House File 172 - Introduced



                                  HOUSE FILE       
                                  BY  BERRY, SMITH, KRESSIG, WINCKLER,
                                      PETTENGILL, WENTHE, WENDT,
                                      T. OLSON, JACOBY, SCHUELLER,
                                      FOEGE, LENSING, ANDERSON, SWAIM,
                                      ABDUL=SAMAD, and FORD



    Passed House,  Date               Passed Senate, Date             
    Vote:  Ayes        Nays           Vote:  Ayes        Nays         
                 Approved                            

                                      A BILL FOR

  1 An Act prescribing the frequency of a guardian ad litem's visits
  2    to the residence of a child.
  3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
  4 TLSB 1828HH 82
  5 jp/es/88

PAG LIN



  1  1    Section 1.  Section 232.2, subsection 22, paragraph b,
  1  2 subparagraph (3), Code 2007, is amended to read as follows:
  1  3    (3)  Visiting the home, residence, or both home and
  1  4 residence of the child and any prospective home or residence
  1  5 of the child, including each time placement is changed.  At
  1  6 least once every ninety days, the guardian ad litem shall
  1  7 personally visit the residence of the child at a time when the
  1  8 child is present in the residence.  If the guardian ad litem
  1  9 is not a court appointed special advocate or a court appointed
  1 10 special advocate has not been appointed for the child, the
  1 11 court may designate a court appointed special advocate or
  1 12 other person with qualifications acceptable to the court to
  1 13 perform the personal visit duty in lieu of the guardian ad
  1 14 litem.  The court designee shall provide recommendations to
  1 15 the guardian ad litem in a timely manner that allows the
  1 16 guardian ad litem to incorporate the recommendations in
  1 17 representing the best interests of the child before the court.
  1 18                           EXPLANATION
  1 19    This bill amends one of the duties contained in the
  1 20 definition of the term "guardian ad litem" in Code section
  1 21 232.2.  A guardian ad litem is an individual appointed by the
  1 22 juvenile court to represent the child's interests in any
  1 23 judicial proceeding.
  1 24    Current law requires the guardian ad litem to visit a
  1 25 child's home or residence, or both, and the prospective home
  1 26 or residence of the child, including each time the child's
  1 27 placement is changed.  The bill specifies that at least once
  1 28 every 90 days, the guardian ad litem must visit the child's
  1 29 residence at a time when the child is present in the
  1 30 residence.  The bill provides that the court may designate a
  1 31 court appointed special advocate or other qualified person to
  1 32 perform the personal visit duty in lieu of the guardian ad
  1 33 litem.  That designee is required to provide timely
  1 34 recommendations to the guardian ad litem so that the
  1 35 recommendations can be incorporated by the guardian ad litem
  2  1 in representing the best interests of the child before the
  2  2 court.
  2  3 LSB 1828HH 82
  2  4 jp:nh/es/88