HB236 Summary

• Defines "drug rehabilitation program" to include addiction therapy, counseling, detoxification, group therapy, and other organized services administered by hospitals, private facilities, government agencies, churches, or private entities to treat drug or alcohol addiction.

• Establishes a rebuttable presumption that a parent's conduct regarding excessive alcohol or controlled substance use is unlikely to change in the foreseeable future if the parent participated in drug rehabilitation programs on two separate occasions within the preceding five years and subsequently used alcohol or controlled substances again.

• Creates an alternative rebuttable presumption if a child was removed from parental custody by court order following a dependency adjudication due to parental alcohol or controlled substance use on two separate occasions within five years and the parent has resumed using alcohol or controlled substances.

• Amends Sections 12-15-301 and 12-15-319 of the Alabama Code to incorporate these rebuttable presumptions into existing parental rights termination proceedings.

• Becomes effective on the first day of the third month following passage and gubernatorial approval.