House passes major rewrite of adoption laws

On Thursday, the Alabama House of Representatives voted in favor of a massive rewrite of Alabama’s adoption laws. Sponsors say the rewrite will make adoptions faster, more economical, and less complicated.

House Bill 101 (HB101) is sponsored by State Representative Ginny Shaver.

Shaver told reporters, “Cutting down on the court procedures and filings will save money, but it has a bigger savings on time.”

The bill decreases the time in a child abandonment case before that child can be put up for adoption from six months to four months.

“It is a big-time savings, which is hugely important in getting children into a permanent home as soon as possible,” Shaver said.

The Alabama Law Institute has had a committee working on modernizing and improving the laws for adoptions for four years to develop this rewrite of the existing adoption statutes.

“This is not a Ginny Shaver bill. This is a Law Institute bill,” Shaver said. “They were the experts that know all the ins and outs.”

“It has not been changed much in the last thirty years,” Shaver said. “(This legislation) can save up to two years of time. It identifies the proper court to terminate parental rights. It also allows the courts to use electronic communications.”

“It specifies that if a married couple wishes to adopt, that both parents have to appear on the petition to adopt,” Shaver said.

“We are all touched by adoptions in one way or the other,” Shaver said. “I have a sister who was adopted.”

The House passed House Bill 101 and House Bill 1, which raised the penalties for fentanyl trafficking, during this first week of the regular session.

Speaker of the House Nathaniel Ledbetter said, “We have changed lives for generations to come. These were my top two priorities. I am excited to get those two major bills passed out of the House.”

Ledbetter said that updating the adoption law has needed to be done for years.

“I think there was urgency,” Ledbetter said. “It has been a process that has been going on for four years. It should have been corrected a long time ago.

Rep. Matt Simpson, an attorney, told reporters, “I am ecstatic. Adoption is part of the practice that I do. That adoption committee met every other week for four years. You had probate judges from all over the state. You had attorneys on that zoom call working on that.”

“Adoptions are difficult, and they shouldn’t be,” Simpson said. “It doesn’t need to cost $40,000 to $50,000 to get an adoption done.”

Shaver said that presently the state has 5,700 children being cared for by the state, but only 220 are currently available for adoption.

“Are all of these children in foster care?” Rep. Laura Hall asked.

Shaver replied, “They (the 5,700 kids) would be in some sort of supported system, whether it is foster care or a children’s home.”

Shaver said that this legislation speeds up adoptions because it allows different courts to communicate with each other electronically and by decreasing the time in child abandonment cases from six months to four months.

Hall said, “We must find a way. We must find the resources so that we are providing all that child needs.”

Shaver explained, “Adoptions start in probate courts, but parental rights termination goes to juvenile court. If there is a challenge, it goes to juvenile court.”

State Rep. Ernie Yarbrough attempted to bring an amendment that would have banned any vaccination requirements for people who want to be foster parents.

“I love the bill, and I am totally for the bill,” Yarborough said. “Most of the adoptions that happen in the state are foster adoptions. I have a lot of my constituents who are not allowed to participate in the foster-to-adoption process because they are opposed to vaccine mandates.”

Yarborough argued that Alabama’s adoption and foster care process “should be free from vaccine mandates.”

Shaver said, “This bill has been worked on for four years. You should bring this as a separate bill. There are unintended consequences from this, including decreasing our federal funds.”

At Shaver’s request, the House voted to table the Yarborough amendment 58 to 24.

Health Freedom Alabama wrote on Facebook afterward, “The majority voted to kill the amendment and it did not pass. The majority of the House members did not see value in removing vaccine status discrimination policies that actually limit the number of families willing and able to adopt or foster to do so.”

“I was not taking any amendments from the floor,” Shaver told Alabama Today afterward. “They need to bring their own bill.”

HB101 passed the Alabama House of Representatives 105 to 0. 99 members signed on as co-sponsors.

“I am glad to get it across the finish line,” Shaver said. “It has been a long time coming.”

HB101 now goes to the Alabama Senate for their consideration.

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