On Tuesday, Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced signed a bill in the House amending the Adoption Act to expand the adoption task force and set up regular meetings between the Family Department and nonprofits. for profit, public or private that promotes the adoption of minors in Puerto Rico, among other measures.
The measure, which was approved unanimously by the House and Senate, provides for the inclusion of a representative of the judicial branch in the working group for adoption, in addition to a representative of the Association of Social Work Professionals of Puerto Rico and a representative of the Department of Justice.
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“This law promotes the streamlining of adoption processes and the integration of professionals, organizations, individuals and government agencies focused on improving the quality of children and young people waiting to be adopted,” the governor said of the measure presented by Representative Jacqueline Rodríguez Hernández.
It also sets a deadline for the departments of family and health to prepare the voluntary delivery label for distribution to all health care institutions in Puerto Rico and to set administrative fines for non-compliance with various provisions.
It also provides for the Department of the Family to convene publicly every six months all organizations promoting the adoption of minors at a working meeting to discuss the Department’s efforts on adoptions, study and propose amendments to laws related to adoption, promotion of efforts. to accelerate the adoption of minors and any other related matter.
The Department of the Family has an electronic register called the “Voluntary State Register of Adoption in Puerto Rico”, which includes all the names of minors whose adoption plan is for adoption and the adoptive parties with up-to-date and accurate information to identify them, as required by the regulation.
Once an applicant has entered the aforementioned register, he / she will not have to update the documents initially submitted and accepted by the Family Department until the selection committee of the candidates starts evaluating their application for a placement. The fact that an applicant does not have the updated documents will not be a reason for disqualifying them.
The ordinary meetings of the above-mentioned committee shall be held consecutively every two weeks and, if necessary, may convene extraordinary meetings. Meetings may be held physically or by video conference by any technological means.
The measure was included by the governor in the last special session, after in November in the symposium “Adoption: but of love”, organized by the House of Representatives, a group of recognized experts on this topic requested. The group included Dr. Caly Rodríguez de Rivera-Dueño, former secretary of the Family Department under the administration of Pedro Rosselló González, Lcda. María Ortiz, a prominent litigant in adoption and family cases, and Lcda. Diana Cordero, who is an adoptive mother.