Bill Summary for Bill Number SB09-079

Date: 01/29/2009

Final
BILL SUMMARY for SB09-079

SENATE COMMITTEE ON HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Votes: View-->	Action Taken:
Adopt prepared amendment L.001 (Attachment E). Th Refer Senate Bill 09-079 to the Committee of the W	Pass Without Objection PASS

04:55 PM -- Senate Bill 09-079

Senator Newell introduced Senate Bill 09-079. The bill concerns contact between birth siblings, post-adoption. She distributed a strike-below amendment to the bill, L.001 (Attachment E). She noted that amendment L.001 permits a person included on a list of confidential intermediaries to access dependency and neglect records upon a motion filed by a former foster care child, 18 years of age or older, who is searching for a birth sibling. In addition, the bill requires the State Registrar to maintain a confidential list of former foster children, 18 years of age or older, who are searching for a birth sibling. If both siblings consent, then contact between the siblings can be established.

05:00 PM -- Adoree Blair, Children's Advocate and representing Bridging the Gap, testified that the bill will allow for compliance with federal requirements related to a database of children who leave the foster care system. Senator Schultheis asked how long the children will remain in the database, and Ms. Blair responded that she did not know.

05:01 PM -- Pat Ratliff, Colorado Counties Inc., testified that Colorado Counties has worked on amendment L.001, and is comfortable with the bill as amended by L.001.

05:03 PM -- Maggie Brooks, adoptive parent, testified regarding the importance of contact between siblings who are adopted into different families.

05:06 PM -- Roberta Long-Twyman, League of Women Voters, testified in support of the bill, stating it is important for children to maintain contact with their birth families.

05:08 PM -- Leslie Zetterstrom, Colorado Confidential Intermediary Services, offered to answer committee questions.

05:09 PM -- Christie Donner, Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Commission, testified that many children are separated from their families because of a parent's incarceration. She stated that she was disappointed to see that amendment L.001 would apply the bill's provisions only to adult adoptees, and not minor children. Senator Newell stated that, on a voluntary basis, the parents of adoptive children can use the process outlined in L.001 to establish contact between minor children, as long as both sets of adoptive children are included on the registry.

05:11 PM -- Pamela Clifton, Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Commission, testified regarding her family's experiences with foster care and adoption due to her incarceration. She stated that the bill can help children maintain contact with their birth siblings.

05:16 PM -- Sarah Ehrlich, Office of the Child's Representative, testified in support of the bill and amendment L.001. She stated that the bill was based on a similar program in Arizona. She testified regarding the importance of maintaining sibling relationships, and stated that the bill builds on previous legislation regarding relationships between siblings who are in foster care.

05:18 PM

Senator Newell gave concluding remarks regarding the bill.


BILL:	SB09-079
TIME:	05:19:15 PM
MOVED:	Newell
MOTION:	Adopt prepared amendment L.001 (Attachment E). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Carroll M.
	Lundberg
	Mitchell	Excused
	Morse
	Newell
	Schultheis
	Tochtrop
	Boyd

Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection

05:19 PM

Senator Newell responded to questions from Senator Carroll regarding why the bill was narrowed to allow only adult adoptees to search for birth siblings. Committee members commented on the possibility of amending the bill to establish a process to allow minor children to have contact with birth siblings who are adopted into different families.


BILL:	SB09-079
TIME:	05:19:54 PM
MOVED:	Newell
MOTION:	Refer Senate Bill 09-079 to the Committee of the Whole, as amended. The motion passed on a 7-0 roll call vote with one member excused.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Carroll M.	Yes
	Lundberg	Yes
	Mitchell	Excused
	Morse	Yes
	Newell	Yes
	Schultheis	Yes
	Tochtrop	Yes
	Boyd	Yes

Final YES: 7 NO: 0 EXC: 1 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

05:25 PM

The committee recessed.