Maryland 2025 Regular Session

Maryland House Bill HB944 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	hb0944
6	6
7	7	HOUSE BILL 944
8	8	D4 5lr3183
9	9
10	10	By: Delegate Toles
11	11	Introduced and read first time: January 31, 2025
12	12	Assigned to: Judiciary
13	13
14	14	A BILL ENTITLED
15	15
16	16	AN ACT concerning 1
17	17
18	18	Family Law – Children in Need of Assistance and Termination of Parental 2
19	19	Rights 3
20	20
21	21	FOR the purpose of repealing a provision that authorizes a local department of social 4
22	22	services to ask the juvenile court to find that reasonable efforts to reunify a child 5
23	23	with the child’s parent or guardian are not required if the local department concludes 6
24	24	that a parent or guardian has involuntarily lost parental rights to a sibling of the 7
25	25	child; repealing a provision that requires a court, when determining whether to 8
26	26	involuntarily terminate parental rights, to consider whether the parent has 9
27	27	involuntarily lost parental rights to a sibling of the child; and generally relating to 10
28	28	the termination of parental rights. 11
29	29
30	30	BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 12
31	31	Article – Courts and Judicial Proceedings 13
32	32	Section 3–812(b) 14
33	33	Annotated Code of Maryland 15
34	34	(2020 Replacement Volume and 2024 Supplement) 16
35	35
36	36	BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 17
37	37	Article – Family Law 18
38	38	Section 5–323(d) 19
39	39	Annotated Code of Maryland 20
40	40	(2019 Replacement Volume and 2024 Supplement) 21
41	41
42	42	SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 22
43	43	That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 23
44	44
45	45	Article – Courts and Judicial Proceedings 24
46	46
47	47	3–812. 25
48	48	2 HOUSE BILL 944
49	49
50	50
51	51	(b) In a petition under this subtitle, a local department may ask the court to find 1
52	52	that reasonable efforts to reunify a child with the child’s parent or guardian are not 2
53	53	required if the local department concludes that a parent or guardian: 3
54	54
55	55	(1) Has subjected the child to any of the following aggravated 4
56	56	circumstances: 5
57	57
58	58	(i) The parent or guardian has engaged in or facilitated: 6
59	59
60	60	1. Chronic or severe physical abuse of the child, a sibling of 7
61	61	the child, or another child in the household; 8
62	62
63	63	2. Chronic and life–threatening neglect of the child, a sibling 9
64	64	of the child, or another child in the household; 10
65	65
66	66	3. Sexual abuse of the child, a sibling of the child, or another 11
67	67	child in the household; or 12
68	68
69	69	4. Torture of the child, a sibling of the child, or another child 13
70	70	in the household; 14
71	71
72	72	(ii) The parent or guardian knowingly failed to take appropriate 15
73	73	steps to protect the child after a person in the household inflicted sexual abuse, severe 16
74	74	physical abuse, life–threatening neglect, or torture on the child or another child in the 17
75	75	household; 18
76	76
77	77	(iii) The child, a sibling of the child, or another child in the household 19
78	78	has suffered severe physical abuse or death resulting from abuse by the parent or guardian 20
79	79	or another adult in the household and all persons who could have inflicted the abuse or 21
80	80	caused the death remain in the household; or 22
81	81
82	82	(iv) The parent or guardian has abandoned the child; OR 23
83	83
84	84	(2) Has been convicted, in any state or any court of the United States, of: 24
85	85
86	86	(i) A crime of violence against: 25
87	87
88	88	1. A minor offspring of the parent or guardian; 26
89	89
90	90	2. The child; or 27
91	91
92	92	3. Another parent or guardian of the child; or 28
93	93
94	94	(ii) Aiding or abetting, conspiring, or soliciting to commit a crime 29
95	95	described in item (i) of this item[; or 30
96	96
97	97	(3) Has involuntarily lost parental rights of a sibling of the child]. 31 HOUSE BILL 944 3
98	98
99	99
100	100
101	101	Article – Family Law 1
102	102
103	103	5–323. 2
104	104
105	105	(d) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, in ruling on a petition for 3
106	106	guardianship of a child, a juvenile court shall give primary consideration to the health and 4
107	107	safety of the child and consideration to all other factors needed to determine whether 5
108	108	terminating a parent’s rights is in the child’s best interests, including: 6
109	109
110	110	(1) (i) all services offered to the parent before the child’s placement, 7
111	111	whether offered by a local department, another agency, or a professional; 8
112	112
113	113	(ii) the extent, nature, and timeliness of services offered by a local 9
114	114	department to facilitate reunion of the child and parent; and 10
115	115
116	116	(iii) the extent to which a local department and parent have fulfilled 11
117	117	their obligations under a social services agreement, if any; 12
118	118
119	119	(2) the results of the parent’s effort to adjust the parent’s circumstances, 13
120	120	condition, or conduct to make it in the child’s best interests for the child to be returned to 14
121	121	the parent’s home, including: 15
122	122
123	123	(i) the extent to which the parent has maintained regular contact 16
124	124	with: 17
125	125
126	126	1. the child; 18
127	127
128	128	2. the local department to which the child is committed; and 19
129	129
130	130	3. if feasible, the child’s caregiver; 20
131	131
132	132	(ii) the parent’s contribution to a reasonable part of the child’s care 21
133	133	and support, if the parent is financially able to do so; 22
134	134
135	135	(iii) the existence of a parental disability that makes the parent 23
136	136	consistently unable to care for the child’s immediate and ongoing physical or psychological 24
137	137	needs for long periods of time; and 25
138	138
139	139	(iv) whether additional services would be likely to bring about a 26
140	140	lasting parental adjustment so that the child could be returned to the parent within an 27
141	141	ascertainable time not to exceed 18 months from the date of placement unless the juvenile 28
142	142	court makes a specific finding that it is in the child’s best interests to extend the time for a 29
143	143	specified period; 30
144	144
145	145	(3) whether: 31
146	146	4 HOUSE BILL 944
147	147
148	148
149	149	(i) the parent has abused or neglected the child or a minor and the 1
150	150	seriousness of the abuse or neglect; 2
151	151
152	152	(ii) 1. A. on admission to a hospital for the child’s delivery, 3
153	153	the mother tested positive for a drug as evidenced by a positive toxicology test; or 4
154	154
155	155	B. upon the birth of the child, the child tested positive for a 5
156	156	drug as evidenced by a positive toxicology test; and 6
157	157
158	158	2. the mother refused the level of drug treatment 7
159	159	recommended by a qualified addictions specialist, as defined in § 5–1201 of this title, or by 8
160	160	a physician or psychologist, as defined in the Health Occupations Article; 9
161	161
162	162	(iii) the parent subjected the child to: 10
163	163
164	164	1. chronic abuse; 11
165	165
166	166	2. chronic and life–threatening neglect; 12
167	167
168	168	3. sexual abuse; or 13
169	169
170	170	4. torture; AND 14
171	171
172	172	(iv) the parent has been convicted, in any state or any court of the 15
173	173	United States, of: 16
174	174
175	175	1. a crime of violence against: 17
176	176
177	177	A. a minor offspring of the parent; 18
178	178
179	179	B. the child; or 19
180	180
181	181	C. another parent of the child; or 20
182	182
183	183	2. aiding or abetting, conspiring, or soliciting to commit a 21
184	184	crime described in item 1 of this item; and 22
185	185
186	186	[(v) the parent has involuntarily lost parental rights to a sibling of 23
187	187	the child; and] 24
188	188
189	189	(4) (i) the child’s emotional ties with and feelings toward the child’s 25
190	190	parents, the child’s siblings, and others who may affect the child’s best interests 26
191	191	significantly; 27
192	192
193	193	(ii) the child’s adjustment to: 28
194	194
195	195	1. community; 29 HOUSE BILL 944 5
196	196
197	197
198	198
199	199	2. home; 1
200	200
201	201	3. placement; and 2
202	202
203	203	4. school; 3
204	204
205	205	(iii) the child’s feelings about severance of the parent–child 4
206	206	relationship; and 5
207	207
208	208	(iv) the likely impact of terminating parental rights on the child’s 6
209	209	well–being. 7
210	210
211	211	SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect 8
212	212	October 1, 2025. 9