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Xenia family inspires new Ohio law

It is now possible to adopt a “child” who is, age-wise, an adult.

The Franklin Family (Back row from left): Sam Franklin, Katy and Josh Payne, and Jill Payne;
(middle row) Randy and Barb Franklin; (Front row) Joe Franklin and Jeff Payne. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Meredith Moss The Franklin Family (Back row from left): Sam Franklin, Katy and Josh Payne, and Jill Payne; (middle row) Randy and Barb Franklin; (Front row) Joe Franklin and Jeff Payne. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

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By Meredith Moss, Staff Writer 2:45 PM Saturday, July 2, 2011

Just in time for this year’s July Fourth celebration of America’s democratic ideals, a Xenia couple has demonstrated that individual perseverance and determination can bring about dramatic changes in government.

On Thursday, Barb and Randy Franklin and their children were invited to join Ohio Gov. John Kasich at the ceremonial office at the state house to see “their” bill signed into law.

The new legislation — House Bill 92 — allows individuals like the Franklins to adopt an adult child, as long as the adult child consents to the adoption. In their case, it means their oldest son, Jeff Payne, will finally become a full-fledged member of the family.

Forty-seven states now allow adult adoption.

“There is a difference between a father-figure and an actual father,” Jeff told the Health, Human Services and Aging Committee when he testified on May 25 and explained why he wanted to be adopted at age 24. “Randy is just as much a father to me as my own biological father. Being adopted will show the commitment he has to me as a father, as well as the commitment that I have to him as a son.”

Under the previous Ohio law, an adult could only be adopted if he or she was totally and permanently disabled, was determined to be a mentally handicapped person as defined by the law, had established a child-foster caregiver or child-stepparent relationship with the petitioners for adoption as a minor and consented to the adoption and was, at the time of his or her 18th birthday, in the permanent custody of a public children services agency or a private child-placement agency and consented to the adoption.

Because the two oldest Franklin children met none of those criteria, until this week they were ineligible for adoption.

The Franklin family story began in November of 2005, when Barb and Randy were married. Both had lost their spouses to cancer and had gone through a period of widowhood and single parenting.

After the wedding, Barb moved from Michigan to Ohio and the two families — including five children — were blended.

But the couple soon decided they wanted to bind both parents equally to every child and bind the siblings together for life as well. For the three youngest children, it was a simple matter and they were all adopted in June, 2009.

But the two oldest boys — who had already turned 18 — could not be adopted under existing Ohio law.

“Our lawyer suggested we try the states where they were born or the states they live now,” Randy explains. “Josh lived in Illinois and so we were able to adopt him there in January, 2010.”

That left Jeff. And with no other avenues available to them, Barb and Randy mailed off a letter to their representative in Columbus describing their situation and asking him to help change the law.

State Rep. Jarrod Martin (R-Beavercreek), took up their cause, submitting an adult adoption bill in 2010. Though it was unanimously voted forward in committee, the bill never got to the full House for a vote.

“Rep. Martin called us late in 2010 and said we didn’t make it this year, but that he would introduce the bill again in 2011,” Randy remembers.

With the help of State Rep. Peter Beck (R-Mason), Martin kept his promise.

“We wanted to affirm to each other’s children that no matter what happened to their remaining natural mother or father they would still have a mom or dad for as long as the remaining parent lived,” Randy said in his testimony. “We have found that even adult children need a mom and dad ... we also wanted to put all our children on the same footing.”

On June 22, the adult adoption bill succeeded and passed as House Bill 92 from the Ohio Senate.

“Constituent work is at the very heart of what we do as state representatives and we each have a responsibility to work on behalf of the people of our districts to improve their lives, and listen to their concerns,” said Martin, who stated in the official release that seeing the family’s joy made his job as a legislator worthwhile.

An amendment to the bill was added in committee by the Public Children Services, which will allow adoption of youth who are transferring out of foster care. This will establish “kinship caregiver” relationships and allow youth who are in the “planned permanent-living arrangement” to be adopted if they turn 18 while in this arrangement.

“In the past I had to refer to Jeff first as my step-brother, then my half-brother,” says Sam Franklin, 17, who is happy that he’ll now be able to refer to Jeff as his brother.

Jeff’s adoption is already underway and the family is delighted that the new legislation will help other families as well.

Barb says everything in the system worked perfectly, just the way it should.

“We wrote to our representative with a problem and he took it on, represented us to our state government and saw it through to completion. The House of Representatives and Senate heard our plea.”

Randy has this advice for others: “The wheels of the government turn slowly and we’ve learned that our government is very careful about passing legislation,” he said. “You have to persevere. When you feel something isn’t right and needs to be rectified, there is a way to address that problem through our representative government. Don’t run away.”

Contact this reporter at  (937) 225-2440 or  MMoss@DaytonDailyNews.com

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