1. (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.

2. (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:

   1. (A) He has the right to:

      1. (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.
3. (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.

*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.