Lawmakers sent the last bill aimed at ending the practice of "re-homing" adopted children in the state to the governor's office Tuesday.
Rep. David Meeks, R-Conway, encouraged legislators to sign off on tweaks made in the Senate to his bill, House Bill 1676, which would criminalize re-homing adopted children as a felony.
The pair of amendments passed with nearly 90 votes each, and HB1676 was sent to join a companion bill, HB1648, in the governor's office for signature.
As of Tuesday evening, Gov. Asa Hutchinson, whose office was involved in the drafting process of both pieces of legislation, had yet to sign either bill into law.
Meeks said it was possible the bills could be signed into law today but that given the confusion and the speed of the final days of the session, it's difficult to know when Hutchinson will act.
Among other things, the amendments closed a potential loophole for international adoptions. The addition of language to protect law enforcement officers conducting re-homing investigations was another final touch on legislation that Meeks has said enjoyed bipartisan support throughout the process.
With the session nearing an end, Meeks said that he looks forward to continuing discussions about adoption and foster care services for parents and children.
"As far as legislation or things of that nature, I'm pretty satisfied with what we're able to do this session," Meeks said. "[Future legislation could] be focused around children with [Reactive Attachment Disorder]. From speaking with adoptive and foster parents both, there seems to be an issue with how we're dealing with it as a state. We need to make sure we're taking care of those parents and support them in any way we can."
The bills were both filed in early March, a day after the publication of a story by the Arkansas Times that introduced the term "re-homing" to a legislative body that, for the most part, didn't know such a term existed.
The story detailed the re-homing of two adopted daughters, ages 3 and 5, by Rep. Justin Harris, R-West Fork, to an employee at his day care center, Eric Cameron Francis.
Francis, a former youth pastor, was eventually arrested in the sexual abuse of the oldest of the two girls. Late last year, he pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault and is now serving a 40-year prison sentence.
Meeks' bill would bar the re-homing of adopted children to anyone except a close, biological family member. An exception is allowed for certain medical emergencies.
Breaking that law could result in as many as five years in prison and up to a $5,000 fine.
HB1676 also requires the Department of Human Services to provide post-adoptive services to families and redefines the state's child abandonment statutes to exclude any disrupted adoption where "the adoptive parent has exhausted the available resources."
DHS policy encourages staff members to continue to provide services to parents after an adoption is finalized, but Meeks' bill will make such services compulsory.
Meeks, a foster parent himself, said he had heard several stories, including one from Harris, about DHS officials not helping adoptive parents who were living with difficult children and who were scared to work with the agency in fear that state officials would file child abandonment lawsuits against them.
HB1648, which was sent to the governor's office late last week, would also require that post-adoptive services be mandated and would attempt to add rules to those receiving subsidies from the state for adopting children through DHS.
After Harris re-homed his daughters to Francis, he continued to collect monthly state subsidies exceeding $800, but forwarded those on to the Francis family.
A bill sponsored by Rep. Greg Leding, D-Fayetteville, would require adoptive parents seeking a state subsidy to sign an annual agreement that a child is in their care. It also requires that adoptive parents report to DHS as soon as a child leaves their care.
Providing false information to DHS in that situation could result in prosecution of a Class A misdemeanor.
Metro on 04/01/2015