Bill opening birth records passes Senate
The Indiana Senate Thursday approved a bill that would open birth records to some 350,000 Hoosiers adopted between 1941 and 1993.
Adoption
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Senate panel advances bill to open adoption records
Advocates of opening Indiana’s adoption records won an emotional first round Wednesday as a Senate panel advanced legislation that for the first time would open birth records of hundreds of thousands of Hoosiers.
Ruling extends standing in adoption cases to those with ‘lawful custody’
The sometimes-bitter litigation between a child’s adoptive parent and her grandparents who raised her from a young age yielded a decision from the state’s highest court that family law experts believe may represent a significant shift in adoption cases.
Justices vacate adoption by stepdad in win for grandparents
The Indiana Supreme Court on Tuesday stripped the adoption of a child by her stepfather, ruling that maternal grandparents who had been primary caregivers early in her life were wrongly denied an opportunity to consent to or contest the adoption.
Justices order adoption petitions moved to juvenile division based on local rule
The Indiana Supreme Court noted Thursday that the parties and both of the previous courts involved in an adoption matter were partly correct in their analyses as to where the petitions needed to be filed. But the Lake Superior Court, Civil Division should have transferred the petitions from its court to the juvenile division, where a local rule requires adoption petitions to be filed.
Adoption case presents issues of first impression
Adoption laws are evolving, as evidenced by a case before the Indiana Supreme Court and a separate push for a pre-birth abandonment bill aimed at biological fathers who don’t support their baby’s mother during pregnancy.
Delay of protection order hearing called ‘disturbing’
The Indiana Court of Appeals called a trial court’s delay in setting a hearing on a petition for a permanent protection order “disturbing” and found the lower court’s denial of the order did not comply with the state’s trial rules.
Governor declares November Adoption Awareness Month
Gov. Mike Pence has issued a proclamation declaring November as Adoption Awareness Month in Indiana.
Children should remain in home despite grandmother’s felony conviction
The Indiana Court of Appeals found I.C. 31-19-11-1(c) to be unconstitutional as applied and upheld the adoption of two boys by their maternal grandmother. The judges held that her 1997 felony conviction for neglect of a dependent should not automatically bar her from adopting the children.
COA: Court must rule on incarcerated father’s request for counsel
The Indiana Court of Appeals has reversed the adoption of a child by the maternal grandparents after finding the trial court violated the father’s due process rights when it did not rule on his request for counsel.
Rush OKs media coverage for National Adoption Day
Indiana Chief Justice Loretta Rush has approved still photography, video and audio coverage of uncontested adoption proceedings in honor of National Adoption Day Nov. 22.
Court: Father’s failure to timely register implies consent to adoption
The Indiana Court of Appeals has affirmed the adoption of a child by the maternal grandfather after finding the purported father irrevocably implied consent after failing to timely register with the Indiana Putative Father Registry.
Justices affirm adoption despite father’s untimely appeal
The Indiana Supreme Court in its decision affirming the adoption of a girl first tackled the issue of appellate jurisdiction to entertain the biological father’s appeal.
DCS settles adoption subsidy lawsuit
Families who sued the Department of Child Services will receive $15.1 million in state foster child adoption subsidies withheld from 2009 to 2014, DCS announced Thursday.
COA affirms child should be raised with half-siblings
The Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed the petition to adopt a child by a couple who have already adopted her half-siblings. Although the couple temporarily dropped their petition to adopt, the judges agreed it is in the child’s best interests to be raised with her siblings.
DCS to fund state subsidies for adoptions from foster care
The Department of Child Services will fund state subsidies for children adopted from foster care for the fiscal year that began July 1. The announcement comes after a lawsuit claimed the state reneged on promises to provide the assistance to about 1,400 eligible families since 2009.
Firm says DCS misled parents on foster adoption subsidies
The Indiana Department of Child Services misled parents adopting foster children by falsely claiming the agency lacked resources to provide subsidies while it returned hundreds of millions of dollars to the state, according to the Indianapolis law firm pursuing a class-action suit against DCS.
Advocates: Suit over unpaid subsidies emblematic of DCS’ shortcomings
Adoptive families who’ve sued the state and likened the Department of Child Services to deadbeat parents for failing to pay promised subsidies to people who adopt foster children aren’t alone in feeling slighted, child and adoption advocates say.
Personal, practical reasons guide adult adoptions
Children become consenting adults when they turn 18, but that’s also the age at which a few will seek to legally become someone’s son or daughter. Adult adoptions are fairly rare, but they’re sought for a host of reasons from the sentimental to the sensible, family law attorneys say.
Adoptive parent likens DCS to deadbeat parents
A woman who adopted three special-needs foster children said Monday the state’s failure to provided promised adoption subsidies made the Department of Child Services “basically deadbeat parents.”