Sex offender custody case results in changes to Florida adoption law

4-27-2012 Florida:

Rewrite includes more kids being steered to a private rather than a DCF process.

TALLAHASSEE — A Baker County judge's 2011 ruling that took 4-year-old Miranda Wilkerson from the grandmother she lived with and placed her with a registered sex offender who was not her biological father was the catalyst for a rewrite of state adoption laws.

Signed this month by Gov. Rick Scott, the 61-page law has several goals, including to steer more children away from the state's adoption process and through the private sector.

And, as a result of Miranda's case, it requires a transition plan for a child being removed and a preliminary home study if a child is placed with someone other than an adoptive parent.

"This change would have allowed the courts to slow down the placement of Miranda to ensure her safety," sponsor Rep. Janet Adkins, R-Fernandina Beach, wrote in an email.

The man who was granted custody of the girl was married to her mother, although they were divorcing when the woman was killed in a car crash. By state law, he was the girl's legal father. That sparked the bill that, after nine amendments, passed both the House and Senate on unanimous votes.

Its aim now is to add stability to the system by bolstering current law, and moving more children away from the state adoption process, which is run by the Department of Children and Families.

"The provisions of the bill are designed to steer more surrendered newborns to the private adoption process and avoid the dependency process," a House analysis read.

It's a step in the right direction, says Jeanne Tate, a Tampa adoption attorney.

"I think it is absolutely a positive. Private adoption entities can do things in a much more efficient way than DCF," she said.

She pointed to placing children with out-of-state adoptive parents.

"What we can generally do very quickly, it might take the state months," she said.

DCF spokesman Joe Follick said the agency is "supportive" of any measure that gets children to adoptive parents.

One of the biggest changes requires judges to notify someone giving a child up for adoption that they can talk to a private adoption entity.

"Judges don't always tell them they have this ability," Tate said. "The option is currently on the books, but this [law] gives it teeth."

The law also prohibits DCF from taking custody, as it is now allowed, after a newborn that tests positive for drugs or alcohol is abandoned under Florida's Safe Haven Law.

Adkins said the change will expedite the process.

"The objective is to get these ... babies in adoptive families sooner, rather than in foster homes," she said.

DCF will still be notified if another child in a home may be at risk of harm.

Jacksonville adoption attorney Michael Shorstein said adoption entities don't do home inspections because a positive drug test at birth should not give them the right to violate a mother's privacy.

"It's none of our business," he said.

The bill also allows only licensed Florida adoption entity to place advertisements that a child is available for adoption. Currently, anyone can place such advertisements, which raises credibility questions.

"Some of these facilitators," Shorstein said, "are way less than reputable." ..Source.. by Matt Dixon