18 CRR-NY 421.5NY-CRR
18 CRR-NY 421.5
18 CRR-NY 421.5
421.5 Services to fathers of out-of-wedlock children.
With regard to the rights and interests of the biological father of an out-of-wedlock child, an agency shall comply with the following procedures:
(a) In all cases:
(1) take steps to identify the father and determine the extent of relationship between father and mother and between father and child;
(2) make efforts to involve the father in planning for the child;
(3) give the alleged father an opportunity to recognize or deny paternity;
(4) if father admits paternity but is unwilling or unable to plan for the child, attempt to obtain a voluntary surrender of father's rights in child when such action would be in the best interests of the child; and
(5) if the father is unwilling or unable to plan, and is also unwilling to voluntarily surrender rights, take such steps to obtain termination of the father's parental rights as are appropriate to the best interests of the child.
(b) The child shall not be placed for adoption without the father's consent or the surrender or termination of his parental rights in cases where the child being placed is not yet six months old and the unwed mother's parental rights have been surrendered or terminated, and the father has:
(1) paid or offered to pay, a fair and reasonable sum, according to his means, for medical, hospital and nursing expenses incurred in connection with the mother's pregnancy or with the birth of the child;
(2) openly lived with the child or child's mother for a continuous period of six months immediately prior to the placement of the child for adoption; and
(3) openly held himself out to be the father of the child during a continuous period of six months prior to the placement of the child for adoption.
(c) The child shall not be placed for adoption without the father's consent or the surrender or termination of his parental rights in cases where the child is over six months old and the unwed mother's parental rights have been surrendered or terminated, and the father has maintained substantial and continuous or repeated contact with the child as manifested by paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subdivision:
(1) by payment of a fair and reasonable sum toward support for the child, according to the father's means, and either:
(i) monthly visitations to the child when financially and physically able to do so and not prevented from doing so by actions of the agency having custody of the child;
(ii) by regular communication with the child or the person or agency having care or custody of the child, when visitation is either not financially or physically possible or has been prevented by the agency having custody of the child; or
(2) a father who has openly lived with the child for a period of six months in the one-year period immediately preceding the child's placement for adoption and who had openly held himself out to be the father of the child during such period shall be deemed to have maintained substantial and continuous contact with the child for the purpose of this subdivision.
(d) A written instrument executed by the biological father denying paternity or consenting to the mother's surrender of the child for adoption or consenting to the adoption of the child shall be completed in accordance with section 111 of the Domestic Relations Law.
18 CRR-NY 421.5
Current through July 31, 2021
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