2798-S2.E AMS WOJA S5705.2

E2SHB 2798 - S AMD TO WM COMM AMD (S-5775.1/94)

By Senators Wojahn, McCaslin, Franklin, Talmadge, Anderson, Hargrove and Moyer

    On page 16, after line 20 of the amendment, insert the following:

    "(3) In cases in which the teen head of household recipient is unmarried and unemployed, the department shall, as part of the assessment conducted under this section, inform the recipient about the availability of adoption as an option, including referral for counseling to local community resources specializing in adoption and placement, if requested.

    Such counseling shall include information about how the adoption process works, about the availability of prenatal care, coverage of birth and adoption-related expenses of birth, the meaning of adoption and open adoption, the differences between agency and private adoption, and appropriate contacts within the agency and with adoption support groups, should the recipient wish to learn more.  The counseling and information shall be provided in a culturally sensitive, easily understandable, noncoercive manner.  The recipient may be referred to volunteer peer counseling by teen mothers who have chosen adoption as an alternative."

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