Sec. 17b-27. Voluntary paternity establishment program. Protocols. Regulations. Voluntary acknowledgment of paternity system established by Department of Public Health.
Sec. 17b-27. Voluntary paternity establishment program. Protocols. Regulations. Voluntary acknowledgment of paternity system established by Department
of Public Health. (a) Each hospital or other institution where births occur, and each
entity that is approved by the Commissioner of Social Services to participate in the
voluntary paternity establishment program, shall, with the assistance of the commissioner, develop a protocol for a voluntary paternity establishment program as provided
in regulations adopted pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, which shall be consistent
with the provisions of subsection (a) of section 46b-172 and shall encourage the positive
involvement of both parents in the life of the child. Each such protocol shall assure that
the participants are informed, are competent to understand and agree to an affirmation
or acknowledgment of paternity, and that any such affirmation or acknowledgment is
voluntary and free from coercion. Each such protocol shall also provide for the training
of all staff members involved in the voluntary paternity establishment process so that
such staff members will understand their obligations to implement the voluntary paternity establishment program in such a way that the participants are informed, are competent to understand and agree to an affirmation or acknowledgment of paternity, and that
any such affirmation or acknowledgment is voluntary and free from coercion. No entity
may participate in the program until its protocol has been approved by the commissioner.
The commissioner shall make all protocols and proposed protocols available for public
inspection. No entity or location at which all or a substantial portion of occupants are
present involuntarily, including, but not limited to, a prison or a mental hospital, but
excluding any site having a research and demonstration project established under subsection (d) of section 1 of public act 99-193*, may be approved for participation in the
voluntary paternity establishment program; nor may the commissioner approve any
further site for participation in the program if it maintains a coercive environment or if
the failure to acknowledge paternity may result in the loss of benefits or services controlled by the entity, which are unrelated to paternity.
(b) The Commissioner of Social Services shall adopt regulations in accordance with
chapter 54 to implement the provisions of subsection (a) of this section. Such regulations
shall specify the requirements for participation in the voluntary paternity establishment
program and shall include, but not be limited to, provisions (1) to assure that affirmations
of paternity by the mother and acknowledgments of paternity by the putative father are
voluntary and free from coercion, and (2) to establish the contents of notices which shall
be provided to the mother and to the putative father before affirmation or acknowledgment. The notice to the mother shall include, but not be limited to, notice that the affirmation of paternity may result in rights of custody and visitation, as well as a duty of
support, in the person named as the father. The notice to the putative father shall include,
but not be limited to, notice that: (A) He has the right to: (i) Establish his paternity
voluntarily or through court action, or to contest paternity; (ii) appointment of counsel;
(iii) a genetic test to determine paternity prior to signing an acknowledgment or in
conjunction with a court action; and (iv) a trial by the Superior Court or a family support
magistrate, and (B) acknowledgment of paternity will make him liable for the financial
support of the child until the child's eighteenth birthday and may result in rights of
custody and visitation being conferred on the father. In no event shall the mother's
failure to sign an affirmation of paternity in the hospital or with any other entity agreeing
to participate in the voluntary paternity establishment program be considered failure to
cooperate with the establishment of support for the purposes of eligibility for temporary
assistance for needy families.
(c) The Department of Public Health shall establish a voluntary acknowledgment
of paternity system consistent with the provisions of subsection (a) of section 46b-172.
(May Sp. Sess. P.A. 94-5, S. 3, 30; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-2, S. 21, 165; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-7, S. 7, 38; P.A.
03-258, S. 1.)
*Note: Section 1 of public act 99-193 is special in nature and therefore has not been codified but remains in full force
and effect according to its terms.
History: May Sp. Sess. P.A. 94-5 effective July 1, 1994; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-2 amended Subsec. (b) to replace
a reference to "noncooperation" with "failure to cooperate" and a reference to "aid to families with dependent children"
with "the temporary family assistance program", effective July 1, 1997; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-7 amended Subsec. (b)
by replacing a reference to "trial by jury" with "a trial by the Superior Court or a family support magistrate" and by
replacing "aid to families with dependent children" with "temporary assistance for needy families" and added Subsec. (c)
re establishment of acknowledgment of paternity system by Department of Public Health, effective July 1, 1997 (Revisor's
note: The reference in Subsec. (b) to "temporary assistance for needy families" added by this act repealed by implication
the conflicting reference to "temporary family assistance program" added earlier by June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-2, and was
codified accordingly by the Revisors); P.A. 03-258 amended Subsec. (a) by expanding voluntary paternity establishment
program to an entity approved by the Commissioner of Social Services, adding provisions re participating entities, with
the assistance of the commissioner, developing a protocol for voluntary paternity establishment, re protocol to encourage
positive involvement of both parents and provide for staff training, and re protocols to be approved by commissioner and
available for public inspection, adding provisions excluding entities where "substantial portion of occupants are present
involuntarily" from participating in program and making technical changes, and amended Subsec. (b) to require commissioner to adopt regulations that specify requirements for participation in the voluntary paternity establishment program,
to restructure Subdiv. (2) by adding Subpara. (A) and (B) designators, to provide in Subpara. (A) that notice to putative father
include that he may "establish his paternity voluntarily or through court action" and prior to signing an acknowledgment, to
provide in Subpara. (B) that rights of custody and visitation may result from an acknowledgment of paternity, to add
provision re mother's failure to sign affirmation of paternity with an entity participating in the voluntary paternity program
not considered failure to cooperate for purposes of establishing eligibility for temporary assistance for needy families, and
to make technical changes.