The Preserving Family Bonds Act has another chance after previous vetoes.
Legislation again passed by New York lawmakers would allow some people who have lost parental rights to contact their children in the future — even when kids have been adopted into other families.
Under the Preserving Family Bonds Act, S6720, such contact would have to be approved by a judge and determined to be in the child’s “best interest.”
Similar versions of the bill have been vetoed by two governors in recent years. Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) rejected last year’s version of the bill, because she said it didn’t offer adoptive parents “full rights” or “finality” in the creation of their new families.
The bill’s Senate sponsor, Sen. Jabari Brisport (D), said that the Legislature could pursue a supermajority to override Hochul’s decision if she vetoes the bill again.
“At this point, the Legislature has not used its supermajority to overturn a veto at all while I’ve been here,” Brisport said in an interview. “That’s an option to us, and we should exercise it, especially for something like this.”
Legislation granting parents a pathway to contacting their children after their parental rights have been terminated in family court cases was first introduced in 2017 by Assemblymember Latoya Joyner (D), who cited a personal connection. In a New York Times article, she is quoted as saying that she missed out on valuable time spent with her birth mother, who died six years after they were reunited in adulthood.
“We need to recognize that a family doesn’t fit a one-size-fits-all model or approach,” Joyner said during a June Assembly hearing. “We are allowing courts and families to craft new family structures that best suit their situation.”
The bill has been amended since it was first approved by the legislature in 2019. One provision states that if a court orders ongoing contact after termination, and the adoptive parent or another caretaker refuses to comply, the biological parent can’t use it as a basis to challenge an adoption. To ensure the law would not cause delays in finalizing adoptions, another amendment states that the family court can continue that process while there is an appeal over a request for post-adoption contact by a birth parent.
“We need to recognize that a family doesn’t fit a one-size-fits-all model or approach.”
— Assemblymember Latoya Joyner
New York currently allows open adoptions and contact with birth parents who voluntarily give up their parental rights. Judges do not have the authority to require contact when a birth parent’s rights have been given up involuntarily — an issue the pending legislation aims to address.
Under federal law, a petition to terminate parental rights must be filed in court if a child has been in foster care for 15 of the last 22 months, unless certain conditions are met: the child is being cared for by relatives; a social service agency has documented a compelling reason why termination is not in the child’s best interest or the parent is determined to be making progress and there is a strong likelihood the child could return home within six months. A parent’s rights also cannot be terminated by courts if the social service agency has failed to provide them with the necessary services to allow for the child’s safe return home.
Often, these timelines are not strictly followed, and parents are encouraged to attend court hearings that might stave off termination proceedings. Their rights to their children can be severed if a judge rules that they “permanently neglected” a child for at least 12 months by failing to maintain contact and plan for the future; “legally abandoned” the child for at least six months, or have “severely or repeatedly” abused the child, in which case a judge cannot order parental visits. Parents with mental illnesses or intellectual disabilities that prevent them from caring for their child can also have their rights terminated, thereby allowing adoptions to proceed.
Under the new law, children over age 14 must consent to an agreement allowing parental visitation, and in cases where rights are terminated by a judge, parents can no longer contact their children.
Debate continues among adoptive families and foster youth about the benefits and potential harms of post-termination contact.
“When you become their legal guardian, you can’t have another entity determining what’s in the best interest of your child. It’s incredibly unfair.”
— Pat O’Brien, Adoptive and Foster Family Coalition of New York
Advocates say that because most parents enter the child welfare system for problems stemming from poverty, people of color are most likely to lose rights to contact their children.
“Parents lack resources, not love for their children,” said Joyce McMillan, founder of the advocacy group JMACForFamilies. For “Black, Latine, and low-income children and parents who have been forcibly separated from each other, continued family visits can be vital.”
A 2012 report by the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, an organization that focuses on adoption policy, found that relationships with birth parents have allowed children some relief from feeling the family separation was their fault while giving them a better understanding of their background and origins — which contributes to more positive feelings about both their birth and adoptive parents.
Rita Anderson, who spent time in New York’s foster care system from ages 12-18, said the relationship she was allowed to have with her birth parents helped her “maintain connectivity to her heritage, family of origin, and sense of self.”
But she said in an interview that sometimes, experiences with her birth parents were “often traumatic and frightening,” because it would trigger distrust and uncomfortable feelings from the past.
Anderson, now 39, recommends that lawmakers go beyond the proposed bill by making sure that when birth parents are reintroduced into a child’s life, it is done in a therapeutic manner, with proper support for the child.
“The judge may need an expert in child-parent relationships to confer prior to making the decision,” she said.
Opponents of the bill likely to land on Hochul’s desk argue that it puts adoptive parents at a disadvantage, because it allows a judge to determine whether visits should take place, rather than a child’s legal caregivers.
Pat O’Brien, executive director of the Adoptive and Foster Family Coalition of New York, said, “When you become their legal guardian, you can’t have another entity determining what’s in the best interest of your child. It’s incredibly unfair.”
Hochul has until Dec. 31 to sign or veto legislation. If it is approved by the governor, the law would take effect 180 days after the bill’s signature.
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly attributed a statement to Pat O’Brien. This story has also been updated to clarify the bill’s current status.
