Relating to access to certain information in the adoption process.
Summary
SB 500 amends the Texas Family Code provisions governing adoption records and information sharing. The bill requires the Department of Family and Protective Services, licensed child-placing agencies, and other persons placing a child for adoption to compile and distribute a report on the child’s available health, social, educational, and genetic history. It also sets a deadline for DFPS to provide its portion of that report to the placing agency or other adopter within 45 days after the child’s permanency goal is changed to adoption or parental rights are terminated, whichever occurs later.
The bill further expands and clarifies what prospective adoptive parents may review. Subject to existing confidentiality limits, they are entitled to examine records and other information relating to the child’s history, and the placing entity must inform them of that right. Before release, social security numbers must be redacted and identifying information must be edited to protect biological parents, certain biological siblings and their adoptive parents, reporters of abuse or neglect, and other confidential persons. Prospective adoptive parents must sign a nondisclosure agreement before receiving confidential information, and the information must be provided within 90 days of request. The act takes effect September 1, 2025.
Impact
SB 500 changes adoption-related disclosure requirements in the Family Code by creating clearer timelines and procedures for sharing a child’s background information with prospective adoptive parents. It affects DFPS, licensed child-placing agencies, single source continuum contractors, and other adoption-placement actors by imposing mandatory notice, redaction, nondisclosure, and delivery deadlines. The bill does not eliminate confidentiality protections, but it broadens access to non-identifying records and codifies how sensitive information must be handled.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have been broadly supported and noncontroversial. It passed the Senate unanimously and the House by a wide margin, with only one no vote and one member present not voting. The absence of committee transcript material suggests there was little recorded public debate in the available materials, and the voting pattern indicates general agreement with improving access to adoption history information while preserving confidentiality safeguards.
Contention
The main policy tension in SB 500 is between giving prospective adoptive parents more complete information about a child’s background and protecting the privacy of biological parents, siblings, abuse reporters, and other confidential individuals. Any concern would likely center on whether the expanded access and disclosure timelines are sufficient to support informed adoption decisions without increasing privacy risks. The bill addresses that concern by requiring redaction, editing, and a nondisclosure agreement before confidential information is released.
A BILL for an Act to amend and reenact sections 14-15-16 and 23-02.1-18 of the North Dakota Century Code, relating to disclosure of information in adoption proceedings and access to birth records.
Relating to the access to and use of certain criminal history record information, to the procedure for obtaining that information, and to the correct terminology for certain licenses the issuance of which requires a criminal history background check.