This morning SB23–now Sub(stitute) Bill 23, sailed through the Ohio Senate Medicaid, Health, and Human Services Committee, 8-0. No substantive changes to the bill were made, but several amendments were added  to clarify procedures in the original bill. The sub bill is not online as of this writing, but should be available on the SB23 page shortly. Sub 23: Removes the 90-day deadline for the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) to mail the contents of an adoption file to the requesting adoptee.  The original bill time-framed the response window to 90 days, but ODH, fearful of  the time it will take to process the large influx of requests  it expects  immediately after the bill becomes law, asked that the time frame be removed The Ohio Department of Jobs and Family  Services (ODJFS) will create the contact preference form  (cpf))as opposed to ODH, designated in the original bill. Requires any previous release of information forms on file under current law to be released with the adoption file. Deletes relatives “by marriage” from the definition of lineal descendant.  (Ex: .the adult child of a deceased adoptee can request the file, but his or her spouse cannot.). Removes a provision prohibiting a birthparent from including identifying information in a social or medical history form.. Removes provisions requiring ODH to Continue Reading →

I’m late in getting this posted, but I wanted to file a short report on the April 17 hearing for SB23 at the Ohio Senate Medicaid, Health, and Human Services Committee. You can also read an update on the ROAR site (Update #13). Wendy Bllitzer Barkett This was the first proponent hearing (the sponsor hearing was held on February 13). and consisted of two groups of witnesses.  The first were adoptees, some from out of state; the second “the experts.” Kicking off the hearing was adoptee poet Wendy Blitzer Barker  who came all the way from Texas to tell her story and support the bill. She was followed by Jeffrey Costello (Atlanta),  Erin  Hopkins McHugh, Ohio firefighter  Stephen Kelly, and Julia Derry.  Some told jerk-around stories relating to their individual probate court request for non-ID, which indicated that some courts are or have been in the past, out of compliance with current Ohio non-ID laws. And  I was beginning to think I’d heard it all! Elizabeth Samuels These witnesses were followed by Professor Elizabeth J Samuels  (University of Baltimore Law School) presenting the history of sealed records in the US and former Maine State Senator Paula Benoit sponsor of the bill that restored the right to OBC access in her Continue Reading →

The Ohio House today voted 94-1 with 2 abstentions to pass HB61 which restores the unrestricted right of OBC access to those in Ohio adopted between January 1, 1964-September 17, 1996.  It’s companion in the Senate is pending. Sadly, the bill did not pick up the ’96’s who will still be subject to a Disclosure Veto (DV) already in place for that access tier.. The truth is that Ohio Legislative Services, which vets all bills, refused to OK challenging  the DV law that amounts to an agreement between the State of Ohio and a handful of cowardly biological parents who demand that the government  grant them a special privilege to hide their identities from their adult offspring.  This “agreement” is quite different from the blanket sealing of OBCs with no legal  “agreement,” despite what opponents claim and we have shown repeatedly holds no water.  No one knows how many shirkers are on file here, but the number 20 has  been tossed around the last couple of years. I believe DVs can be removed from 1996 law, but the legal arguments need to be developed more fully, and the big fat arm of Legislative Services needs twisted..  I also believe that the foolishness of OBC access for all but Continue Reading →