AN ACT RELATIVE TO THE SAFE PLACEMENT OF NEWBORN INFANTS.
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 39½ of chapter 119 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2006 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph:-
The department of social services, in conjunction with a designee of the juvenile court, the probate and family court, the center for adoption research at the University of Massachusetts, Massachusetts Families for Kids, Massachusetts Children's Trust Fund, Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, Alliance on Teen Pregnancy and the department of early care and education, shall report every 2 years on the overall effectiveness of the program of voluntary placement of newborn infants established pursuant to this section. The report shall include, but not be limited to, the following: (1) an analysis of this section’s effectiveness in decreasing the number of newborns that are abandoned in an unsafe manner in the commonwealth; (2) the department's success or failure in permanently placing in the adoption process any newborn placed with a designated facility pursuant to this section; (3) the average length of time that newborns remain in foster care after being so placed; (4) any issues arising from the termination of parental rights following the placement of a newborn pursuant to this section; (5) the success or failure of any public information campaign implemented by the department pursuant to this section; (6) any increased administrative burdens that may be placed upon any department or agency of the commonwealth as a result of this section; (7) issues with regard to the eligibility of any newborn infant placed pursuant to this section for federal entitlements such as foster care or adoption subsidies under Title IV-E of the United States Social Security Act or any other applicable federal law; and (8) the frequency or infrequency with which a parent placing a newborn at a designated facility supplies the facility with the information sought by the facility pursuant to the fourth paragraph of this section and any negative effects the lack of medical or background information on the child or parents may have had on facilitating the temporary or permanent placement of the child through the foster care or adoption process. The report, including any legislative recommendations, shall be submitted to the joint committee on children, families and persons with disabilities and the house and senate committees on ways and means on or before December 1, 2008 and not later than December 1 of each even numbered year thereafter.
SECTION 2. Sections 2 and 3 of chapter 227 of the acts of 2004 are hereby repealed.
Approved August 6, 2007.