§ 8-543 — Sibling information exchange program; definition

A. The administrative office of the courts shall establish a sibling information exchange program to facilitate contact between a former dependent child and the child's sibling or siblings.

B. The following persons may participate in the program:

1. An adult who is a former dependent child.

2. A juvenile who is a former dependent child, through any of the following:

(a) The juvenile's adoptive parent.

(b) The juvenile's guardian.

(c) The juvenile's biological parent if that person has legal custody of the child and is not a party to a pending dependency proceeding.

3. The adult sibling of a former dependent child.

C. A person participating in the program shall use a confidential intermediary who is certified pursuant to section 8-134. The confidential intermediary may access court, division and agency records. The confidential intermediary must keep confidential all information the intermediary obtains during the course of the investigation and may use this information only to arrange a contact or to share information between the person who initiates the search and the person who is the subject of the search. The confidential intermediary shall not contact any person who is under eighteen years of age.

D. If a former dependent child does not wish to be contacted by the child's sibling or siblings the former dependent child may file an affidavit so stating with the court. If an affidavit is part of the court record, the confidential intermediary shall not make contact with the former dependent child unless the former dependent child withdraws the affidavit and grants permission in writing or the former dependent child has filed an affidavit stating that the former dependent child knows about the sibling or siblings and wishes to make contact with the sibling or siblings.

E. The supreme court shall adopt rules necessary to implement the sibling information exchange program.

F. For the purposes of this section, "sibling" includes a person who shares a common biological parent, stepparent or adoptive parent.