Text: SSB03106                          Text: SSB03108
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Senate Study Bill 3107

Bill Text

PAG LIN
  1  1    Section 1.  Section 237.5, subsection 1, Code 2001, is
  1  2 amended to read as follows:
  1  3    1.  An individual or an agency shall apply for a license by
  1  4 completing an application to the administrator upon forms
  1  5 furnished by the administrator.  The administrator shall issue
  1  6 or reissue a license if the administrator determines that the
  1  7 applicant or licensee is or upon commencing operation will
  1  8 provide child foster care in compliance with this chapter.  A
  1  9 license for an individual is valid for one year from the date
  1 10 of issuance.  A license for an agency is valid for up to three
  1 11 years from the date of issuance for the period determined by
  1 12 the administrator in accordance with administrative rules
  1 13 providing criteria for making the determination.  The license
  1 14 shall state on its face the name of the licensee, the type of
  1 15 facility, the particular premises for which the license is
  1 16 issued, and the number of children who may be cared for by the
  1 17 facility on the premises at one time.  The license shall be
  1 18 posted in a conspicuous place in the physical plant of the
  1 19 facility, except that if the facility is in a single-family
  1 20 home the license may be kept where it is readily available for
  1 21 examination upon request.
  1 22    Sec. 2.  Section 237.5A, Code 2001, is amended to read as
  1 23 follows:
  1 24    237.5A  FOSTER PARENT TRAINING.
  1 25    As a condition for initial licensure, each individual
  1 26 licensee shall complete twelve thirty hours of foster parent
  1 27 training offered or approved by the department.  Prior to
  1 28 annual renewal of licensure, each individual licensee shall
  1 29 also complete six twelve hours of foster parent training or
  1 30 twenty-four hours of training for a licensee subject to
  1 31 treatment foster care certification.  The training shall
  1 32 include but is not limited to physical care, education,
  1 33 learning disabilities, referral to and receipt of necessary
  1 34 professional services, behavioral assessment and modification,
  1 35 self-assessment, self-living skills, and biological parent
  2  1 contact.  An individual licensee may complete the training as
  2  2 part of an approved training program offered by a public or
  2  3 private agency with expertise in the provision of child foster
  2  4 care or in related subject areas.  The department shall adopt
  2  5 rules to implement and enforce this training requirement.
  2  6    Sec. 3.  Section 238.3, Code 2001, is amended to read as
  2  7 follows:
  2  8    238.3  POWER AUTHORITY TO LICENSE.
  2  9    The administrator is hereby empowered to may grant a
  2 10 license under this chapter for one year the period specified
  2 11 in section 238.9 for the conduct of any child-placing agency
  2 12 that is for the public good, and is conducted by a reputable
  2 13 and responsible person in this state.
  2 14    Sec. 4.  Section 238.9, Code 2001, is amended to read as
  2 15 follows:
  2 16    238.9  TENURE TERM OF LICENSE.
  2 17    Licenses A license granted under this chapter shall be
  2 18 valid for one year three years from the date of issuance
  2 19 thereof unless the license is revoked in accordance with the
  2 20 provisions hereof section 238.10.
  2 21    Sec. 5.  Section 238.24, Code 2001, is amended to read as
  2 22 follows:
  2 23    238.24  INFORMATION CONFIDENTIAL.
  2 24    1.  No individual Except as authorized by this section, a
  2 25 person who acquires through the operation of the provisions of
  2 26 sections 238.17 to 238.23, inclusive, under this chapter or
  2 27 from the records provided for in this chapter, information
  2 28 relative to any agency or relative to any person individual
  2 29 cared for by such the agency or relative to any relative of
  2 30 any such person the individual, shall not directly or
  2 31 indirectly disclose such the information except.
  2 32    2.  Disclosure of information acquired under this chapter
  2 33 or from the records provided for in this chapter is authorized
  2 34 under any of the following circumstances:
  2 35    a.   upon Disclosure made upon inquiry before a court of
  3  1 law, or before some other tribunal, or for the information of
  3  2 the governor, general assembly, medical examiners,
  3  3 administrator, Iowa department of public health, or the local
  3  4 board of health in the jurisdiction where such the agency is
  3  5 located.
  3  6    b.  Nothing herein shall prohibit the Disclosure made by
  3  7 the administrator from disclosing such facts to such to proper
  3  8 persons as may be in the interest of a child cared for by such
  3  9 the agency or in the interest of the child's parents or foster
  3 10 parents and not inimical to the child, or as may be necessary
  3 11 to protect the interests of the child's prospective foster
  3 12 parents.  However, disclosure of termination and adoption
  3 13 records shall be governed by the provisions of sections 600.16
  3 14 and 600.16A.
  3 15    c.  Nothing herein shall prohibit the Disclosure for
  3 16 purposes of statistical analysis performed by duly authorized
  3 17 persons of data collected by virtue of under this chapter or
  3 18 the publication of the results of such analysis in such manner
  3 19 as will not disclose confidential information.
  3 20    Sec. 6.  Section 600.15, Code Supplement 2001, is amended
  3 21 to read as follows:
  3 22    600.15  FOREIGN AND INTERNATIONAL ADOPTIONS.
  3 23    1. a.  A decree establishing a parent-child relationship by
  3 24 adoption which is issued pursuant to due process of law by a
  3 25 juvenile court or court of any other jurisdiction in the
  3 26 United States or in the child's country of origin shall be
  3 27 recognized in this state.
  3 28    b.  A decree terminating a parent-child relationship which
  3 29 is issued pursuant to due process of law by a juvenile court
  3 30 or court of any other jurisdiction in the United States shall
  3 31 be recognized in this state.
  3 32    c.  Documentation demonstrating that a child has been
  3 33 legally released or approved for adoption by the child's
  3 34 country of origin shall be accepted as evidence that
  3 35 termination of parental rights has been completed in that
  4  1 country and shall be recognized in this state.
  4  2    2.  If an adoption has occurred in the minor person's
  4  3 country of origin, a further adoption must occur in the state
  4  4 where the adopting parents reside in accordance with the
  4  5 adoption laws of that state.
  4  6    3.  A licensed child-placing agency as defined in section
  4  7 238.2, a person making an independent placement as defined in
  4  8 section 600A.2, or an investigator may provide necessary
  4  9 assistance to an eligible citizen of Iowa who desires to, in
  4 10 accordance with the immigration laws of the United States,
  4 11 make an international adoption.
  4 12    Sec. 7.  Section 238.23, Code 2001, is repealed.  
  4 13                           EXPLANATION
  4 14    This bill relates to child foster care and adoption
  4 15 requirements involving licensure periods, foster parent
  4 16 training, annual reports, and foreign adoptions.
  4 17    Code section 237.5, relating to foster care licensure
  4 18 requirements, is amended to change the term of the license for
  4 19 a child foster care agency from a one-year period to a period
  4 20 of up to three years for the period determined by the
  4 21 department of human services administrator designated to
  4 22 administrate foster care licensing.  The term of the license
  4 23 for an individual foster family home remains at one year.
  4 24    Code section 237.5A, relating to foster parent training
  4 25 requirements, is amended to increase the number of hours
  4 26 required for initial and renewal foster parent licensure.  For
  4 27 initial licensure the requirement is increased from 12 to 30
  4 28 hours.  For annual renewal the requirement is increased from
  4 29 six to 12 hours.  If the foster parent is subject to treatment
  4 30 foster care certification, the training requirement for
  4 31 license renewal is increased from six to 24 hours.
  4 32    Code sections 238.3 and 238.9, relating to licensure of
  4 33 child-placing agencies, are amended to change the term of the
  4 34 license from a one-year period to a three-year period and to
  4 35 make other technical and conforming changes.
  5  1    Code section 238.24, relating to information required to be
  5  2 kept confidential, is rewritten.  An internal reference to
  5  3 various licensing records and to a report in Code section
  5  4 238.23 that is repealed by the bill, is expanded to cover
  5  5 information acquired under the entire chapter.  In addition,
  5  6 unnumbered paragraphs are assigned alphanumeric designations
  5  7 and the language is revised to clearly state the prohibition
  5  8 against disclosure of confidential information and the
  5  9 exceptions to that prohibition.  Current law in Code section
  5 10 238.45, provides that a violation of the chapter is a
  5 11 fraudulent practice.
  5 12    Code section 238.23, requiring child-placing agencies to
  5 13 file an annual report with the department of human services
  5 14 and specifying the placement and budget information for the
  5 15 report, is repealed.
  5 16    Code section 600.15, relating to foreign and international
  5 17 adoptions, is amended to provide for recognition in this state
  5 18 of an adoption decree issued in the child's country of origin.
  5 19 Under current law, only an adoption decree issued by a court
  5 20 in a United States jurisdiction is recognized in this state.
  5 21 The bill also makes conforming changes striking language
  5 22 regarding the use of documentation from the child's country of
  5 23 origin and language authorizing child-placing agencies and
  5 24 others to assist citizens of Iowa in making an international
  5 25 adoption.  
  5 26 LSB 5260DP 79
  5 27 jp/sh/8.1
     

Text: SSB03106                          Text: SSB03108
Text: SSB03100 - SSB03199               Text: SSB Index
Bills and Amendments: General Index     Bill History: General Index

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