Florida Senate - 2023 SB 1306 By Senator Harrell 31-01169A-23 20231306__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to placement of surrendered newborn 3 infants; amending s. 63.039, F.S.; requiring licensed 4 child-placing agencies to maintain a specified 5 registry; requiring that certain information be 6 removed from the registry under certain circumstances; 7 prohibiting the child-placing agency from transferring 8 certain costs to prospective adoptive parents; 9 amending s. 63.0423, F.S.; requiring licensed child 10 placing agencies to immediately place a surrendered 11 newborn infant in the physical custody of an 12 identified prospective adoptive parent; providing that 13 the prospective adoptive parent becomes the guardian 14 of such infant under certain conditions for a certain 15 period of time; providing requirements that apply if a 16 certain prospective adoptive home is not available; 17 requiring the court to require the child-placing 18 agency to make certain reasonable efforts to identify 19 an appropriate prospective adoptive parent; conforming 20 provisions to changes made by the act; amending s. 21 383.50, F.S.; providing requirements for licensed 22 child-placing agencies once they take physical custody 23 of a surrendered newborn infant; conforming provisions 24 to changes made by the act; providing an effective 25 date. 26 27 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 28 29 Section 1.Present subsections (3), (4), and (5) of section 30 63.039, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as subsections (4), 31 (5), and (6), respectively, and a new subsection (3) is added to 32 that section, to read: 33 63.039Duties Duty of adoption entity; to Prospective 34 Adoptive Parents of Infants registry; sanctions. 35 (3)(a)A licensed child-placing agency shall establish and 36 maintain a registry of prospective adoptive parents of infants 37 with the names and addresses of prospective adoptive parents who 38 have received a favorable preliminary home study under s. 63.092 39 and have indicated the desire to be a prospective adoptive 40 parent only for a newborn infant surrendered under s. 383.50. 41 The licensed child-placing agency must remove the name and 42 address of a prospective adoptive parent from the registry when 43 the favorable preliminary home study for such prospective 44 adoptive parent is no longer valid as provided in s. 63.092(3). 45 (b)The child-placing agency may not transfer the cost of 46 establishing and maintaining the registry created pursuant to 47 this subsection to a prospective adoptive parent through either 48 the cost of the home study or through the cost of adoption of a 49 newborn infant under this section. 50 Section 2.Subsection (2) of section 63.0423, Florida 51 Statutes, is amended to read: 52 63.0423Procedures with respect to surrendered infants. 53 (2)Upon taking physical custody of a newborn infant 54 surrendered pursuant to s. 383.50, the licensed child-placing 55 agency shall immediately place the surrendered infant with an 56 identified prospective adoptive parent, at which time the 57 prospective adoptive parent becomes the guardian of the 58 surrendered infant pending termination of parental rights and 59 finalization of adoption or until the court orders otherwise. If 60 a prospective adoptive parent from the registry is not 61 available, the licensed child-placing agency must seek an order 62 from the circuit court for emergency custody of the surrendered 63 infant. As a part of the emergency order, the court shall 64 require the licensed child-placing agency that has been unable 65 to identify a prospective adoptive parent for the surrendered 66 infant to make all reasonable efforts to identify an appropriate 67 prospective adoptive parent as soon as practicable, including 68 but not limited to, contacting all other licensed child-placing 69 agencies in this state to facilitate the identification of a 70 prospective adoptive parent from the registry described in s. 71 63.039. The emergency custody order remains shall remain in 72 effect until the court orders preliminary approval of placement 73 of the surrendered infant in a the prospective home, at which 74 time the prospective adoptive parent becomes parents become 75 guardian guardians pending termination of parental rights and 76 finalization of adoption or until the court orders otherwise. 77 The guardianship of the prospective adoptive parent is parents 78 shall remain subject to the right of the licensed child-placing 79 agency to remove the surrendered infant from the placement 80 during the pendency of the proceedings if such removal is deemed 81 by the licensed child-placing agency to be in the best interests 82 of the child. The licensed child-placing agency may immediately 83 seek to place the surrendered infant in a prospective adoptive 84 home. 85 Section 3.Subsection (7) of section 383.50, Florida 86 Statutes, is amended to read: 87 383.50Treatment of surrendered newborn infant. 88 (7)Upon admitting a newborn infant under this section, the 89 hospital shall immediately contact a local licensed child 90 placing agency or alternatively contact the statewide central 91 abuse hotline for the name of a licensed child-placing agency 92 for purposes of transferring physical custody of the newborn 93 infant. The hospital shall notify the licensed child-placing 94 agency that a newborn infant has been left with the hospital and 95 approximately when the licensed child-placing agency can take 96 physical custody of the child. Once the licensed child-placing 97 agency takes physical custody of the newborn infant, the agency 98 shall immediately seek to place the surrendered newborn infant 99 with a prospective adoptive parent who is on the Prospective 100 Adoptive Parents of Infants registry established and maintained 101 under s. 63.039. If a prospective adoptive parent from the 102 registry is not available, the licensed child-placing agency 103 must follow the procedures in s. 63.0423. In cases where there 104 is actual or suspected child abuse or neglect, the hospital or 105 any of its licensed health care professionals shall report the 106 actual or suspected child abuse or neglect in accordance with 107 ss. 39.201 and 395.1023 in lieu of contacting a licensed child 108 placing agency. 109 Section 4.This act shall take effect July 1, 2023.