191.975. Adoption awareness, department duties--advertising campaign authorized--rulemaking authority.
Adoption awareness, department duties--advertising campaignauthorized--rulemaking authority.
191.975. 1. This section shall be known and may be cited as the"Adoption Awareness Law".
2. To raise public awareness and to educate the public, thedepartment of social services, with the assistance of the department ofhealth and senior services, shall be responsible for:
(1) Collecting and distributing resource materials to educate thepublic about foster care and adoption;
(2) Developing and distributing educational materials, including butnot limited to videos, brochures and other media as part of a comprehensivepublic relations campaign about the positive option of adoption and fostercare. The materials shall include, but not be limited to, informationabout:
(a) The benefits of adoption and foster care;
(b) Adoption and foster care procedures;
(c) Means of financing the cost of adoption and foster care,including but not limited to adoption subsidies, foster care payments andspecial needs adoption tax credits;
(d) Options for birth parents in choosing adoptive parents;
(e) Protection for and rights of birth parents and adoptive parentsprior to and following the adoption;
(f) Location of adoption and foster care agencies;
(g) Information regarding various state health and social serviceprograms for pregnant women and children, including but not limited tomedical assistance programs and temporary assistance for needy families(TANF); and
(h) Referrals to appropriate counseling services, including but notbe limited to counseling services for parents who are considering retainingcustody of their children, placing their children for adoption, or becomingfoster or adoptive parents; but excluding any referrals for abortion or toabortion facilities;
(3) Making such educational materials available through state andlocal public health clinics, public hospitals, family planning clinics,abortion facilities as defined in section 188.015, RSMo, maternity homes asdefined in section 135.600, RSMo, child-placing agencies licensed pursuantto sections 210.481 to 210.536, RSMo, attorneys whose practice involvesprivate adoptions, in vitro fertilization clinics and private physiciansfor distribution to their patients who request such educational materials.Such materials shall also be available to the public through the departmentof social services' Internet web site;
(4) Establishing a toll-free telephone number for information onadoption and foster care, and to answer questions and assist personsinquiring about becoming adoptive or foster parents.
3. In addition, the department may establish and implement an ongoingadvertising campaign for the recruitment of adoptive and foster carefamilies, with a special emphasis on the recruitment of qualified adoptiveand foster care families for special needs children. Such advertisingcampaign may utilize, but shall not be limited to, the following media:television, radio, outdoor advertising, newspaper, magazines and otherprint media, web sites, and the Internet. The department may contract withprofessional advertising agencies or other professional entities to conductsuch advertising campaign on behalf of the department.
4. The provisions of this section shall be subject to appropriations.
5. The department of social services shall promulgate rules for theimplementation of this section in accordance with chapter 536, RSMo.
(L. 2001 S.B. 266, A.L. 2005 S.B. 21)