SB1686 Summary

• Amends the Adoption Act's definition of "unfit person" to clarify grounds for terminating parental rights, including abandonment, neglect, cruelty, and failure to maintain contact with a child.

• Establishes rebuttable presumptions of unfitness based on multiple findings of physical abuse, criminal convictions for murder or sexual abuse of children, and three or more felony convictions with one within 5 years of the termination petition.

• Modifies the 9-month reasonable efforts requirement by specifying that parents must correct conditions resulting in child removal during any 9-month period following adjudication of neglect or abuse, rather than just the initial 9-month period.

• Requires petitioners seeking termination based on failure to make reasonable progress to file a pleading specifying the 9-month period(s) relied upon at least 3 weeks before discovery closes.

• Adds grounds for unfitness related to substance abuse at birth, incarceration preventing parental responsibilities for over 2 years, and repeated incarceration preventing discharge of parental duties.