Text: HF00440 Text: HF00442 Text: HF00400 - HF00499 Text: HF Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
PAG LIN 1 1 Section 1. Section 232.91, Code 1995, is amended to read 1 2 as follows: 1 3 232.91 PRESENCE OF PARENTS,ANDGUARDIAN AD LITEM, AND 1 4 FOSTER PARENTS AT HEARINGS. 1 5 1. Any hearings or proceedings under this division 1 6 subsequent to the filing of a petition shall not take place 1 7 without the presence of the child's parent, guardian, 1 8 custodian, or guardian ad litem in accordance with and subject 1 9 to section 232.38. A parent without custody may petition the 1 10 court to be made a party to proceedings under this division. 1 11 2. Any hearing or proceeding under this division 1 12 subsequent to a dispositional order under section 232.102 1 13 shall also include as a party with a direct interest in the 1 14 case, the agency, facility, institution, or person, including 1 15 a foster parent, to whom custody of the child has been 1 16 transferred. 1 17 Sec. 2. Section 232.104, subsection 2, paragraph b, Code 1 18 1995, is amended to read as follows: 1 19 b. Enter an order pursuant to section 232.102 to continue 1 20 placement of the child for an additional six months at which 1 21 time the court shall hold a hearing to consider modification 1 22 of its permanency order. An order entered under this 1 23 paragraph shall include as a basis for the determination that 1 24 the need for removal of the child from the child's home will 1 25 no longer exist at the end of the additional six-month period. 1 26 Sec. 3. Section 232.189, Code 1995, is amended to read as 1 27 follows: 1 28 232.189 REASONABLE EFFORTS ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS. 1 29 Based upon a model reasonable efforts family court 1 30 initiative, the director of human services and the chief 1 31 justice of the supreme court or their designees shall jointly 1 32 establish and implement a statewide protocol for reasonable 1 33 efforts to prevent or eliminate the need for placement of a 1 34 child outside the child's home. In addition, the director and 1 35 the chief justice shall design and implement a system for 2 1 judicial and departmental reasonable efforts education for 2 2 deployment throughout the state. The system for reasonable 2 3 efforts education shall be developed in a manner which 2 4 addresses the particular needs of rural areas and shall 2 5 include but is not limited to all of the following topics: 2 6 1. Regular training concerning mental or emotional 2 7 disorders which may afflict children and the impact children 2 8 with such disorders have upon their families. 2 9 2. The duties of judicial and departmental employees 2 10 associated with placing a child removed from the child's home 2 11 into a permanent home and the urgency of the placement for the 2 12 child. 2 13 3. The essential elements, including writing techniques, 2 14 in developing effective permanency plans. 2 15 4. The essential elements of gathering evidence sufficient 2 16 for the evidentiary standards required for judicial orders 2 17 under this chapter. 2 18 Sec. 4. NEW SECTION. 234.7 DEPARTMENT DUTIES. 2 19 The department of human services shall comply with all of 2 20 the following requirements associated with child foster care 2 21 licensees under chapter 237A: 2 22 1. Caseloads for the department's social work staff 2 23 assigned to the licensees shall not exceed the caseload 2 24 standards established for similar positions by the child 2 25 welfare league of America. 2 26 2. The department shall not assign more than one worker to 2 27 any child who is receiving child welfare services, as defined 2 28 in section 235.1, in a foster care placement. If the 2 29 department purchases services for the child from a private 2 30 agency, the department's responsibility to monitor the child's 2 31 daily functioning in the placement shall be delegated to the 2 32 private agency. 2 33 3. The department shall include a child's foster parent in 2 34 and provide timely notice of planning and review activities 2 35 associated with the child, including but not limited to 3 1 permanency planning, a clinical assessment and consultation 3 2 team review or other activity, and placement review meetings. 3 3 Sec. 5. Section 234.38, Code 1995, is amended to read as 3 4 follows: 3 5 234.38 FOSTER CARE REIMBURSEMENT RATES. 3 6 1. The department of human services shall make 3 7 reimbursement payments directly to foster parents for services 3 8 provided to children pursuant to section 234.6, subsection 6, 3 9 paragraph "b", or section 234.35. In any fiscal year, the 3 10 reimbursement rate shall be based uponsixty-fiveat least 3 11 seventy-five percent of the United States department of 3 12 agriculture estimate of the cost to raise a child in the 3 13 calendar year immediately preceding the fiscal year. The 3 14 department may pay an additional stipend for a child with 3 15 special needs. 3 16 2. In addition to reimbursement payments under subsection 3 17 1, the department shall pay for respite care, including in- 3 18 home respite care, for foster parents and provide adequate 3 19 allowances for clothing and school expenses. The clothing 3 20 allowance upon a child's initial placement shall be at least 3 21 two hundred fifty dollars and at least fifty dollars per month 3 22 during the remainder of the placement. School expenses shall 3 23 be reimbursed for elementary and developmental preschool 3 24 children at not more than fifty dollars per semester and for 3 25 grades seven through twelve at not more than one hundred 3 26 dollars per semester. Driver's education expenses shall be 3 27 reimbursed in full. 3 28 Sec. 6. Section 273.2, subsection 1, Code 1995, is amended 3 29 to read as follows: 3 30 1. In-service training programs for employees of school 3 31 districts and area education agencies, provided at the time 3 32 programs and services are established they do not duplicate 3 33 programs and services available in that area from the 3 34 universities under the state board of regents and from other 3 35 universities and four-year institutions of higher education in 4 1 Iowa. The in-service training programs shall include but are 4 2 not limited to regular training concerning mental or emotional 4 3 disorders which may afflict children and the impact children 4 4 with such disorders have upon their families. 4 5 Sec. 7. Section 602.1203, Code 1995, is amended to read as 4 6 follows: 4 7 602.1203 PERSONNEL CONFERENCES. 4 8 The chief justice may order conferences of judicial 4 9 officers or court employees on matters relating to the 4 10 administration of justice or the affairs of the department. 4 11 For judges and other court employees who handle cases 4 12 involving children and family law, the chief justice shall 4 13 require regular training concerning mental or emotional 4 14 disorders which may afflict children and the impact children 4 15 with such disorders have upon their families. 4 16 EXPLANATION 4 17 This bill relates to state foster care requirements. 4 18 Section 232.91 is amended to require that after the entry 4 19 of a dispositional order any hearing or proceeding associated 4 20 with the child in need of assistance provisions under the 4 21 juvenile code shall include the child's foster care placement 4 22 as a party with a direct interest in the case. 4 23 Section 232.104 requires a permanency hearing if a child is 4 24 placed in foster care for a period of 12 months or if the 4 25 prior legal custodian has abandoned efforts to regain custody 4 26 of the child. After the permanency hearing, one of the 4 27 court's options is to continue the foster care placement for 4 28 six months and then hold another permanency hearing. If this 4 29 option is selected, under the bill the court order must 4 30 include as a basis for the determination that the need for 4 31 removal of the child will no longer exist at the end of the 4 32 six-month period. 4 33 Section 232.189 requires the director of human services and 4 34 the chief justice of the supreme court to develop a statewide 4 35 protocol for reasonable efforts to prevent or eliminate a 5 1 child's out-of-home placement and to implement statewide 5 2 departmental and judicial education concerning the protocol. 5 3 The bill requires the education effort to address rural needs 5 4 and to include various topics involving children's disorders, 5 5 duties associated with developing a permanent placement for a 5 6 child, and essential elements for permanency planning and for 5 7 evidence gathering. 5 8 New section 234.7 requires the department to comply with 5 9 various requirements involving child foster care licensees. 5 10 The requirements include complying with national caseload 5 11 standards for the department's foster care workers; 5 12 prohibiting assigning more than one worker to a child 5 13 receiving services in a foster care placement and requiring 5 14 the department to delegate monitoring duties if the department 5 15 purchases foster care services from a private agency; and 5 16 requiring the timely notice and inclusion of a child's foster 5 17 parent in various review and planning activities involving the 5 18 child. 5 19 Current law in section 234.38 requires the department to 5 20 reimburse family foster care at a rate of at least 65 percent 5 21 of a federal estimate of the cost to raise a child in the 5 22 previous calendar year. The bill increases this rate to 75 5 23 percent of the federal estimate. In addition, the bill 5 24 requires payment for other family foster care costs, including 5 25 respite care, clothing costs, and school expenses, including 5 26 driver's education expenses. 5 27 Section 273.2 is amended to add training concerning 5 28 children's disorders and resulting family impacts to area 5 29 education agency requirements for in-service education of 5 30 agency and school system staff. Section 602.1203 is amended 5 31 to apply a similar training requirement for the judges and 5 32 other court employees who handle cases involving children and 5 33 family law. 5 34 LSB 2114YH 76 5 35 jp/cf/24
Text: HF00440 Text: HF00442 Text: HF00400 - HF00499 Text: HF Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
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