Wisconsin Bills Would Target Foreign Adoptions Acts 378-381 UPDATED

” Alarmed by reports of parents adopting children and then handing them off to virtual strangers met online, a study committee is considering reforms such as a new requirement that foreign adoptions be approved in Wisconsin.

The proposal is being advanced by Rep. Joel Kleefisch (R-Oconomowoc), who has saidhe was particularly alarmed by a case in which a girl was adopted overseas, brought to Wisconsin and later passed off to a strange family without the state or legal system ever noting the girl’s arrival in the state.

Had a watchful relation not sounded the alarm on the transfer and fought to gain custody of the girl, this case could have resulted in the girl vanishing without a legal trace, Kleefisch has said.

The proposal to require adoption and reporting here for international adoptions won praise from Kathy Markeland, associate director of theWisconsin Association of Family and Children’s Agencies.

“For the first time, the state will have a reasonably reliable source of information to enable us to further our understanding of the successes and challenges of Wisconsin’s adoptive families,” Markeland wrote this month to the bipartisan panel considering the proposal.

Over the summer and fall, Kleefisch led this legislative study committee that looked at several adoption reforms. By Jan. 2, the panel will vote on whether to recommend draft bills that would:

■Require parents to adopt in this state a foreign child being brought to live in Wisconsin even if the parents have already adopted him or her under the laws of the child’s native country. Parents would need to file a copy of the foreign court’s adoption judgment with the state, post a $1,000 bond before bringing the child to this country and then petition to adopt the child in Wisconsin within 60 days of their return.

The state would verify that a home study has recommended the adoptive parents, that the parents are working with a licensed adoption agency and that they have received adoption training.

■Require all counties in the state and adoption agencies to use a standardized tool to assess whether the homes of prospective parents are suitable for an adopted or a foster child.

■Allow courts to approve agreements between adoptive parents and parents who are terminating their parental rights. If a judge finds them to be freely entered into by the adults and to be in the best interest of a child, these agreements would allow for parents to have contact with a child after they have given up their rights to him or her.

The adoptive parent would be able to petition a judge to modify or end such an agreement if he or she can show that to be in the child’s interest because of some change. Courts also would be able to enforce such agreements in the event of a dispute.

■Call for better tracking in child welfare cases of whether the child in question had previously been adopted.

The bills are in part a response to a chilling 2013 investigation by the Reuters news agency that uncovered parents of adopted children setting up custody transfers through Yahoo and Facebook forums. Reuters identified eight online groups involved in so-called re-homing.

Last spring, lawmakers and Gov. Scott Walker approved a Kleefisch measure to bar people from advertising online the availability of children for informal adoptions — updating an existing prohibition on such advertisements in newspapers and on TV.

“Currently, there’s as much background check as someone buying something at Walmart,” Kleefisch said at the time. “God only knows what is happening to these children in our country.”

The Reuters series included the story of Todd and Melissa Puchalla of Kiel in Manitowoc County. They adopted a girl from Liberia, but after two years posted an ad on the Internet to find new parents. They turned 16-year-old Quita over to Nicole and Calvin Eason in an Illinois mobile home park where the couple lived.

They did not know child welfare authorities had taken away Nicole Eason’s biological children years earlier and that a sheriff’s deputy wrote that the couple had violent tendencies, according to Reuters.”

Wisconsin bills would target foreign adoptions[Js Online 12/25/14 by Jason Stein]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

Update:“Governor Scott Walker signed four bills into law Monday at the Coalition for Children, Youth, and Families in Milwaukee to strengthen the state’s adoption processes and connect children with loving adoptive families in Wisconsin, according to a release from the Governor’s Office.

“Children and families are the foundation of our state, and the bills we’re signing into law today help create strong families,” Governor Walker said. “We know families are a primary source of love and support for Wisconsin’s children, and we will continue to work with public, private, and tribal agencies to connect children seeking adoption with loving families.”

These bills improve and strengthen Wisconsin’s adoption processes by providing a standardized procedure for adoptive parents, increasing the amount of training required for parents, establishing an effective process for foreign adoptions, and reporting information regarding a child who has been adopted before.

Assembly Bill 39, now Act 378, expands jurisdiction and venue in adoption cases by allowing a petition for adoption or adoptive placement of a child to be heard in a county in which a petition for termination of parental rights of a child was filed or granted. A home study, using a standardized system, is also required and must be conducted before a child is placed for adoption and before a home is licensed for foster care. The bill was authored by the Joint Legislative Council.

Assembly Bill 40, now Act 379, modifies aspects of the pre-adoption training requirements to include 25 hours of pre-adoption training with at least six pre-adoption training hours delivered in person, either individually or in a group. This strengthens adoptive parents’ ability to understand and address the needs of their adoptive children.

Assembly Bill 41, now Act 380, specifies that a foreign adoption order is recognized in Wisconsin with all the same rights and obligations as an adoption order granted in Wisconsin, thus balancing the need for documentation of foreign adoptions with the desire to not overburden adoptive families with paperwork and additional costs.

Assembly Bill 42, now Act 381, requires certain petitions and agreements related to the welfare of a child to state whether the child has previously been adopted. This requirement provides important data for program monitoring purposes and informs the development of policies and programs designed to prevent disruption of adoptions.”

Governor Walker Signs Four Bills for Wisconsin’s Adoption Processes [CBS 58 4/25/16 by Justin Thompson-Gee]