HF 873 (LSB 1324HV (3) 91)

HOUSE FILE 873

BY  COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY

(SUCCESSOR TO HF 86)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to aid, processes, services, and reimbursement for services associated with children in, adopted from, or in need of foster care.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 232.96A, subsection 6, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   6.  The child is in need of treatment to cure or alleviate a serious chemical dependency or mental illness or disorder, or emotional damage as evidenced by severe anxiety, depression, withdrawal, or behavioral health disorder that compromises the child’s safety or causes untoward aggressive behavior toward the child’s self or others in the household or the child’s community, and the child’s parent, guardian, or custodian is unwilling or unable to provide such treatment or the parent’s, guardian’s, or custodian’s efforts to secure needed treatment have been exhausted and unsuccessful.
    Sec. 2.  Section 232.96A, subsection 13, Code 2025, is amended by striking the subsection.
    Sec. 3.  Section 234.38, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   234.38  Foster care reimbursement rates.
   The department shall make reimbursement payments directly to foster parents for services provided to children pursuant to section 234.6, subsection 1, paragraph “e”, subparagraph (2), or section 234.35. In any fiscal year, the reimbursement rate shall be based upon sixty-five percent of the United States department of agriculture estimate of the cost to raise a child in the calendar year immediately preceding the fiscal year. The department may pay an additional stipend for a child with special needs.  The department shall review reimbursement payment rates paid to foster parents under this section no less than once every three years. The department shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A to administer this section.
    Sec. 4.  Section 600.8, subsection 3, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   3.  a.  The department, an agency, or a certified adoption investigator shall conduct all investigations and reports required under subsection 2.
   b.  The department shall pay the costs of the preplacement investigation under subsection 2 and the postplacement investigation under subsection 4, up to a maximum of two thousand dollars for the preplacement investigation and up to a maximum of two thousand dollars for the postplacement investigation.
   c.  The department shall not pay the costs of the preplacement investigation or the postplacement investigation as required under paragraph “b” until a prospective adoption petitioner has been approved under subsection 1, paragraph “a”, subparagraph (3), by the person making the investigation.
    Sec. 5.  Section 600A.6B, subsections 1 and 2, Code 2025, are amended to read as follows:
   1.  A person filing a petition for termination of parental rights under this chapter shall be responsible for the payment of reasonable attorney fees for services provided by counsel appointed pursuant to section 600A.6A, in juvenile court or in an appellate proceeding initiated by the person filing the petition, unless the any of the following apply:
   a.  The person filing the petition is a private child-placing agency licensed under chapter 238 or the.
   b.  The person filing the petition is a licensed attorney.
   c.  The court determines that the person filing the petition, is indigent.
   2.  If the person filing the petition is a private child-placing agency licensed under chapter 238 or if the person filing the petition is indigent described in subsection 1, paragraph “a”, “b”, or “c”, the prospective parent on whose behalf the petition is filed shall be responsible for the payment of reasonable attorney fees for services provided in juvenile court or an appellate proceeding for counsel appointed pursuant to section 600A.6A unless the court determines that the prospective parent on whose behalf the petition is filed is indigent.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with

the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill relates to aid, processes, services, and reimbursement for services associated with children in, adopted from, or in need of foster care.
   The bill allows a court to adjudicate a child in need of assistance (CINA) when the child requires treatment to cure or alleviate a serious chemical dependency or mental or behavioral health disorder that compromises the child’s safety or causes untoward aggressive behavior toward others in the household or the child’s community, and the child’s parent, guardian, or custodian (parent) is unwilling or unable to provide such treatment, or the parent’s efforts to secure needed treatment have been exhausted and unsuccessful. Under current law, to be adjudicated a CINA, a child must need treatment to cure or alleviate a serious mental illness or disorder, or emotional damage as evidenced by severe anxiety, depression, withdrawal, or untoward aggressive behavior toward the child’s self or others and the child’s parent is unwilling to provide such treatment.
   The bill eliminates the requirement that certain reimbursements to foster parents must be based on 65 percent of the United States department of agriculture estimate of the cost to raise a child in the calendar year immediately preceding the fiscal year, and eliminates the additional stipend for special needs children. Instead, the bill requires the department of health and human services (HHS) to adopt rules relating to the foster parent reimbursement rates (rates) and to review the rates no less than once every three years.
   The bill requires HHS to reimburse an adoption petitioner for the costs of the preplacement and postplacement investigations related to the adoption up to a maximum amount of $2,000 per investigation. The bill prohibits HHS from making such reimbursements until the person performing the preplacement background check approves the adoption petitioner’s initial required background checks.
   Under current law, with some exceptions, a person who petitions for the termination of parental rights will be responsible for the reasonable attorney fees of an attorney appointed by the court to represent a parent in the termination of parental rights proceeding. The bill adds a licensed attorney as a person who is excepted from the responsibility of paying a parent’s reasonable attorney fees in a termination of parental rights proceeding.
   The bill makes a conforming change by striking Code section 232.96A(13).