FISCAL NOTE TO


ASSEMBLY, No. 742


STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

DATED: JUNE 11, 1997

 

 

      Assembly Bill No. 742 of 1996 amends R.S.26:8-40.1 to eliminate language that allows the court, before which an adoption proceeding has taken place, to order that the residence of the adopting parents replace the place of birth on the birth certificate of an adopted child. In the case of a foundling, the bill would require a court of competent jurisdiction to designate the date and place of birth recorded on the original birth certificate.

      The provisions of the bill also amend R.S.26:8-40.1 to allow an adopted person, 18 years of age or older, to obtain an uncertified copy of his original birth certificate, if he submits a written notarized request to the State Registrar. Under present law, the original birth certificate of an adopted person is placed under seal which cannot be broken except by order of a court of competent jurisdiction. Another provision of the bill would give birth parents a time-limited (12-months from the effective date of the bill) opportunity to request that their names not be disclosed on the uncertified birth certificate copy provided to the adopted person. If confidentiality is requested, the State Registrar will ask the birth parents to complete a family medical history form and submit it with any cultural and social history information the birth parents may want to provide to the State Registrar. This information shall be disclosed to the adopted person upon request pursuant to R.S.26:8-40.1.

      The bill also establishes a voluntary information exchange mechanism to permit adopted adults and members of their birth families to record and share their current names, addresses and medical, cultural and social history information. The bill directs the Department of Health and Senior Services, in consultation with the Department of Human Services, to establish rules and regulations ensuring the accuracy and confidentiality of the information provided to adoptees and their birth family members. These regulations would also include the establishment of a service fee to meet the costs of implementing the provisions of this bill.

      The bill further requires the departments to report to the Legislature, and to make that report available to the public, on the development and administration of the initiatives established pursuant to the bill. Finally, the bill requires the Department of Human Services to implement activities, such as promoting public service messages in the media and contacting private adoption agencies in the State and human services agencies and private adoption agencies in other states, to increase public awareness of and encourage participation in the initiatives established in this bill.

      The Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) has estimated that costs associated with this bill would be $90,000, $59,000 and $30,000, respectively, in each of the next three fiscal years. These estimates are largely based on the salary and wages costs for three principal clerk typists in the first year, two in the second and one in the third. These personnel needs are based on a sliding scale that assumes inquiries to the department will decrease yearly as a percentage of the total number of adoptions on file, approximately 110,000. The Department of Human Services (DHS) has not provided any information on this legislation.

      The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) concurs that DHSS will incur personnel costs to implement this bill. However, costs during the second year may also remain high, approximating cost estimates for the first year. The OLS notes that the bill provides that during the first 12 months after the effective date, birth parents may submit requests to the State Registrar and after the first 12 months, adopted persons may then submit requests for an uncertified copy of their original certificate of birth. Thus, during the first two years following enactment, there will be an original influx of requests which will steadily taper off to a consistent number over the next few years, resulting in lower personnel costs.

      The OLS further notes that these costs will be offset by the service fee to be established by regulation pursuant to this bill. Depending on the amount of the fee, costs to the State will be reduced or entirely eliminated.

      It is also noted that there is no direct additional cost to DHS associated with promoting public service messages in the media and contacting private adoption agencies and agencies in other states about these initiatives as the bill provides that such costs are subject to the availability of fiscal and administrative resources. If sufficient resources are not available, DHS would have to request funds or find another means of providing these services.

 

This fiscal note has been prepared pursuant to P.L.1980, c.67.