Ohio House Bill 307 now Senate Bill 250UPDATED

“A bill that supporters say would cut the time and cost of adoption in Ohio passed the House yesterday with bipartisan support, despite the concern of some that it is off-target.

Rep. Jim Buchy, R-Greenville, said an adoption can cost $20,000 to $40,000. House Bill 307 would increase the state tax credit for an adoption from $1,500 to $10,000, and it would allow the new parents to spread that credit over five years.

The bill, which passed 77-14 and heads to the Senate, also allows the birth mother to notify the likely father before the baby is born that she plans to give it up for adoption, giving the putative father 30 days to register and preserve his right to consent.

If there is no pre-birth notification, the bill would reduce the period for the birth father to register from 30 days after the baby is born to seven days. [ ]It also would reduce the period in which an adoption could be challenged from one year to 60 days.

“It is one of the most pro-family, pro-women pieces of legislation we will deal with in this session,” Buchy said.

But some people, including Molly Rampe Thomas, founder of Choice Network in Columbus, which offers adoption among a spectrum of options for unplanned pregnancies, argue that the bill adds confusion for birth fathers and is generally unnecessary.

There continues to be far more demand for adoptions than babies available, she said, and the bill won’t improve that situation.

“I’m not sure how a bill that is solely focused on making things better for adoptive families will make more women want to choose adoption,” Rampe Thomas said.

Rampe Thomas and others, including Judge Kenneth Spicer of Delaware County, who also serves as president of the Ohio Association of Probate Judges, have questioned whether the language related to birth fathers would withstand a legal challenge. There is concern that it creates two classifications of birth fathers that might not be treated equally.

“It makes it really confusing and could potentially take away a birth father’s right to consent to the adoption before the child is even born,” Rampe Thomas said.

Buchy said many parts of the bill are modeled on a law in Indiana that has passed constitutional scrutiny.

Rep. John Patrick Carney, D-Columbus, said the bill was well-intentioned, but he argues that the birth-father provision is a concern and that the tax credit would do little to help middle-class couples who want to adopt because it is nonrefundable. That means if the credit exceeds the taxes owed in a year, the taxpayer isn’t paid the excess.

The tax credit would be better targeted, Carney said, if it was refundable and aimed at children who have trouble getting adopted: those age 2 or older. His attempt to alter the bill was defeated.

Ohio Right to Life, which had opposed earlier versions of the proposal, backs the bill   []. President Mike Gonidakis said it would make the process less daunting for birth parents and those who want to adopt.

“A mother placing her child for adoption is truly the most-selfless act imaginable,” he said. “ We owe it to birth mothers and adoptive couples to ensure our laws are compassionate and supportive.”
Ohio House passes bill easing adoptions[The Columbus Dispatch 1/30/14 by Jim Siegel]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

Update:”The Ohio House passed Senate Bill 250, a bill designed to make adoption more affordable for Ohio families, as well as streamlining the process.

Sen. Shannon Jones, R–Springboro, jointly sponsored the bill with Sen. Frank LaRose, R-Sabina, that proposed to increase the existing $1,500 adoption tax credit to a minimum of $1,500 and a maximum of $10,000. The credit will also become refundable.

“Adopting a child is one of the most selfless acts a family can pursue,” said Jones. “The adoption process needs to work more efficiently to reduce the lengthy, emotional burden on families seeking to provide loving homes for these children.”

The average annual cost to the state for a child in foster care is just more than $23,700, according to the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services. The whole system cost more than $294.8 million.

In 2013, more than 22,800 children were in foster care and less than 5 percent, or 1,131, were adopted.

Ohio JFS also stated that 49 percent of families who adopt out of the foster care system adopt multiple children.

SB 250 also modifies living expense limitations for birth mothers, establishes a pre-birth notice system that seeks to begin the adoption process earlier and decreases the amount of time that an adoption may be challenged. The bill also permits adoptive families to advertise their willingness to adopt, which out-of-state families and agencies are already permitted to do.

The bill has been sent to Gov. John Kasich for consideration”

Governor now considering adoption bill[Journal News 12/26/14 by Michael D. Pitman]