FAYETTEVILLE (KFSM)- It is now illegal for parents in Arkansas to give their adopted children to other families to raise without following a new set of laws that went into effect Wednesday (July 22).
The process is called re-homing, and it is now regulated by two laws drafted by Arkansas Rep. Greg Leding, D- Fayetteville, and Rep. David Meeks, R-Conway.
Leding and Meeks said they drafted the bills after another state representative, Justin Harris, R-West Fork, re-homed two adopted girls with a man who was later convicted of sexually assaulting one of them.
“We were shocked to learn there wasn`t a law in place,” Leding said. “It turns out it is not necessarily a common practice, but it does happen, and there have been states that have passed laws to prohibit it, and now thankfully due to our work earlier this year, Arkansas is also one of those states.”
Meeks' bill makes re-homing an adopted child to a non-relative a felony if it is done without Department of Human Services oversight and Leding's bill establishes post-adoption assistance from DHS and address the money adoptive parents get from the state.
“If that situation changes, and those children are no longer in your care, the money has to follow the parents,” Leding said. “Now, it does leave a little bit of wiggle room there in case the re-homing situation is very temporary and those children will be coming back to the family.”
Leding said this issue was never on the legislature's radar because no one realized it was a problem, but he believes everyone has learned something from it.
“One of the lessons is, we have to be vigilant and keep our eyes out for important issues like this, and not just assume that there are laws or regulations in place to protect people,” Leding said.
Following the re-homing controversy, Rep. Justin Harris announced he will not be seeking re-election once his current term is up.