MUÑOZ BILL THAT EXPANDS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PROTECTION TO ADOPTIVE PARENTS CLEARS COMMITTEE

Under legislation sponsored by Assembly Republican Deputy Whip Nancy F. Muñoz and approved today by the Assembly Judiciary Committee, adoptive parents would receive protection as domestic violence victims if the perpetrator is a person who gave up parental rights to the adopted child.

“Domestic violence is a devastating social problem that affects all populations, adopted children included who come from all types of backgrounds and homes, including those where abuse and neglect are rampant,” said Muñoz, R-Union, Morris and Somerset. “When people adopt children from such homes, they run a great risk of being the targets of acts of domestic violence themselves from those who relinquished their parental rights. Surprisingly, the law offers them little protection.

“This legislation is a necessary expansion of the ‘Prevention of Domestic Violence Act of 1991’ as it would extend full protection from acts of domestic violence to the parents of adopted children. For the sake of those parents who are abused or live under the constant threat of such cowardly violence, I strongly encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to move this measure quickly to law.”

The bill, A-781, amends the definition of “victim of domestic violence” in the “Prevention of Domestic Violence Act of 1991” to include any parent of an adopted child who has been subjected to domestic violence by a person whose parental rights towards the adopted child have been terminated. It permits a parent of an adopted child to avail himself or herself of the protections afforded by the “Prevention of Domestic Violence Act of 1991.”

Assemblywoman Nancy F. Muñoz / 732-866-1695####
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