H. B. 4300
(By Delegates Houston, Hatfield, Rowe,
Susman, Johnson and Marshall)
[Introduced January 31, 2000; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary then Finance.]
A BILL to amend chapter forty-nine of the code of West Virginia,
one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding
thereto a new article, designated article six-e, relating to
the voluntary delivery of infants to hospitals or health care
facilities by persons who do not express an intent to return
for the child; requiring hospitals to take possession of the
infants and report the possession to the child protective
division of the department of health and human resources;
requiring hospital or health care facility to respect
anonymity; requiring department to take possession of child
immediately upon notification; requiring department to cause
petition to be brought in conjunction with assistance of county prosecutor; providing affirmative defense to certain
child neglect crime; and providing that the department may
place child for adoption.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter forty-nine of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding
thereto a new article, designated article six-e, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 6E. EMERGENCY POSSESSION OF CERTAIN ABANDONED CHILDREN.
§49-6E-1. Accepting possession of certain abandoned children.
A hospital or health care facility operating in this state,
shall, without a court order, take possession of a child if the
child is voluntarily delivered to the hospital or health care
facility by the child's parent within seventy-two hours of the
child's birth and the parent did not express an intent to return
for the child. A hospital or health care facility that takes
possession of a child under this section shall perform any act
necessary to protect the physical health or safety of the child.
In accepting possession of the child, the hospital or health care
facility may not require the person to identify themselves, but
shall otherwise respect the person's desire to remain anonymous.
§49-6E-2. Notification of possession of abandoned child.
(a) Not later than the close of the first business day after
the date on which a hospital or health care facility takes
possession of a child under section one of this article, the
hospital or health care facility shall notify the child protective
services division of the department of health and human resources
that it has taken possession of the child.
(b) The department of health and human resources shall assume
the care, control and custody of the child immediately on receipt
of the notice.
§49-6E-3. Filing petition after accepting possession of abandoned
child.
A child of whom the department of health and human resources
assumes care, control and custody under the provisions of this
article shall be treated in all respects as a child taken into
custody under the provisions of section nine, article six of this
chapter. Upon taking custody of a child under the provisions of
this article, the department with the cooperation of the county
prosecuting attorney shall cause a petition to be presented
pursuant to the provisions of section three, article six of this
chapter. Thereafter, the department shall proceed in compliance with the provisions of article six of this chapter.
§49-6E-4. Affirmative defense for certain prosecutions.
It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under subsection
(e), section four, article eight-d, chapter sixty-one of this code
if a parent charged under that section delivered the child, for
whom the parent is charged, within seventy-two hours of the child's
birth.
§49-6E-5. Placement of child for adoption.
If, at the expiration of six months from the date that a
child has been delivered as provided in section four of this
article, no person has identified themselves as a biological parent
seeking to regain custody of the child, the department may take
action intended to lead to adoption of the child.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide a procedure to
deal with the voluntary delivery of infants to hospitals or health
care facilities by persons who do not express an intent to return
for the child. The bill would require hospitals to take possession
of the infants and report the possession to the child protective
division of the department of health and human resources. The
department would then be required to take possession of child
immediately upon receiving notification. The department,
additionally, is required to cause a petition to be brought in
conjunction with the assistance of county prosecutor to take legal
custody of the child. Finally, the bill would provide an
affirmative defense to the parents who deliver the child to the
charge of child neglect creating a risk of injury. The bill requires the hospital to allow the person who delivers the child to
remain anonymous. Finally, DHHR may place the child for adoption
after six months if the child remains unclaimed.
This article is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.