Senate won't approve House's changes to biological parent bill

Parental rights changes hit a snag
House-Senate conferenece may find a compromise
Vos, Sarah. Lexington Herald-Leader, March 10, 2007, pg. B2.

FRANKFORT -- The Senate won't approve changes made by the House to a bill designed to provide more protection to biological parents in danger of having their parental rights terminated.

Republican leadership decided during a caucus meeting yesterday not to approve the changes.The move doesn't mean the issue is dead, said Sen. Julie Denton, R-Louisville.

A compromise probably will be agreed to when the two legislative bodies go to conference, she said.

State officials have spent the past year investigating complaints that some children are inappropriately removed from their biological parents and placed in foster care to speed up state adoptions.

The House measure, which incorporates language from another Senate bill that had gotten held up in committee, calls for a panel of top state child-protection officials to review every recommendation to terminate parental rights before that recommendation is sent to a judge.