PARRIS N. GLENDENING, Governor

Ch.3

5-313.

(a) A court may grant a decree of adoption or a decree of guardianship, without
the consent of a natural parent otherwise required by §§ 5-311 and 5-317 of this subtitle,
if the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that it is in the best interest of the child
to terminate the natural parent's rights as to the child and that:

(3) the following set of circumstances [exist] EXISTS:

(i) the child has been continuously out of the custody of the natural
parent and in the custody of a child placement agency for at least 1 year;

(ii) the conditions that led to the separation from the natural parent
still exist or similar conditions of a potentially harmful nature still exist;

(iii) there is little likelihood that those conditions will be remedied at
an early date so that the child can be returned to the natural parent in the immediate
future; and

(iv) a continuation of the relationship between the natural parent and
the child would diminish greatly the child's prospects for early integration into a stable
and permanent family.

DRAFTER'S NOTE:

Error: Grammatical error in § 5-313(a)(3) of the Family Law Article.

Occurred: Ch. 296, Acts of 1984.
5-552.1.

(c)     (1) (iii) Subject to [paragraph] SUBPARAGRAPH (iv) of this paragraph,
the Child Care Administration of the Department may reduce the number of months in
the amnesty period to not less than 2 months for each of the 2 years from October 1, 1995
to September 30, 1997, if the Child Care Administration finds that a 12-month period is
not feasible.

(d)     (2) Any unregistered family day care provider participating in the amnesty:

(i) may not be enjoined by the Department as long as information is
not made known to the Department that the health, safety, or welfare of any child in the
care of the unregistered family day care provider is endangered, including any
information or evidence provided by a State or local code enforcement authority or
protective services or law enforcement [agency.] AGENCY;

DRAFTER'S NOTE:

Error: Erroneous internal reference in § 5-552.1(c)(1)(iii) of the Family Law
Article; and incorrect punctuation in § 5-552.1(d)(2)(i) of the Family Law
Article.

Occurred: Ch. 505, Acts of 1994.

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