Maryland 2022 Regular Session

Maryland House Bill HB1155 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1
2	2
3	3	EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MAT TER ADDED TO EXISTIN G LAW.
4	4	[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
5	5	hb1155
6	6
7	7	HOUSE BILL 1155
8	8	D4 2lr2084
9	9	HB 893/21 – JUD CF 2lr2085
10	10	By: Delegates McComas, Boteler, and McKay
11	11	Introduced and read first time: February 11, 2022
12	12	Assigned to: Judiciary
13	13
14	14	A BILL ENTITLED
15	15
16	16	AN ACT concerning 1
17	17
18	18	Foster Parents, Kinship Parents, Preadoptive Parents, and Caregivers – Right 2
19	19	to Intervene 3
20	20
21	21	FOR the purpose of requiring the local department of social services and the circuit court 4
22	22	to provide notice to a child’s foster parent, kinship parent, preadoptive parent, or 5
23	23	caregiver of the right to intervene as a party in a proceeding concerning the child; 6
24	24	extending to kinship parents certain rights granted to foster parents, preadoptive 7
25	25	parents, and caregivers; granting to foster parents, kinship parents, preadoptive 8
26	26	parents, and caregivers the right to intervene as a party in certain proceedings; 9
27	27	granting the right to obtain nonprivileged documents pertaining to a child to the 10
28	28	child’s foster parent or kinship parent; and generally relating to the rights of foster 11
29	29	parents, kinship parents, preadoptive parents, and caregivers. 12
30	30
31	31	BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 13
32	32	Article – Courts and Judicial Proceedings 14
33	33	Section 3–801(u) and 3–816.3 15
34	34	Annotated Code of Maryland 16
35	35	(2020 Replacement Volume and 2021 Supplement) 17
36	36
37	37	BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 18
38	38	Article – Family Law 19
39	39	Section 5–504 20
40	40	Annotated Code of Maryland 21
41	41	(2019 Replacement Volume and 2021 Supplement) 22
42	42
43	43	SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 23
44	44	That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 24
45	45
46	46	Article – Courts and Judicial Proceedings 25
47	47
48	48	3–801. 26 2 HOUSE BILL 1155
49	49
50	50
51	51
52	52	(u) (1) “Party” means: 1
53	53
54	54	(i) A child who is the subject of a petition; 2
55	55
56	56	(ii) The child’s parent, guardian, or custodian; 3
57	57
58	58	(iii) The petitioner; or 4
59	59
60	60	(iv) An adult who is charged under § 3–828 of this subtitle. 5
61	61
62	62	(2) “Party” does not include a foster parent, KINSHIP PARENT, 6
63	63	PREADOPTIVE PARENT , OR CAREGIVER UNLESS THAT INDIVIDU AL HAS EXERCISED 7
64	64	THE RIGHT TO INTERVE NE AS PROVIDED IN § 3–816.3(D) OF THIS SUBTITLE . 8
65	65
66	66	3–816.3. 9
67	67
68	68	(a) In this section, “preadoptive parent” means an individual whom a child 10
69	69	placement agency, as defined in § 5–101 of the Family Law Article, approves to adopt a 11
70	70	child who has been placed in the individual’s home for adoption before the order of adoption. 12
71	71
72	72	(b) Unless waived for good cause, before any proceeding concerning a child, the 13
73	73	local department AND THE CIRCUIT COUR T shall give at least 10 days’ notice in writing 14
74	74	to the child’s foster parent, KINSHIP PARENT , preadoptive parent, or caregiver of [the]: 15
75	75
76	76	(1) THE date, time, and place of the proceeding [and of the]; 16
77	77
78	78	(2) THE right to be heard at the proceeding; AND 17
79	79
80	80	(3) THE RIGHT TO INTERVEN E AS A PARTY IN THE PROCEEDING AS 18
81	81	PROVIDED IN SUBSECTI ON (D) OF THIS SECTION . 19
82	82
83	83	(c) The foster parent, KINSHIP PARENT , preadoptive parent, OR caregiver[,] or 20
84	84	an attorney for the foster parent, KINSHIP PAREN T, caregiver, or an attorney for the foster 21
85	85	parent, preadoptive parent, or caregiver WHO HAS NOT EXERCISE D THE RIGHT TO 22
86	86	INTERVENE AS A PARTY shall be given the right to be heard at the proceeding. 23
87	87
88	88	(d) (1) The foster parent, KINSHIP PARENT , preadoptive parent, caregiver, or 24
89	89	attorney may not be considered to be a party solely on the basis of the right to notice and 25
90	90	the right to be heard provided under this section. 26
91	91
92	92	(2) SUBJECT TO THE PROVIS IONS OF PARAGRAPHS (3) AND (4) OF 27
93	93	THIS SUBSECTION , THE FOSTER PARENT , KINSHIP PARENT , PREADOPTIVE PARENT , 28
94	94	OR CAREGIVER SHALL H AVE THE RIGHT TO INT ERVENE AS A PARTY IN ANY CHILD 29
95	95	ABUSE OR NEGLECT , TERMINATION OF PAREN TAL RIGHTS , OR ADOPT ION 30 HOUSE BILL 1155 3
96	96
97	97
98	98	PROCEEDING . 1
99	99
100	100	(3) A FOSTER PARENT , KINSHIP PARENT , PREADOPTIVE PARENT , OR 2
101	101	CAREGIVER WITH WHOM THE CHILD HAS BEEN L IVING FOR AT LEAST 12 MONTHS 3
102	102	SHALL, ON REQUEST , BE DESIGNATED AS A P ARTY TO ANY CHILD AB USE OR 4
103	103	NEGLECT, TERMINATION OF PAREN TAL RIGHTS, OR ADOPTION PROCEEDI NG. 5
104	104
105	105	(4) A FOSTER PARENT , KINSHIP PARENT , PREADOPTIVE PARENT , OR 6
106	106	CAREGIVER WITH WHOM THE CHILD HAS BEEN L IVING FOR LESS THAN 12 MONTHS 7
107	107	MAY, AT THE DISCRETION OF THE COURT, BE DESIGNATED AS A P ARTY TO ANY CHILD 8
108	108	ABUSE OR NEGLECT , TERMINATION OF PARENTAL R IGHTS, OR ADOPTION 9
109	109	PROCEEDING . 10
110	110
111	111	Article – Family Law 11
112	112
113	113	5–504. 12
114	114
115	115	(a) Foster AND KINSHIP parents in this State have the following rights: 13
116	116
117	117	(1) the right, at the initial placement, at any time during the placement of 14
118	118	a child in foster care OR KINSHIP CARE , and as soon as practicable after new information 15
119	119	becomes available, to receive full information from the caseworker, except for information 16
120	120	about the family members that may be privileged or confidential, on the physical, social, 17
121	121	emotional, educational, and mental history of a child which would possibly affect the care 18
122	122	provided by a foster parent OR KINSHIP PARENT ; 19
123	123
124	124	(2) with regard to the local department case planning, the right to: 20
125	125
126	126	(i) except for meetings covered by the attorney–client privilege or 21
127	127	meetings in which confidential information about the natural parents is discussed, be 22
128	128	notified of, and when applicable, be heard at scheduled meetings and staffings concerning 23
129	129	a child in order to actively participate, without superseding the rights of the natural 24
130	130	parents to participate and make appropriate decisions regarding the child, in the case 25
131	131	planning, administrative case reviews, interdisciplinary staffings, and individual 26
132	132	educational planning and mental health team meetings; 27
133	133
134	134	(ii) be informed of decisions made by the courts or a child welfare 28
135	135	agency concerning a child; and 29
136	136
137	137	(iii) provide input concerning the plan of services for a child and to 30
138	138	have that input given full consideration by the local department; [and] 31
139	139
140	140	(3) the right to be given reasonable written notice, waived only in cases of 32
141	141	a court order or when a child is determined to be at imminent risk of harm, of plans to 33
142	142	terminate the placement of a child with a foster parent OR KINSHIP PARENT ; AND 34
143	143	4 HOUSE BILL 1155
144	144
145	145
146	146	(4) THE RIGHT TO RECEIVE NOTICE OF AND , IN ACCORDANCE WITH 1
147	147	THE PROVISIONS OF § 3–816.3 OF THE COURTS ARTICLE, INTERVENE AS A PARTY IN 2
148	148	CHILD ABUSE AND NEGL ECT, TERMINATION OF PAREN TAL RIGHTS, AND ADOPTION 3
149	149	PROCEEDINGS . 4
150	150
151	151	(B) (1) A FOSTER PARENT OR KIN SHIP PARENT SHALL HA VE THE RIGHT 5
152	152	TO OBTAIN ALL NONPRI VILEGED INFORMATION IN DOCUMENTS PERTAIN ING TO A 6
153	153	CHILD IN THE CARE OF THE FOSTER PARENT OR KINSHIP PARENT . 7
154	154
155	155	(2) A PARTY WHO ASSERTS THAT INFORMATION IN A DOCUMENT IS 8
156	156	PRIVILEGED SHALL : 9
157	157
158	158	(I) IDENTIFY THE PRIVILE GE; 10
159	159
160	160	(II) PROVE THE APPLICABIL ITY OF THE PRIVILEGE ; AND 11
161	161
162	162	(III) PRODUCE THE DOCUMENT , WITH THE INFORMATION FOR 12
163	163	WHICH THE PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED REDACTED . 13
164	164
165	165	[(b)] (C) This section does not create, and may not be construed to create, a cause 14
166	166	of action for foster parents OR KINSHIP PARENTS . 15
167	167
168	168	SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect 16
169	169	October 1, 2022. 17
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171	171