NORTH CAROLINA: June 9 at the North Carolina General Assembly, June 10m 2008

CHARLOTTE OBSERVER
June 10, 2008

June 9, 2008, at the North Carolina General Assembly

The Associated Press

HEADLINES:

- House panel to consider expanding confidential intermediary program for adoptees

- Rucho sworn in to return to NC Senate

- Boseman, ex-domestic partner default on home mortgage

- National Guard company that lost five during deployment honored by NC House

THE BRIEF:

ADOPTION RULES: Lawmakers are considering expanding a program that enables adoptees to learn the identities of their birth parents using an adoption agencies as a confidential intermediaries. A House judiciary committee is slated to consider a bill Tuesday that would allow adoptees to obtain death certificates for their deceased birth parents through the intermediary. A 1949 state law prohibits adoptees from accessing their original birth certificates, which contains their biological parents' names. Without the parents' consent, the intermediary agency also can't provide information to adoptees - even if the parents are dead. The other measure would allow the family members of either deceased biological parents or deceased adoptees to use the intermediary. Roberta MacDonald, chairwoman of the N.C. Coalition for Adoption Reform, said the plans would provide a new way for adoptees to gain valuable data, including medical information, about their biological families.

RUCHO'S BACK: Sen. Bob Rucho is back in the Legislature after being away for four years. Court of Appeals Judge Ann Marie Calabria swore the Charlotte Republican into office before Monday night's session. The dentist will serve the rest of the term belonging to Sen. Robert Pittenger, who resigned last month to focus on running for lieutenant governor. Rucho served in the Senate for eight years before the 2003 redistricting put his house in the same district as Pittenger's. Rucho was chosen to serve out Pittenger's term by Mecklenburg County Republican leaders. Gov. Mike Easley formally appointed him Monday.

MORTGAGE DEFAULT: Sen. Julia Boseman and her former domestic partner have defaulted on a $1.3 million mortgage on a New Hanover County home. Documents show Boseman, D-New Hanover, and Melissa Jarrell have failed to pay the $7,156 monthly payments since last August. The home will be auctioned June 25 at the county courthouse. County tax records show $4,700 in taxes are also owed on the property. Boseman is seeking a third Senate term in November. She said the situation was a private matter that wouldn't affect work for her constituents.

NATIONAL GUARD: The House officially thanked a North Carolina National Guard unit that served overseas and is scheduled to return home Tuesday. The 1132nd Military Police Company, based in Rocky Mount, Tarboro, and Mount Olive, deployed in June 2007 and ultimately reached Iraq in September. Five members of the unit died during the deployment, four of them from North Carolina. One was from New Hampshire, part of a platoon the served with the company. The House passed a resolution honoring the work of all who served and the memory of those who lost their lives.

MONDAY'S SCORECARD:

In the Senate:

- H724, to remove the requirement to use Social Security numbers on child support court orders. Approved 45-0. Next: Return to House for concurrence motion.

AROUND THE STATEHOUSE:

Mount Olive College leaders and the coaching staff of the baseball team were in attendance as the Legislature passed a resolution praising the team for winning the NCAA Division II championship two weekends ago. The Trojans beat Ouachita Baptist 6-2 in Illinois on May 31 to capture the national title.

ON THE AGENDA:

- The Appalachian State University football team will be honored Tuesday for their third consecutive NCAA Football Championship Subdivision title with a resolution celebrating another title. The Mountaineers also plan to stop by the Executive Mansion earlier in the day to meet Gov. Mike Easley.

- House and Senate members of both parties hold a news conference Tuesday to promote a bill that would allow parents of children with special needs to seek a tax credit for sending their children to a tuition-paid school.

OVERHEARD:

"It's good to be back." - Sen. Bob Rucho, R-Mecklenburg, in brief comments after he was sworn back into office Monday evening. The four-term senator is filling out the unexpired term of Sen. Robert Pittenger, who resigned to run for lieutenant governor.

---

By Gary D. Robertson and Whitney Woodward.

Link to article

NORTH CAROLINA: Panel Approves Plan to Log Birthparent-Adoptee Searches,

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/BLUE RIDGE NOW.COM
June 10, 2008

Panel Approves Plan to Log Birth-Parent-Adoptee Searches

A House committee is backing a plan that would require adoption agencies to report how many birthparents and adoptees use a program to help the adults learn each other's identities.

The panel approved a plan Tuesday that would require the state to record how many adopted individuals and biological parents try to find their counterparts.

Lawmakers created a program last year that allows adoption agencies to act as confidential intermediaries between adoptees and biological parents. The individuals' names and medical information can be shared if both parties agree.

But members delayed approving or rejecting a plan to allow family members to use the intermediary service if either an adoptee or birthparent had died. The panel is scheduled to consider the plan Thursday.

Link to article

NORTH CAROLINA: Biological Connections, March 2, 2008

HICKORY DAILY RECORD
March 2, 2008

Biological Connection
by Jennifer Menster

CONOVER -- Toni Jones and Ryan Peedin don’t share the same last name. They can’t reflect on childhood memories of Ryan making As, playing sports or getting married.

But Toni and Ryan have the same eyes. Their laughs twine together, and a current photo of Ryan resembles a younger version of Toni’s brother, Bob.

The two are biologically connected: Toni was 15 when she got pregnant in the 1970s. Her parents made her give up the child. Ryan, a name later given to him, went to a wonderful set of parents in Johnston County. He grew up knowing he was adopted.

“I was always curious, and I would think about it long enough to feed my curiosity,” Peedin says. “I knew adoption records were sealed, and I didn’t have a lot of encouragement legal-wise.”

Peedin grew up, got married and has two daughters who favored him. He couldn’t help but wonder where his daughters’ eye color or facial features really came from. As he aged and his daughters grew, Peedin questioned if he should be worried about diabetes or high blood pressure or other medical concerns that might run in his biological parents’ families.


The search begins

In June 2004, Peedin began his search. He was 32 years old. The agency Peedin worked with in Johnston County, where he lives, couldn’t give him identifying records. A copy of his birth certificate was false: It listed his adopted parents as his birth parents. Peedin tried three or four registry Web sites where adoptees and birth parents sometimes go to the find one another. Matches are rare.

His adoptive parents were open in helping Peedin with the search. Mom and Dad told Peedin everything they could. Peedin knew he was born in 1972 (birth days never change) in Catawba County, and he knew his biological mother was around 15 when he was born.

Copies of non-identifying information gave him several clues. His birth parents’ names were blacked out, but on one sheet, Peedin could make out a T. Another clue was that the birth mother’s father was born in Ohio and her mother was born in Catawba County.

Peedin took the clues - a T, her age, Ohio and Catawba County - and went to the Catawba County Register of Deeds Office to search birth records. It took him 15 minutes before he found Toni’s birth certificate.

“There was no doubt in my mind that we had found her,” Peedin said.

However, it would still be a while before Peedin confirmed she was the one. He figured she was married and had a new last name. He didn’t know if she was living out of state or maybe even dead. Peedin went to Sybil Good at Family Builders, a division of the Department of Social Services that handles adoptions and foster home licensing.

What a small world: Good was the same social worker who helped place Ryan more than 30 years ago. She knew his birth mother, but by law couldn’t tell him. Instead, she offered him what services and advice she legally could.

Disappointment, then success

A frustrated Peedin was a little disappointed and uncertain about what to do, but he didn’t give up. His wife called a private investigator. The P.I. refused to take the case because Peedin had come so far by himself. The investigator gave Peedin a tip.

Peedin had looked up Toni’s parents’ telephone number in the phone book, but he was uncertain whether to call them, not knowing if they’d be willing to help. With a little white lie and the P.I.’s advice, Peedin had a female call Toni’s mom asking for her contact information for a class reunion. Peedin had his birth mother’s married name, her address and telephone number.

What now?

He called Good for advice, and she told him to write a letter. A letter? Peedin didn’t know what to say. He had been so focused during his two-month search, but the emotions were beginning to swell. He wanted to be fair - to himself and Toni. What if she didn’t want to have anything to do with him? In the letter, he said that would be her decision. He told her good parents raised him and he understood the circumstances of his adoption. Peedin didn’t want to get his expectations too high and a lot of the letter was curiosity about medical history.

Peedin sent the letter to Good, who served as a go-between. Toni said when she heard the phone message from Good she knew exactly what it was about.

“Whenever she said, ‘This is Sybil Good,’ I could have fell to the floor,” Jones said. “I was never expecting this to happen. I gave up on that a long time ago.”

On Sept. 12, 2004, Peedin met his birth mother. He, his wife, Joy, and Toni and her husband, Keith, met at Valley Hills Mall for dinner. They wound up returning to the Jones’ home and talking for hours.

Peedin and Jones talk at least once a week. They’ve vacationed together and visit several times a year. Jones has met Peedin’s adopted mother and several other family members. It’s still not time for Peedin to meet his biological father or grandparents.

A new law

Peedin spent more than two months searching for his birth mother. It was worth it, but it would have been nice if he could have skipped the work and gone straight to an agency to get his answers.

Now, adoptees, their lineal descendants if the adoptee is deceased and biological parents can do just that. A law that went into effect Jan. 1 allows North Carolina counties the option to serve as confidential intermediaries between adult adoptees and biological parents.

In December, the Catawba County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a Confidential Intermediary Program in the county. Family Builders heads up the program.

“We’ve been ready to serve since (the beginning),” Sybil Good said. “Now we can actually search for a person, and we have avenues to search databases this agency has access to.”

These are the standard services of the Confidential Intermediary Program offered by Family Builders:

• Provides initial consultation regarding the county’s policy in addressing House Bill 445;
• Conducts an in-house record review and a search for the person listed above, including, but not limited to, an Internet based search;
• Initiates contact with any person found in an attempt to obtain current non-identifying health and background information;
• Ascertains that person’s willingness to share identifying information or have contact with the applicant; and/or
• Provides the intermediary services needed to ensure all parties are addressing the psychological and social issues in a healthy and productive manner.

Additional services would include facilitating contact if both parties agree and continue to provide services regarding psychological and social issues. There is a fee for the services.

The program has backing from the county and state, but across the country the issue of opening birth records of adoptees has raised concerns. Opposition has come from the National Council for Adoption, some Catholic bishops, abortion opponents and civil libertarians, according to a recent article in USA Today. Opponents believe open records violate a birth mother’s right to privacy and some women may choose abortion over adoption.

But in Catawba County, everyone is allowed choices, and it’s up to the biological children and parents if they want to meet.

Peedin is grateful Jones was willing to meet with him. It not only gives him a chance to learn about his past, but it gives them a chance for a future.

jmenster@hickoryrecord.com | x5409 or

Link to article

NORTH CAROLINA: Boy's Death Spurs Lawsuit, February 22, 2008

CHARLOTTE NEWS OBSERVER,
February 22, 2008

Boy's death spurs lawsuit
4-year-old died in 2006

Mandy Locke, Staff Writer
It has been two years since 4-year-old Sean Paddock suffocated to death in the home of people the state had entrusted to raise him, and the boy's grandfather wants to know why.

Ron Ford Sr., administrator of Sean's estate, this week filed a wrongful death lawsuit and a N.C. Industrial Commission claim to try to force an answer and apology from the adoptive parents, as well as the state Department of Health and Human Services, Wake County Human Services and the Children's Home Society of North Carolina, a private adoption agency.

"One person blames another, who blames another, and there's been no answers," Ford said. "I never want another grandfather to go through what I've gone through."

Sean's adoptive mother, Lynn Paddock, is blamed in Sean's death; a murder trial has been set for May. Lynn Paddock is also charged with abusing Sean's siblings, whipping them with plastic plumbing pipes on the advice of an evangelical minister who coaches parents on rearing submissive, godly children.

Officials at the state Department of Health and Human Services and at Wake Human Services declined to comment on the lawsuit. Efforts to reach The Children's Home Society on Thurwere unsuccessful.

A few questions in particular eat at Ford: Why was he, the biological grandfather, never asked to raise Sean after the Wake County social workers deemed the boy's parents unfit? How could social workers give Sean to the Paddocks after the boy came home from a trial visit with a bruise on his backside?

The answers Ford seeks are tucked in social services and adoption records that he asked a judge to release a few months after Sean died.

The state considers the records secret. At a hearing in July 2006, lawyers for the state and Children's Home Society, a Greensboro agency contracted by the state to find a home for Sean and his siblings, argued that the records should remain confidential, and the judge agreed.

This week's lawsuit could force the state to turn over the records. Ford's attorney, David Mills, said there is no longer a reason to keep them private.

"The typical purpose behind secrecy in adoption is to protect the privacy of the parties, especially the parents who gave up the child," said Mills, a lawyer from Smithfield. "The child is dead, and everyone knows who his parents are. His only representative here on earth, Ron Ford, wants answers."

A snapshot of Sean's short life was made public in the weeks after his death in 2006. After social workers discovered Sean and his siblings living in a home with no heat in December 2002, the children went to live with Ron Ford Jr., Sean's uncle. After about seven months, Ron Ford Jr. and his wife told social workers they couldn't afford to raise the three siblings along with three of their own.

Sean and his siblings spent little more than a year in foster care before Children's Home Society offered to place the children with Johnny and Lynn Paddock. Children's Home Society had previously helped the Paddocks adopt three other foster children.

In January 2005, Sean returned from his first visit to the Paddocks with a bruise covering his bottom. The boy and his older siblings told his foster mother that Lynn Paddock whipped him for playing with the family dog; Paddock said the boy had fallen off his bunk bed. Wake County social workers and Children's Home Society workers believed her and proceeded with the adoption.

The Paddocks formally adopted Sean and his brother and sister in July 2005.

Paddocks were paid

The state paid Children's Home Society for its work. It's not clear exactly how much the agency collected for placing the Ford children; the state considers those records confidential, too. But according to Children's Home Society's contract, the agency could have earned up to $45,000 for linking the three children with the Paddocks.

The Paddocks were paid, too. They received $390 a month to rear Sean, according to DSS records from multiple jurisdictions. The Paddocks were likely paid to raise the other former foster children, deemed "special needs children" by the state. The Paddocks' monthly compensation could have topped $2,400.

If Ford prevails in the lawsuit, he can't collect a dime. Sean's adoption erased all kinship ties to Ford.

"I've nothing to gain here," Ford said. "But I need someone to take responsibility."

Mills, Ford's attorney, said any payment to Sean's estate would benefit his new family: the Paddocks, Sean's two older siblings and other adopted children the Paddocks reared in a remote farmhouse in Johnston County. Mills said he'll argue that Lynn Paddock, charged with killing Sean, isn't entitled to any money.

Ford said he hopes his other grandchildren, Sean's siblings -- now living with new families -- would benefit from any award a judge or jury might grant.

mandy.locke@newsobserver.com or

Link to article

NORTH CAROLINA: Adoption Law Changes Help Adoptees, January 10, 2008

NEWS 14 CAROLINA
January 10, 2008

Adoption law changes help adoptees
By: Stephanie Stilwell

GREENSBORO -- A new state law could make it easier for adoptees searching for their birth family. The new law went into effect Jan. 1 and allows adoption agencies to help connect people with their biological parents. Until now, people searching would have to go through the courts.

Pat Bryant always knew she was adopted. In the late 1970s, she was able to track down health information, but because of the laws at the time, that was it.

"Then in the late '90s, I started to pursue it in earnest," she said, "and I was really wanting to meet my mother, especially the moment I had my first child. That is the moment I really realized the love that is a bond between a mother and child."

For 10 years, road blocks plagued that search, but those roadblocks were taken away once changes with North Carolina’s adoption law went into affect Jan. 1.

"[Children's Home Society] has been an active supporter of the changes in the legislation in North Carolina. From our work with adopted persons through the years, we really advocate that they be entitled to have more access to information about their heritage,” said Sandy Cook, executive director of CHS.

The new law would allow agencies like CHS to act as a liaison between biological parents and children.

“We can give them that information, the non-identifying, and then if they want more, we'll be able now to go through an investigative process to locate birth families,” added Cook.

But the law doesn't come without problems. There is no state money to fund the changes; instead each agency has to decide how much to charge for these services and how it will deal with the extra workload.

“Well obviously this is going to have to be a fee-for-service," added Cook. "We are working very hard to keep the costs as low as we can because again we believe in this work, but we will be asking for a fee so that we will be able to do the services that are required."

Right now, the law says adoptees can't search for possible brothers and sisters, and Bryant says she's realistic about the situation. If for some reason she's unable to meet her birth mother, she'll continue the fight to meet her birth family.

As of Jan. 1, the Greensboro CHS already had 100 people on a waiting list to find their birth family. To be eligible, the adoption must have been completed in North Carolina.


Link to article

NORTH CAROLINA: IT'S THE LAW - AS OF TODAY, JANUARY 1, 2008

FAYETTE OBSERVER,
January 1, 2008

It's the Law - As of Today
By John Ramsey
Staff writer

Starting today, bars and restaurants will have to recycle all those empty beer and wine bottles left from New Year’s bashes. Life insurance salesmen will find their jobs tougher on Army grounds. Smokers in state buildings will have to find an outdoors spot to indulge their habit. These are among the new state laws that took effect on the first day of the yeartake effect today.

Keep your butt outside

• Smoking is prohibited in buildings owned or leased by the state. The ban also extends to state psychiatric facilities.

Who’s your daddy?

• Adopted children will have an easier time finding information about their biological parents with this law change. County Social Services departments and adoption agencies act as third parties to help find family health information, and adopted adults can use the agencies to find their birth parents as long as all parties give written consent. Nicole Callahan with the National Council for Adoption said the change is better than a mandatory openness law but worse than a mutual consent registry.

Taming Loan Sharks

• In response to the national subprime mortgage crisis, the state is making it tougher for lenders to issue loans that consumers likely can’t pay back. The law forces lenders to do more work to ensure that customers can afford loans and will prohibit prepayment penalties, which keep people from refinancing a bad loan. The bill also gives consumers more rights when working with mortgage brokers. “It’s definitely a step forward,” said Al Ripley, counsel for consumer and housing affairs at the N.C. Justice Center. “It will help protect home buyers or people refinancing their mortgages from subprime predatory loans.”

Don’t come knocking

• The activity of life insurance salesmen will be regulated on Army bases. Door-to-door solicitation will be prohibited, as will making appointments at barracks. “The bottom line is, we just don’t think they should be taken advantage of,” said state Rep. Marvin Lucas, one of the law’s primary sponsors. “We think that the commanders are well in charge and know fully what these guys may need ... not somebody coming door-to-door.”

Bob Barker would be proud

• A new law requires 20 cents of every rabies tag sold to go to spay and neuter programs for pets.

Protect your neck

• All motorcycle riders will be required to wear safety-approved helmets attached with a strap, a law that doesn’t sit well with many bikers. John McKenzie, a salesman at Sandhills Cycle Center in Pinehurst, said more than half of his customers have complained about the new rule. “A lot of them think it should be a matter of choice,” he said. “To me it restricts your vision and your hearing some too. ... I’m just as comfortable riding without a helmet.” Bikers around the state have planned rides today ito protest the law.

Green bars

• The New Year’s partyers won’t be the only people waking up to a headache this morning. Bars and restaurants will be required to recycle glass, a law that many bar managers understand in theory but dislike in practice. Smaller bars will have to make room for extra trash cans, and trash cans will all be located behind the bar to keep staff from having to dig through the trash the next day. “I think it’s a good thing, but at the same time, trying to get everything organized, it’s a little bit hectic,” said Dana Donner, manager at The Pour House. “It’s kind of a pain in the butt.”

Residency question

• People arrested for a felony or driving under the influence in North Carolina after today will be asked if they are legal U.S. residents. Latino and civil liberties groups have said the law encourages racial profiling.

Gold Star Plates

• The state will make it easier to get Gold Star license plates by eliminating a rule that required 300 applications and by waiving the fee for them. Gold Stars are issued to family members of military men and women killed in the line of duty.

Check yes or no

• Anyone planning to run for office in North Carolina will have to answer a question common on job applications: “Have you ever been convicted of a felony?”

Link to article