AN ACT Relating to adoption; and amending RCW
26.33.020, 26.33.340, 26.33.345, and 26.33.380.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1.
RCW 26.33.020 and 1990 c 146 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
Unless the context clearly requires otherwise,
the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.
(1) "Alleged father" means a person
whose parent-child relationship has not been terminated, who is not a presumed
father under chapter 26.26 RCW, and who alleges himself or whom a party alleges
to be the father of the child. It includes a person whose marriage to the
mother was terminated more than three hundred days before the birth of the
child or who was separated from the mother more than three hundred days before
the birth of the child.
(2) "Child" means a person under
eighteen years of age.
(3) "Adoptee" means a person who is
to be adopted or who has been adopted.
(4) "Adoptive parent" means the
person or persons who seek to adopt or have adopted an adoptee.
(5) "Court" means the superior court.
(6) "Department" means the department
of social and health services.
(7) "Agency" means any public or
private association, corporation, or individual licensed or certified by the
department as a child placing agency under chapter 74.15 RCW or as an adoption
agency.
(8) "Parent" means the natural or
adoptive mother or father of a child, including a presumed father under chapter
26.26 RCW. It does not include any person whose parent-child relationship has
been terminated by a court of competent jurisdiction.
(9) "Legal guardian" means the
department, an agency, or a person, other than a parent or stepparent,
appointed by the court to promote the child's general welfare, with the
authority and duty to make decisions affecting the child's development.
(10) "Guardian ad litem" means a
person, not related to a party to the action, appointed by the court to
represent the best interests of a party who is under a legal disability.
(11) "Relinquish or relinquishment"
means the voluntary surrender of custody of a child to the department, an
agency, or prospective adoptive parents.
(12) "Individual approved by the
court" or "qualified salaried court employee" means a person who
has a master's degree in social work or a related field and one year of
experience in social work, or a bachelor's degree and two years of experience
in social work, and includes a person not having such qualifications only if
the court makes specific findings of fact that are entered of record
establishing that the person has reasonably equivalent experience.
(13) "Birth parent" means the
biological mother or biological or alleged father of a child, including a
presumed father under chapter 26.26 RCW, whether or not any such person's
parent-child relationship has been terminated by a court of competent jurisdiction.
"Birth parent" does not include a biological mother or biological or
alleged father, including a presumed father under chapter 26.26 RCW, if the
parent-child relationship was terminated because of an act for which the person
was found guilty under chapter 9A.42 or 9A.44 RCW.
(14) "Nonidentifying information"
includes, but is not limited to, the following information about the birth
parents, adoptive parents, and adoptee:
(a) Age in years at the time of adoption;
(b) Heritage, including nationality, ethnic
background, and race;
(c) Education, including number of years of
school completed at the time of adoption, but not name or location of school;
(d) General physical appearance, including
height, weight, color of hair, eyes, and skin, or other information of a
similar nature;
(e) Religion;
(f) Occupation, but not specific titles or
places of employment;
(g) Talents, hobbies, and special interests;
(h) Circumstances leading to the adoption;
(i) Medical and genetic history of birth
parents;
(j) First names;
(k) Other children of birth parents by age,
sex, and medical history;
(l) Extended family of birth parents by age,
sex, and medical history;
(m) The fact of the death, and age and
cause, if known;
(n) Photographs;
(o) Name of agency or individual that
facilitated the adoption.
Sec. 2.
RCW 26.33.340 and 1990 c 145 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:
Department ((and)), agency,
and court files regarding an adoption shall be confidential except ((the
department or agency may disclose)) that reasonably available
nonidentifying information may be disclosed upon the ((receipt of a
verified)) written request for the information from the adoptive parent,
the adoptee, or the ((natural)) birth parent. If the adoption
facilitator refuses to disclose nonidentifying information, the individual may
petition the superior court. Identifying information may also be
disclosed through the procedure described in RCW 26.33.343.
Sec. 3.
RCW 26.33.345 and 1990 c 145 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) The department of social and health
services, adoption agencies, and independent adoption facilitators shall
release the name and location of the court where a relinquishment of parental
rights or finalization of an adoption took place to an adult adoptee, a birth
parent of an adult adoptee, an adoptive parent, a birth or adoptive grandparent
of an adult adoptee, or an adult sibling of an adult adoptee, or the legal
guardian of any of these.
(2) The department of ((vital records)) health
shall make available a noncertified copy of the original birth certificate of a
child to the child's birth parents upon request.
(3) For adoptions finalized after October 1,
1993, the department of health shall make available a noncertified copy of the
original birth certificate to the adoptee after the adoptee's eighteenth
birthday unless the birth parent has filed an affidavit of nondisclosure.
Sec. 4.
RCW 26.33.380 and 1989 c 281 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
Every person, firm, society, association, or
corporation receiving, securing a home for, or otherwise caring for a minor
child shall transmit to the prospective adopting parent prior to placement and
shall make available to all persons with whom a child has been placed by
adoption, a family background and child and family social history report, which
includes a chronological history of the circumstances surrounding the adoptive
placement and any available psychiatric reports, psychological reports, court
reports pertaining to dependency or custody, or school reports. Such reports
or information shall not reveal the identity of the ((natural)) birth
parents of the child but shall contain reasonably available nonidentifying
information.
