A4149

An Act concerning the protection of newborn infants and amending P.L.2000, c.58 and P.L.1991, c.275.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. Section 4 of P.L.2000, c.58 (C.30:4C-15.7) is amended to read as follows:

4. a. If a person voluntarily delivers a child who is or appears to be no more than 30 days old to, and leaves the child with an adult employee at:

(1) a State, county, or municipal police station and does not express an intent to return for the child, a State, county, or municipal police officer shall take the child to the emergency department of a licensed general hospital in this State and the hospital shall proceed as specified in subsection b. of this section;

(2) a fire station of a municipal, county, fire district, or volunteer fire department that is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and does not express an intent to return for the child, a fire fighter shall take the child to the emergency department of a licensed general hospital in this State, and the hospital shall proceed as specified in subsection b. of this section; or

(3) a public or private ambulance, first aid, or rescue squad that is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and does not express an intent to return for the child, an emergency medical technician, or another squad member if an emergency medical technician is not available, shall take the child to the emergency department of a licensed general hospital in this State, and the hospital shall proceed as specified in subsection b. of this section.

b. If a person voluntarily delivers a child who is or appears to be no more than 30 days old to, and leaves the child at an emergency department of a licensed general hospital in this State and does not express an intent to return for the child, or, if a State, county, or municipal police officer, a fire fighter, or a member of a public or private ambulance, first aid, or rescue squad brings a child to a licensed general hospital under the circumstances set forth in subsection a. of this section, the hospital shall:

(1) take possession of the child without a court order;

(2) take any action or provide any treatment necessary to protect the child's physical health and safety; and

(3) no later than the first business day after taking possession of the child, notify the Division of Child Protection and Permanency in the Department of Children and Families that the hospital has taken possession of the child.

c. The Division of Child Protection and Permanency shall assume the care, custody, and control of the child immediately upon receipt of notice from a licensed general hospital pursuant to paragraph (3) of subsection b. of this section. The division shall commence a thorough search of all listings of missing children to ensure that the relinquished child has not been reported missing.

d. A child for whom the Division of Child Protection and Permanency assumes care, custody, and control pursuant to subsection c. of this section shall be treated as a child taken into possession without a court order.

e. It shall be an affirmative defense to prosecution for abandonment of a child that the parent voluntarily delivered the child to and left the child [at] with an adult employee, or voluntarily arranged for another person to deliver the child to and leave the child with an adult employee, at [,] a State, county, or municipal police station, a fire department, or an ambulance, first aid, or rescue squad as provided in subsection a. of this section ; or voluntarily delivered the child to and left the child at the emergency department of a licensed general hospital in this State as provided in subsection b. of this section. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to create a defense to any prosecution arising from any conduct other than the act of delivering the child as described herein, and this subsection specifically shall not constitute a defense to any prosecution arising from an act of abuse or neglect committed prior to the delivery of the child to a State, county, or municipal police station, a fire department, or an ambulance, first aid, or rescue squad as provided in subsection a. of this section or the emergency department of a licensed general hospital in this State as provided in subsection b. of this section.

f. (1) A State, county, or municipal police officer and the governmental jurisdiction employing that officer:

(2) a fire fighter and the fire department, and governmental jurisdiction as applicable, employing or utilizing the services of that person;

(3) a member of an ambulance, first aid, or rescue squad and the squad, and governmental jurisdiction as applicable, employing, or utilizing the services of that person; or

(4) an employee of an emergency department of a licensed general hospital in this State and the hospital employing that person, shall incur no civil or criminal liability for any good faith acts or omissions performed pursuant to this section.

g. Any person who voluntarily delivers a child who is or appears to be no more than 30 days old to a licensed general hospital [or a], a police station, fire department, or ambulance, first aid, or rescue squad in accordance with this section shall not be required to disclose that person's name or other identifying information or that of the child or the child's parent, if different from the person who delivers the child to the hospital [or], police station, fire department, or ambulance, first aid, or rescue squad, or provide background or medical information about the child, but may voluntarily do so.

(cf: P.L.2012, c.16, s.68)

2. Section 6 of P.L.2000, c.58 (C.30:4C-15.9) is amended to read as follows:

6. a. The Commissioner of Children and Families, in consultation with the Commissioner of Health [and Senior Services], shall establish an educational and public information program to promote safe placement alternatives for newborn infants, the confidentiality offered to birth parents and information regarding adoption procedures. This campaign shall include the establishment of a 24-hour, toll free hotline to assist in making information about the safe haven procedures established by P.L.2000, c.58 (C.30:4C-15.5 et al.) as widely available as possible.

b. The Department of Children and Families shall provide to licensed general hospitals in this State and State, county, or municipal police stations, fire departments, and ambulance, first aid, and rescue squads, information about relevant social service agencies which may be made available to any person voluntarily delivering a child as provided in section 4 of P.L.2000, c.58 (C.30:4C-15.7).

c. The Department of Children and Families shall notify relevant county and municipal government agencies, agencies that deliver social services administered by the Departments of Children and Families, Human Services, and Health [and Senior Services], physicians, pregnancy crisis centers, adoption agencies, and colleges and universities about the availability of information concerning the “New Jersey Safe Haven Infant Protection Act,” including the pamphlets, posters, and other materials available on the department's Internet site.

(cf: P.L.2009, c.255, s.1)

3. Section 7 of P.L.1991, c.275 (C.30:4C-15.1) is amended to read as follows:

7. a. The division shall initiate a petition to terminate parental rights on the grounds of the "best interests of the child" pursuant to subsection (c) of section 15 of P.L.1951, c.138 (C.30:4C-15) if the following standards are met:

(1) The child's safety, health, or development has been or will continue to be endangered by the parental relationship;

(2) The parent is unwilling or unable to eliminate the harm facing the child or is unable or unwilling to provide a safe and stable home for the child and the delay of permanent placement will add to the harm. Such harm may include evidence that separating the child from his resource family parents would cause serious and enduring emotional or psychological harm to the child;

(3) The division has made reasonable efforts to provide services to help the parent correct the circumstances which led to the child's placement outside the home and the court has considered alternatives to termination of parental rights; and

(4) Termination of parental rights will not do more harm than good.

b. The division shall initiate a petition to terminate parental rights on the ground that the "parent has abandoned the child" pursuant to subsection (e) of section 15 of P.L.1951, c.138 (C.30:4C-15) if the following standards are met:

(1) a court finds that for a period of six or more months:

(a) the parent, although able to have contact, has had no contact with the child, the child's resource family parent or the division; and

(b) the parent's whereabouts are unknown, notwithstanding the division's reasonable efforts to locate the parent; or

(2) where the identities of the parents are unknown and the division has exhausted all reasonable methods of attempting identification, the division may immediately file for termination of parental rights upon the completion of the law enforcement investigation; or

(3) where the parent voluntarily delivered the child to and left the child [at] with an adult employee, or voluntarily arranged for another person to deliver the child to and leave the child with an adult employee, at a State, county or municipal police station, a fire station of a municipal, county, fire district, or volunteer fire department, the premises of a public or private ambulance, first aid, or rescue squad; or [at] voluntarily delivered the child to and left the child at an emergency department of a licensed general hospital in this State when the child is or appears to be no more than 30 days old, without expressing an intent to return for the child, as provided in section 4 of P.L.2000, c.58 (C.30:4C-15.7), the division shall file for termination of parental rights no later than 21 days after the day the division assumed care, custody and control of the child.

c. As used in this section and in section 15 of P.L.1951, c.138 (C.30:4C-15) "reasonable efforts" mean attempts by an agency authorized by the division to assist the parents in remedying the circumstances and conditions that led to the placement of the child and in reinforcing the family structure, including, but not limited to:

(1) consultation and cooperation with the parent in developing a plan for appropriate services;

(2) providing services that have been agreed upon, to the family, in order to further the goal of family reunification;

(3) informing the parent at appropriate intervals of the child's progress, development, and health; and

(4) facilitating appropriate visitation.

d. The division shall not be required to provide "reasonable efforts" as defined in subsection c. of this section prior to filing a petition for the termination of parental rights if an exception to the requirement to provide reasonable efforts to reunify the family has been established pursuant to section 25 of P.L.1999, c.53 (C.30:4C-11.3).

(cf: P.L.2004, c.130, s.56)

4. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill expands the list of sites at which newborn infants may be left safely and anonymously by a parent, or another person acting on the parent’s behalf, in accordance with the provisions of the “New Jersey Safe Haven Infant Protection Act,” to include the premises of fire stations and ambulance, first aid, and rescue squads that are staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Current law provides that an infant may be left at emergency departments of licensed general hospitals and State, county, and municipal police stations.

The bill also clarifies under the act that a child delivered to a safe haven must be left with an adult employee at the safe haven, other than when the child is delivered to and left at an emergency department of a licensed general hospital.