S-3144

   Amend House File 474, as amended, passed, and reprinted by the House, as follows:
   1.  Page 1, by striking lines 5 through 25 and inserting: 
   <Sec. ___.  Section 232.78, Code 2023, is amended by adding the following new subsection:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  9.  Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary including priority in placement of a child under subsection 8, if an ex parte order is requested from the juvenile court under this section pursuant to section 233.2 for transfer of custody of a newborn infant, the department shall request that custody be transferred to the department. Upon receiving the order, the department shall take custody of the newborn infant and proceed in accordance with chapter 233, including, if feasible, placing the newborn infant in a prospective adoptive home.>
   2.  By striking page 5, line 22, through page 7, line 25, and inserting: 
   <3.  a.  As soon as possible after the individual on duty, the adoption service provider, or the first responder assumes physical custody of a newborn infant released under subsection 1, and, if applicable, the adoption service provider or the first responder transports the newborn infant to the nearest institutional health facility under subsection 2, paragraph “b”, the individual on duty, the adoption service provider, or the first responder shall notify the department of human services and the department shall take the actions necessary to assume the care, control, and custody of the newborn infant.
   b.  The department shall immediately notify the juvenile court and the county attorney of the department’s action and the circumstances surrounding the action and request an ex parte order from the juvenile court ordering, in accordance with the requirements of section 232.78, subsection 9, the department to take custody of the newborn infant.
   c.  Upon receiving the order, the department shall take custody of the newborn infant.  After the department takes custody of the newborn infant, notwithstanding any provision to the contrary relating to priority in placement of the child under section 232.78, the department shall, if feasible, place the newborn infant in a prospective adoptive home. The department shall maintain a list of prospective adoptive homes that have completed placement investigations and have been preapproved by the department or a certified adoption investigator. 
   d.  Within twenty-four hours of taking custody of the newborn infant, the department shall notify the juvenile court and the county attorney in writing of the department’s action and the circumstances surrounding the action.
   4.  a.  Upon being notified in writing by the department under subsection 3, the county attorney shall file a petition alleging the newborn infant to be a child in need of assistance in accordance with section 232.87 and a petition for termination of parental rights with respect to the newborn infant in accordance with section 232.111, subsection 2, paragraph “a”. A hearing on a child in need of assistance petition filed pursuant to this subsection shall be held at the earliest practicable time. A hearing on a termination of parental rights petition filed pursuant to this subsection shall be held no later than thirty days after the day the physical custody of the newborn child was relinquished in accordance with subsection 1 unless the juvenile court continues the hearing beyond the thirty days for good cause shown.
   b.  Notice of a petition filed pursuant to this subsection shall be provided to any known parent and others in accordance with the provisions of chapter 232 and shall be served upon any putative father registered with the state registrar of vital statistics pursuant to section 144.12A. In addition, prior to holding a termination of parental rights hearing with respect to the newborn infant, notice by publication shall be provided as described in section 600A.6, subsection 5.>
   3.  Page 9, lines 3 and 4, by striking <and the involvement of adoption service providers> 

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JANET PETERSEN