Session Laws

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Section 24 of chapter 119 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 1990 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the first sentence the following three sentences:- Said summonses shall include notice that the court may dispense with the consent of the parents to the adoption of the child if it finds that the child is in need of care and protection and that the best interests of the child would be served by said disposition. Notice shall be by personal service upon the parent. If the identity or whereabouts of a parent is unknown, the petitioner shall cause notice in a form prescribed by the court to be served upon such parent by publication of said notice once in each of three successive weeks in such newspaper as the court orders.

SECTION 2. The second paragraph of section 26 of said chapter 119, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after clause (3) the following clause:-

(4) It may enter an order to dispense with the need for consent of any person named in section two of chapter two hundred and ten, to the adoption of a child, upon a finding that the child is in need of care and protection pursuant to this section and that the best interests of the child will be served by such an order. In determining whether such an order should be made, the standards set forth in section three of said chapter two hundred and ten concerning an order to dispense with the need for consent to adoption of a child shall be applied.

If the child who is the subject of the petition is under the age of twelve years, and if the court adjudicates the child to be in need of care and protection in accordance with this section, the court shall enter an order dispensing with the need for consent to adoption upon finding that the best interests of the child, as defined by paragraph (c) of section three of said chapter two hundred and ten, will be served thereby.

SECTION 3. Said section 26 of said chapter 119, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out the last paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-

On any petition filed in any court pursuant to this section, the department, parents, person having legal custody of, counsel for a child, the probation officer, guardian or guardian ad litem may petition the court not more than once every six months for a review and redetermination of the current needs of such child whose case has come before the court, except that any person against whom a decree to dispense with consent to adoption has been entered pursuant to clause (4) shall not have such right of petition for review and redetermination. Unless the court enters written findings setting forth specific extraordinary circumstances that require continued intervention by the court, the court shall enter a final order of adjudication and permanent disposition, no later than fifteen months after the date the case was first filed in court; provided, however, that the date by which a final order of adjudication and permanent disposition shall be entered may be extended once for a period not to exceed three months; and, provided, further, that said extension shall only be granted if the court makes written finding that the parent has made consistent and goal-oriented progress likely to lead to the child's return to the parent's care and custody. Findings in support of such final order of adjudication and permanent disposition shall be made in writing within a reasonable time of the court's order. The court shall not lose jurisdiction over the petition by reason of its failure to enter a final order and the findings in support thereof within the time set forth in this paragraph.

SECTION 4. Paragraph (b) of section 3 of chapter 210 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph:-

A juvenile court or a district court shall enter a decree dispensing with the need for consent of any person named in section two to the adoption of a child named in a petition filed pursuant to section twenty-four of chapter one hundred and nineteen in such court upon a finding that such child is in need of care and protection pursuant to section twenty-six of said chapter one hundred and nineteen and that the best interests of the child as defined in paragraph (c) will be served by such decree. Facts may be set forth either in the care and protection petition filed pursuant to said section twenty-four of said chapter one hundred and nineteen or upon a motion made in the course of a care and protection proceeding, alleging that the allowance of the petition or motion is in the best interests of the child.

SECTION 5. Paragraph (c) of said section 3 of said chapter 210, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the second paragraph the following two paragraphs:-

In considering such fitness of the child's parent or other person named in section two, the court shall consider including without limitation, the following factors:

(i) the child has been abandoned;

(ii) the child or another member of the immediate family of such child has been abused or neglected as a result of the acts or omissions of one or both parents, the parents were offered or received services intended to correct the circumstances which led to the abuse or neglect and refused or were unable to utilize such services on a regular and consistent basis such that a substantial danger of abuse or neglect continues to exist;

(iii) a court of competent jurisdiction has transferred custody of the child from the child's parents to the department, the placement has lasted for at least six months and the parents have not maintained significant and meaningful contact with the child during the previous six months nor have they, on a regular and consistent basis, accepted or productively utilized services intended to correct the circumstance;

(iv) the child is four years of age or older, a court of competent jurisdiction has transferred custody of the child from the child's parents to the department and custody has remained with the department for at least twelve of the last fifteen consecutive months and, the child cannot be returned to the custody of his parents at the end of such fifteen month period; provided, however, that the parents were offered or received services intended to correct the circumstance and refused or were unable to utilize such services on a regular and consistent basis;

(v) the child is younger than four years of age, a court of competent jurisdiction has transferred custody of the child from the child's parents to the department and custody has remained with the department for at least six of the last twelve consecutive months and, the child cannot be returned to the custody of his parents at the end of such twelve month period; provided, however, that the parents were offered or received services intended to correct the circumstance and refused or were unable to utilize such services on a regular and consistent basis;

(vi) the parent, without excuse, fails to provide proper care or custody for the child and there is reasonable expectation that the parent will not be able to provide proper care or custody within a reasonable time considering the age of the child; provided, however, that the parents were offered or received services intended to correct the circumstance and refused or were unable to utilize such services on a regular and consistent basis;

(vii) because of the lengthy absence of the parent or the parent's inability to meet the needs of the child, the child has formed a strong, positive bond with his substitute caretaker; the bond has existed for a substantial portion of the child's life; the forced removal of the child from the caretaker would likely cause serious psychological harm to the child; and the parent lacks the capacity to meet the special needs of the child upon such removal;

(viii) a lack of effort by a parent or other person named in section two to remedy conditions which create a risk of harm due to abuse or neglect of the child;

(ix) severe or repetitive conduct toward the child or another child in the home of a physically, emotionally or sexually abusive or neglectful nature;

(x) the willful failure to visit the child where the child is not in the custody of the parent or other person named in section two;

(xi) the willful failure to support the child where the child is not in the custody of the parent or other person named in section two. Failure to support shall mean that the parent or other person named has failed to make material contribution to the child's care when contribution has been requested by the department or ordered by the court;

(xii) a condition which is reasonably likely to continue for a prolonged indeterminate period such as alcohol or drug addiction, mental deficiency, or mental illness, and the condition makes the parent or other person named in section two unlikely to provide minimally acceptable care of the child; or

(xiii) the conviction of a parent or other person named in section two of a felony offense that the court finds is of such a nature that the child will be deprived of a stable home for a period of years; provided, however, that incarceration in and of itself shall not be grounds for termination of parental rights.

For the purposes of this paragraph the term "abandoned" shall mean being left without any provision for support, and without any person responsible to maintain care, custody, and control because the whereabouts of the person responsible is unknown and reasonable efforts to locate such person have been unsuccessful. A brief and temporary absence from the home, without the intent to abandon the child shall not constitute abandonment.