PRINTER'S NO. 2494
No. 2003 Session of 1991
INTRODUCED BY KREBS, JAROLIN, TIGUE, COLAIZZO, MELIO, GALLEN,
KRUSZEWSKI, PISTELLA, CARONE, TRELLO, BILLOW AND STEELMAN,
OCTOBER 15, 1991
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON AGING AND YOUTH, OCTOBER 15, 1991
AN ACT
1 Amending Title 23 (Domestic Relations) of the Pennsylvania
2 Consolidated Statutes, regulating grounds for involuntary
3 termination.
4 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
5 hereby enacts as follows:
6 Section 1. Section 2511 of Title 23 of the Pennsylvania
7 Consolidated Statutes is amended to read:
8 § 2511. Grounds for involuntary termination.
9 (a) General rule.--The rights of a parent in regard to a
10 child may be terminated after a petition filed on any of the
11 following grounds:
12 (1) The parent by conduct continuing for a period of at
13 least six months either has evidenced a settled purpose of
14 relinquishing parental claim to a child or has refused or
15 failed to perform parental duties.
16 (2) The repeated and continued incapacity, abuse,
17 neglect or refusal of the parent has caused the child to be
18 without essential parental care, control or subsistence
1 necessary for his physical or mental well-being and the
2 conditions and causes of the incapacity, abuse, neglect or
3 refusal [cannot or will not be] have not been remedied by the
4 parent within 18 months.
5 (3) The parent is the presumptive but not the natural
6 father of the child.
7 (4) The child is in the custody of an agency, having
8 been found under such circumstances that the identity or
9 whereabouts of the parent is unknown and cannot be
10 ascertained by diligent search and the parent does not claim
11 the child within three months after the child is found.
12 (5) The child has been removed from the care of the
13 parent by the court or under a voluntary agreement with an
14 agency for a period of at least six months, the conditions
15 which led to the removal or placement of the child continue
16 to exist, the parent [cannot or will not remedy those
17 conditions within a reasonable period of time] has not
18 remedied those conditions within 18 months from the date of
19 removal or placement, the services or assistance reasonably
20 available to the parent [are not likely to remedy] have not
21 remedied the conditions which led to the removal or placement
22 of the child within [a reasonable period of time] 18 months
23 from the date of removal or placement and termination of the
24 parental rights would best serve the needs and welfare of the
25 child.
26 (6) The child has been removed from the care of the
27 parent by the court or under a voluntary agreement with an
28 agency and the child was in placement for a period of 12
29 months or longer and returned home to the parent and replaced
30 within six to eight months from the date of return for
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1 similar conditions of abuse, neglect or incapacity.
2 (7) The child was removed from the care of the parent by
3 the court or under a voluntary agreement and the child has
4 displayed severe, adverse reactions to parental visitation
5 for a period of at least six months as a result of the
6 neglect, abuse or incapacity perpetrated by the parent.
7 Evidence of adverse reactions must be supported by a
8 therapist, psychologist or psychiatrist licensed by the
9 Commonwealth.
10 (b) Agency responsibility regarding involuntary termination
11 of parental rights.--The agency must show:
12 (1) documentation that the termination laws were
13 reviewed with the parents of the child within 30 days of the
14 date of removal or placement of the child as indicated on the
15 placement service plan and every six months from the date of
16 placement during the judicial placement interviews,
17 administrative review and dispositional review hearings; and
18 (2) that it has worked diligently with the parents of
19 the child to assist the parents in remedying the conditions
20 which led to the child's removal or placement.
21 [(b)] (c) Other considerations.--The court in terminating
22 the rights of a parent shall give primary consideration to the
23 needs and welfare of the child. The rights of a parent shall not
24 be terminated solely on the basis of environmental factors such
25 as inadequate housing, furnishings, income, clothing and medical
26 care if found to be beyond the control of the parent.
27 Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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