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AMENDED
April 11, 2001
H. 3302
S. Printed 4/11/01--H.
Read the first time January 23, 2001.
TO CREATE AN ADOPTIONS PROCEDURE STUDY COMMITTEE, TO PROVIDE FOR ITS MEMBERSHIP AND ITS SCOPE OF STUDY, TO REQUIRE THE COMMITTEE TO REPORT ITS FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, AND TO ABOLISH THE COMMITTEE UPON SUBMISSION OF ITS REPORT.
Amend Title To Conform
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. (A) There is created the South Carolina Adoptions Procedures Study Committee to be composed of:
(1) two senators, appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, who shall serve ex officio;
(2) two representatives, appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, who shall serve ex officio;
(3) a county director of the Department of Social Services, appointed by the director of the Department of Social Services;
(4) an adoptive parent or interested citizen, appointed by the Governor;
(5) an adoption administrator of the Department of Social Services, appointed by the director of the Department of Social Services;
(6) an attorney in private practice, appointed by the Governor on the recommendation of the President of the South Carolina Bar Association;
(7) a family court judge, appointed by the Chief Justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court;
(8) an attorney with the Department of Social Services, appointed by the director of the Department of Social Services;
(9) the director of the Foster Care Review Board;
(10) a member of a local foster care review board, appointed by the Governor;
(11) the director of the South Carolina Guardian ad Litem Program;
(12) the director of the Richland County Guardian ad Litem Program;
(13) a representative of a private adoption agency, appointed by the Governor.
(B) The committee shall review South Carolina adoption process and procedures for the purpose of strengthening the integrity of adoptions. The committee's review shall include, but is not limited to, what effect a voluntary relinquishment of parental rights should have on a parent's duty to pay child support before the adoption is finalized and in whose custody is a child whose parents' voluntary relinquishment of parental rights was obtained by a private attorney. The committee's review shall further include, but is not limited to, issues concerning the necessity of a putative father registry and problems relating to adoption subsidies, parental consent requirements, relinquishment of parental rights issues, licensing of persons facilitating adoptions, providing adequate notice of hearings to foster parents regarding their foster child and providing them with an opportunity to address the court, and the length of time required for foster parents to complete an adoption.
(C) The members of the committee may not receive compensation but are entitled to receive mileage, per diem, and subsistence, from approved accounts of the House of Representatives and the Senate, as provided by law for members of state boards, committees, and commissions.
(D) The committee shall submit a report containing its findings and recommendations to the Governor, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives before January 1, 2002. Upon submission of the report the committee is abolished.
(E) The committee must be staffed by personnel as provided and assigned by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and by the Governor.
SECTION 2. This joint resolution takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
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