Bill > SB1751

This bill allows a judge to skip the requirement of a home study, which is an evaluation of a prospective adoptive parent's home, in certain adoption cases. Specifically, a judge can waive this home study if the child has already lived with the prospective adoptive parents for at least twelve months, the parents were given legal custody of the child by a court after a full review, and the parents provide a recent criminal background check and a check of the sex offender registry. The judge must also issue a written order explaining why waiving the home study is in the child's best interest, but the judge is not required to grant the waiver and retains the discretion to decide.