S.; authorizing only one avenue 3
17	17	for the disclosure of certain adoption related records 4
18	18	without a court order; removing authorization for 5
19	19	certain adoption related records to be disclosed 6
20	20	without a court order; removing a required fee for 7
21	21	certain services and expenses; amending s. 382.015, 8
22	22	F.S.; authorizing a court to break the seal of 9
23	23	specified birth records upon the request of certain 10
24	24	persons under certain conditions; amending s. 63.085, 11
25	25	F.S.; conforming a cross -reference; providing an 12
26	26	effective date. 13
27	27	14
28	28	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 15
29	29	16
30	30	Section 1. Subsections ( 4) through (7) of section 63.162, 17
31	31	Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 18
32	32	63.162 Hearings and records in adoption proceedings; 19
33	33	confidential nature. — 20
34	34	(4)(a) A person may disclose the following from the 21
35	35	records without a court order: 22
36	36	1. The name and ide ntity of the birth parent, if the birth 23
37	37	parent authorizes in writing the release of his or her name and 24
38	38	the adoptee is 18 years of age or older. If the adoptee is 25
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40	40	HB 373 2023
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45	45	hb0373-00
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47	47	F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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49	49
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51	51	younger than 18 years of age, the adoptive parent must also 26
52	52	provide written consent to disclo se the birth parent's name; 27
53	53	2. The name and identity of the adoptee, if the adoptee is 28
54	54	18 years of age or older and authorizes in writing the release 29
55	55	of his or her name; or, if the adoptee is younger than 18 years 30
56	56	of age, written consent to disclose the adoptee's name is 31
57	57	obtained from an adoptive parent; or 32
58	58	3. The name and identity of the adoptive parent, if the 33
59	59	adoptive parent authorizes in writing the release of his or her 34
60	60	name. 35
61	61	(b) A person may disclose from the records without a court 36
62	62	order the name and identity of a birth parent, an adoptive 37
63	63	parent, or an adoptee under s. 382.015(4) upon order of the 38
64	64	court for good cause shown . In determining whether good cause 39
65	65	exists, the court shall give primary consideration to the best 40
66	66	interests of the adoptee , but must also give due consideration 41
67	67	to the interests of the adoptive and birth parents. Factors to 42
68	68	be considered in determining whether good cause exists include, 43
69	69	but are not limited to: 44
70	70	1. The reason the information is sought; 45
71	71	2. The existence of m eans available to obtain the desired 46
72	72	information without disclosing the identity of the birth 47
73	73	parents, such as by having the court, a person appointed by the 48
74	74	court, the department, or the licensed child -placing agency 49
75	75	contact the birth parents and request specific information; 50
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77	77	HB 373 2023
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81	81	CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
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84	84	F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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88	88	3. The desires, to the extent known, of the adoptee, the 51
89	89	adoptive parents, and the birth parents; 52
90	90	4. The age, maturity, judgment, and expressed needs of the 53
91	91	adoptee; and 54
92	92	5. The recommendation of the department, licensed child -55
93	93	placing agency, or professional that prepared the preliminary 56
94	94	study and home investigation, or the department if no such study 57
95	95	was prepared, concerning the advisability of disclosure. 58
96	96	(5) The adoptee or other person seeking information under 59
97	97	this subsection shall pay the department or agency making 60
98	98	reports or recommendations as required hereunder a reasonable 61
99	99	fee for its services and expenses. 62
100	100	(6) Subject to the provisions of subsection (4), 63
101	101	identifying information regarding the birth parents, adoptive 64
102	102	parents, and adoptee may not be disclosed unless a birth parent, 65
103	103	adoptive parent, or adoptee has authorized in writing the 66
104	104	release of such information concerning himself or herself. 67
105	105	Specific names or identifying information must not be given in a 68
106	106	family medical history. All nonidentifying information, 69
107	107	including the family medical history and social history of the 70
108	108	adoptee and the birth parents, when available, must be furnished 71
109	109	to the adoptive parents before the adoption becomes final and to 72
110	110	the adoptee, upon the adoptee's request, after he or she reaches 73
111	111	majority. Upon the request of the adoptive parents, all 74
112	112	nonidentifying information obtained before or after the adoption 75
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121	121	F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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125	125	has become final must be furnished to the adoptive parents. 76
126	126	(7) The court may, upon petition of an adult adoptee or 77
127	127	birth parent, for good cause shown, appoint an intermediary or a 78
128	128	licensed child-placing agency to contact a birth parent or adult 79
129	129	adoptee, as applicable, who has not registered with the adoption 80
130	130	registry pursuant to s. 63.16 5 and advise both of the 81
131	131	availability of the intermediary or agency and that the birth 82
132	132	parent or adult adoptee, as applicable, wishes to establish 83
133	133	contact. 84
134	134	Section 2. Subsection (4) of section 382.015, Florida 85
135	135	Statutes, is amended to read: 86
136	136	382.015 New certificates of live birth; duty of clerks of 87
137	137	court and department. —The clerk of the court in which any 88
138	138	proceeding for adoption, annulment of an adoption, affirmation 89
139	139	of parental status, or determination of paternity is to be 90
140	140	registered, shall within 30 days after the final disposition, 91
141	141	forward to the department a certified copy of the court order, 92
142	142	or a report of the proceedings upon a form to be furnished by 93
143	143	the department, together with sufficient information to identify 94
144	144	the original birth certificate a nd to enable the preparation of 95
145	145	a new birth certificate. The clerk of the court shall implement 96
146	146	a monitoring and quality control plan to ensure that all 97
147	147	judicial determinations of paternity are reported to the 98
148	148	department in compliance with this section. Th e department shall 99
149	149	track paternity determinations reported monthly by county, 100
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151	151	HB 373 2023
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158	158	F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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162	162	monitor compliance with the 30 -day timeframe, and report the 101
163	163	data to the clerks of the court quarterly. 102
164	164	(4) SUBSTITUTION OF NEW CERTIFICATE OF BIRTH FOR 103
165	165	ORIGINAL.— 104
166	166	(a) When a new certificate of birth is prepared, the 105
167	167	department shall substitute the new certificate of birth for the 106
168	168	original certificate on file. All copies of the original 107
169	169	certificate of live birth in the custody of a local registrar or 108
170	170	other state custodian of v ital records shall be forwarded to the 109
171	171	State Registrar. Thereafter, when a certified copy of the 110
172	172	certificate of birth or portion thereof is issued, it shall be a 111
173	173	copy of the new certificate of birth or portion thereof, except 112
174	174	when a court order requires is suance of a certified copy of the 113
175	175	original certificate of birth. 114
176	176	(b) In an adoption, change in paternity, affirmation of 115
177	177	parental status, undetermined parentage, or court -ordered 116
178	178	substitution, the department shall place the original 117
179	179	certificate of birth and all papers pertaining thereto under 118
180	180	seal, not to be broken except by order of a court of competent 119
181	181	jurisdiction or at the request of the person whose birth is the 120
182	182	subject of the certificate of birth, provided that such person 121
183	183	is 18 years of age or olde r, or as otherwise provided by law. 122
184	184	However, before the seal may be broken and the record opened 123
185	185	without a court order, the requesting person must first identify 124
186	186	himself or herself to the satisfaction of the state registrar. 125
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188	188	HB 373 2023
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192	192	CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
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195	195	F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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199	199	Section 3. Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section 126
200	200	63.085, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 127
201	201	63.085 Disclosure by adoption entity. — 128
202	202	(2) DISCLOSURE TO ADOPTIVE PARENTS. — 129
203	203	(a) At the time that an adoption entity is responsible for 130
204	204	selecting prospective adoptive parents for a born or unborn 131
205	205	child whose parents are seeking to place the child for adoption 132
206	206	or whose rights were terminated pursuant to chapter 39, the 133
207	207	adoption entity must provide the prospective adoptive parents 134
208	208	with information concerning the background of the ch ild to the 135
209	209	extent such information is disclosed to the adoption entity by 136
210	210	the parents, legal custodian, or the department. This subsection 137
211	211	applies only if the adoption entity identifies the prospective 138
212	212	adoptive parents and supervises the placement of the c hild in 139
213	213	the prospective adoptive parents' home. If any information 140
214	214	cannot be disclosed because the records custodian failed or 141
215	215	refused to produce the background information, the adoption 142
216	216	entity has a duty to provide the information if it becomes 143
217	217	available. An individual or entity contacted by an adoption 144
218	218	entity to obtain the background information must release the 145
219	219	requested information to the adoption entity without the 146
220	220	necessity of a subpoena or a court order. In all cases, the 147
221	221	prospective adoptive parents must receive all available 148
222	222	information by the date of the final hearing on the petition for 149
223	223	adoption. The information to be disclosed includes: 150
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225	225	HB 373 2023
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229	229	CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
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232	232	F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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236	236	1. A family social and medical history form completed 151
237	237	under s. 63.162(4) pursuant to s. 63.162(6) . 152
238	238	2. The biological mother's medical records documenting her 153
239	239	prenatal care and the birth and delivery of the child. 154
240	240	3. A complete set of the child's medical records 155
241	241	documenting all medical treatment and care since the child's 156
242	242	birth and before placement. 157
243	243	4. All mental health, psychological, and psychiatric 158
244	244	records, reports, and evaluations concerning the child before 159
245	245	placement. 160
246	246	5. The child's educational records, including all records 161
247	247	concerning any special education needs of the child before 162
248	248	placement. 163
249	249	6. Records documenting all incidents that required the 164
250	250	department to provide services to the child, including all 165
251	251	orders of adjudication of dependency or termination of parental 166
252	252	rights issued pursuant to chapter 39, any case plans drafted to 167
253	253	address the child's needs, all protective services 168
254	254	investigations identifying the child as a victim, and all 169
255	255	guardian ad litem reports filed with the court concerning the 170
256	256	child. 171
257	257	7. Written information concerning the availability of 172
258	258	adoption subsidies for the child, if appli cable. 173
259	259	Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023. 174