Bill Text: IA SF2258 | 2015-2016 | 86th General Assembly | Enrolled
Bill Title: A bill for an act concerning child welfare, including provisions relating to children under the custody, control, and supervision of the department of human services and provisions relating to children who are sex trafficking victims. (Formerly SSB 3114.) Effective 7-1-16.
Sponsorship: Committee Bill
Status: (Passed) 2016-04-06 - Signed by Governor. S.J. 650. [SF2258 Detail]
Download: Iowa-2015-SF2258-Enrolled.html
Senate File 2258 - Enrolled
SENATE FILE
BY COMMITTEE ON HUMAN
RESOURCES
(SUCCESSOR TO SSB
3114)
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A BILL FOR
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Senate File 2258
AN ACT
CONCERNING CHILD WELFARE, INCLUDING PROVISIONS RELATING TO
CHILDREN UNDER THE CUSTODY, CONTROL, AND SUPERVISION OF THE
DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES AND PROVISIONS RELATING TO
CHILDREN WHO ARE SEX TRAFFICKING VICTIMS.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
Section 1. Section 232.2, subsection 4, unnumbered
paragraph 1, Code 2016, is amended to read as follows:
"Case permanency plan" means the plan, mandated by Pub. L.
No. 96=272 and Pub. L. No. 105=89, as codified in 42 U.S.C.
{622(b)(10), 671(a)(16), and 675(1),(5), which is designed to
achieve placement in the most appropriate, least restrictive,
and most family=like setting available and in close proximity
to the parent's home, consistent with the best interests and
special needs of the child, and which considers the placement's
proximity to the school in which the child is enrolled at
the time of placement. The plan shall be developed by the
department or agency involved and the child's parent, guardian,
or custodian. If the child is fourteen years of age or older,
the plan shall be developed in consultation with the child and,
at the option of the child, with up to two persons chosen by
the child to be members of the child's case planning team if
such persons are not a foster parent of, or caseworker for, the
child. The department may reject a person selected by a child
to be a member of the child's case planning team at any time
if the department has good cause to believe that the person
would not act in the best interests of the child. One person
selected by a child to be a member of the child's case planning
team may be designated to be the child's advisor or, if
necessary, the child's advocate with respect to the application
of the reasonable and prudent parent standard. The plan shall
specifically include all of the following:
Sec. 2. Section 232.2, subsection 4, paragraph f, Code 2016,
is amended to read as follows:
f. (1) When a child is sixteen fourteen years of age
or older, a written transition plan of services, supports,
activities, and referrals to programs which, based upon an
assessment of the child's needs, would assist the child in
preparing for the transition from foster care to adulthood.
The transition plan and needs assessment shall be developed
with a focus on the services, other support, and actions
necessary to facilitate the child's successful entry into
adulthood. The transition plan shall be personalized at the
direction of the child and shall be developed with the child
present, honoring the goals and concerns of the child, and
shall address the following areas of need when the child
becomes an adult for the child's successful transition from
foster care to adulthood, including but not limited to all of
the following:
(a) Education.
(b) Employment services and other workforce support.
(c) Health and health care coverage.
(d) Housing and money management.
(e) Relationships, including local opportunities to have a
mentor.
(f) If the needs assessment indicates the child is
reasonably likely to need or be eligible for services or
other support from the adult service system upon reaching age
eighteen, the transition plan shall provide for the child's
application for adult services.
(2) The transition plan shall be considered a working
document and shall be reviewed and updated for each permanency
hearing by the court or other formal case permanency plan
review during a periodic case review, which shall occur at a
minimum of once every six months. The transition plan shall
also be reviewed and updated during the ninety calendar=day
period preceding the child's eighteenth birthday and during the
ninety calendar=day period immediately preceding the date the
child is expected to exit foster care, if the child remains
in foster care after the child's eighteenth birthday. The
transition plan may be reviewed and updated more frequently.
(3) The transition plan shall be developed and reviewed
by the department in collaboration with a child=centered
transition team. The transition team shall be comprised of
the child's caseworker and persons selected by the child,
persons who have knowledge of services available to the child,
and any person who may reasonably be expected to be a service
provider for the child when the child becomes an adult or to
become responsible for the costs of services at that time.
If the child is reasonably likely to need or be eligible for
adult services, the transition team membership shall include
representatives from the adult services system. The adult
services system representatives may include but are not limited
to the administrator of county general relief under chapter
251 or 252 or the regional administrator of the county mental
health and disability services region, as defined in section
331.388. The membership of the transition team and the meeting
dates for the team shall be documented in the transition plan.
(4) The final transition plan shall specifically identify
how the need for housing will be addressed.
(5) If the child is interested in pursuing higher education,
the transition plan shall provide for the child's participation
in the college student aid commission's program of assistance
in applying for federal and state aid under section 261.2.
(6) If the needs assessment indicates the child is
reasonably likely to need or be eligible for services or
other support from the adult service system upon reaching age
eighteen, the transition plan shall be reviewed and approved
by the transition committee for the area in which the child
resides, in accordance with section 235.7, before the child
reaches age seventeen and one=half. The transition committee's
review and approval shall be indicated in the case permanency
plan.
(7) Provision for the department or a designee of the
department on or before the date the child reaches age
eighteen, unless the child has been placed in foster care for
less than thirty days, to provide to the child a certified copy
of the child's birth certificate, and to facilitate securing
a federal social security card, and driver's license or
government=issued nonoperator's identification card. The fee
for the certified copy of the child's birth certificate that is
otherwise chargeable under section 144.13A, 144.46, or 331.605
shall be waived by the state or county registrar.
Sec. 3. Section 232.2, subsection 4, Code 2016, is amended
by adding the following new paragraph:
NEW PARAGRAPH. n. Any issues relating to the application
of the reasonable and prudent parent standard and the child's
participation in age or developmentally appropriate activities
while in foster care.
Sec. 4. Section 232.2, Code 2016, is amended by adding the
following new subsection:
NEW SUBSECTION. 45A. "Reasonable and prudent parent
standard" means the same as defined in section 237.1.
Sec. 5. Section 232.58, subsection 3, paragraph d,
subparagraph (4), Code 2016, is amended to read as follows:
(4) If the child is sixteen years of age or older and
the department has documented to the court's satisfaction a
compelling reason for determining that an order under the
other subparagraphs of this paragraph "d" would not be in the
child's best interest, order another planned permanent living
arrangement for the child.
Sec. 6. Section 232.58, Code 2016, is amended by adding the
following new subsection:
NEW SUBSECTION. 3A. If the court enters an order for
another planned permanent living arrangement pursuant to
subsection 3, paragraph "d", the court shall do all of the
following:
a. Ask the child about the child's desired permanency
outcome and make a judicial determination that another planned
permanent living arrangement is the best permanency plan for
the child.
b. Require the department to do all of the following:
(1) Document the efforts to place a child permanently with a
parent, relative, or in a guardianship or adoptive placement.
(2) Document that the planned permanent living arrangement
is the best permanency plan for the child and compelling
reasons why it is not in the child's best interest to be placed
permanently with a parent, relative, or in a guardianship or
adoptive placement.
(3) Document all of the following at the permanency hearing
and the six=month periodic review:
(a) The steps the department is taking to ensure that the
planned permanent living arrangement follows the reasonable and
prudent parent standard.
(b) Whether the child has regular opportunities to engage in
age=appropriate or developmentally appropriate activities.
Sec. 7. Section 232.68, subsection 2, paragraph a,
subparagraph (3), Code 2016, is amended to read as follows:
(3) The commission of a sexual offense with or to a
child pursuant to chapter 709, section 726.2, or section
728.12, subsection 1, as a result of the acts or omissions
of the person responsible for the care of the child or of a
person who resides in a home with the child. Notwithstanding
section 702.5, the commission of a sexual offense under this
subparagraph includes any sexual offense referred to in this
subparagraph with or to a person under the age of eighteen
years.
Sec. 8. Section 232.68, subsection 2, paragraph a, Code
2016, is amended by adding the following new subparagraph:
NEW SUBPARAGRAPH. (11) The recruitment, harboring,
transportation, provision, obtaining, patronizing, or
soliciting of a child for the purpose of commercial sexual
activity as defined in section 710A.1.
Sec. 9. Section 232.68, Code 2016, is amended by adding the
following new subsections:
NEW SUBSECTION. 10. "Sex trafficking" means the
recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, obtaining,
patronizing, or soliciting of a person for the purpose of
commercial sexual activity as defined in section 710A.1.
NEW SUBSECTION. 11. "Sex trafficking victim" means a victim
of sex trafficking.
Sec. 10. Section 232.70, subsections 8 and 9, Code 2016, are
amended to read as follows:
8. If a report would be determined to constitute an
allegation of child abuse as defined under section 232.68,
subsection 2, paragraph "a", subparagraph (3) or (5), except
that the suspected abuse resulted from the acts or omissions
of a person other than a person responsible for the care of the
child, the department shall refer the report to the appropriate
law enforcement agency having jurisdiction to investigate the
allegation. The department shall refer the report orally
as soon as practicable and in writing within seventy=two
hours of receiving the report. Within twenty=four hours of
receiving a report from a mandatory or permissive reporter,
the department shall inform the reporter, orally or by other
appropriate means, whether or not the department has commenced
an assessment of the allegation in the report.
9. Within twenty=four hours of receiving a report from a
mandatory or permissive reporter, the department shall inform
the reporter, orally or by other appropriate means, whether
or not the department has commenced an assessment of the
allegation in the report. If a report would be determined
to constitute an allegation of child abuse as defined under
section 232.68, subsection 2, paragraph "a", subparagraph (3)
or (5), except that the suspected abuse resulted from the acts
or omissions of a person other than a person responsible for
the care of the child, the department shall refer the report
to the appropriate law enforcement agency having jurisdiction
to investigate the allegation. The department shall refer the
report orally as soon as practicable and in writing within
seventy=two hours of receiving the report.
Sec. 11. Section 232.70, Code 2016, is amended by adding the
following new subsection:
NEW SUBSECTION. 10. If the department has reasonable
cause to believe that a child under the placement, care, or
supervision of the department is, or is at risk of becoming,
a sex trafficking victim, the department shall do all of the
following:
a. Identify the child as a sex trafficking victim or at risk
of becoming a sex trafficking victim and include documentation
in the child's department records.
b. Refer the child for appropriate services.
c. Refer the child identified as a sex trafficking victim,
within twenty=four hours, to the appropriate law enforcement
agency having jurisdiction to investigate the allegation.
Sec. 12. Section 232.71B, subsection 1, paragraph a,
subparagraph (1), Code 2016, is amended to read as follows:
(1) Upon acceptance of a report of child abuse, the
department shall commence a child abuse assessment when the
report alleges child abuse as defined in section 232.68,
subsection 2, paragraph "a", subparagraphs (1) through (3) and
subparagraphs (5) through (10) (11), or which alleges child
abuse as defined in section 232.68, subsection 2, paragraph "a",
subparagraph (4), that also alleges imminent danger, death, or
injury to a child.
Sec. 13. Section 232.71B, subsection 3, Code 2016, is
amended to read as follows:
3. Involvement of law enforcement.
a. The department shall apply protocols, developed with the
local child protection assistance team established pursuant to
section 915.35, to prioritize the actions taken in response
to a child abuse assessment and shall work jointly with child
protection assistance teams and law enforcement agencies in
performing assessment and investigative processes for child
abuse assessments in which a criminal act harming a child is
alleged. The county attorney and appropriate law enforcement
agencies shall also take any other lawful action which may be
necessary or advisable for the protection of the child.
b. If a report is determined not to constitute a child
abuse allegation or if the child abuse report is accepted
but assessed under the family assessment, but a criminal act
harming a child is alleged, the department shall immediately
refer the matter to the appropriate law enforcement agency.
c. If the department has reasonable cause to believe that
a child under the placement, care, or supervision of the
department is, or is at risk of becoming, a sex trafficking
victim, the department shall do all of the following:
(1) Identify the child as a sex trafficking victim or
at risk of becoming a sex trafficking victim and include
documentation in the child's department records.
(2) Refer the child for appropriate services.
(3) Refer the child identified as a sex trafficking victim,
within twenty=four hours, to the appropriate law enforcement
agency having jurisdiction to investigate the allegation.
d. The department shall report a child under the placement,
care, or supervision of the department who is reported as
missing or abducted to law enforcement and to the national
center for missing and exploited children within twenty=four
hours of receipt of the report.
Sec. 14. Section 232.102, subsection 1, paragraph a,
subparagraph (3), Code 2016, is amended to read as follows:
(3) The department of human services. If the child is
placed in a juvenile shelter care home or with an individual
or agency as defined in section 237.1, the department shall
assign decision=making authority to the juvenile shelter care
home, individual, or agency for the purpose of applying the
reasonable and prudent parent standard during the child's
placement.
Sec. 15. Section 232.102, Code 2016, is amended by adding
the following new subsection:
NEW SUBSECTION. 5A. A child placed in foster care
may participate in age or developmentally appropriate
extracurricular, enrichment, cultural, and social activities
subject to the approval of the child's foster parents or the
appropriate licensed foster care facility staff. A court
shall make a finding at all review hearings to address the
child's participation in such activities and how barriers to
participation are being addressed.
Sec. 16. Section 232.104, subsection 2, paragraph d,
subparagraph (4), Code 2016, is amended to read as follows:
(4) If the child is sixteen years of age or older and
the department has documented to the court's satisfaction a
compelling reason for determining that an order under the
other subparagraphs of this paragraph "d" would not be in the
child's best interest, order another planned permanent living
arrangement for the child.
Sec. 17. Section 232.104, Code 2016, is amended by adding
the following new subsection:
NEW SUBSECTION. 2A. If the court enters an order for
another planned permanent living arrangement pursuant to
subsection 2, paragraph "d", the court shall do all of the
following:
a. Ask the child about the child's desired permanency
outcome and make a judicial determination that another planned
permanent living arrangement is the best permanency plan for
the child.
b. Require the department to do all of the following:
(1) Document the efforts to place a child permanently with a
parent, relative, or in a guardianship or adoptive placement.
(2) Document that the planned permanent living arrangement
is the best permanency plan for the child and compelling
reasons why it is not in the child's best interest to be placed
permanently with a parent, relative, or in a guardianship or
adoptive placement.
(3) Document all of the following at the permanency hearing
and the six=month periodic review:
(a) The steps the department is taking to ensure that the
planned permanent living arrangement follows the reasonable and
prudent parent standard.
(b) Whether the child has regular opportunities to engage in
age=appropriate or developmentally appropriate activities.
Sec. 18. Section 232.127, subsection 10, Code 2016, is
amended to read as follows:
10. If the child is sixteen fourteen years of age or older
and an order for an out=of=home placement is entered, the
order shall specify the services needed to assist the child in
preparing for the transition from foster care to adulthood. If
the child has a case permanency plan, the court shall consider
the written transition plan of services and needs assessment
developed for the child's case permanency plan. If the child
does not have a case permanency plan containing the transition
plan and needs assessment at the time the order is entered, the
written transition plan and needs assessment shall be developed
and submitted for the court's consideration no later than six
months from the date of the transfer order. The court shall
modify the initial transfer order as necessary to specify
the services needed to assist the child in preparing for the
transition from foster care to adulthood. If the transition
plan identifies services or other support needed to assist
the child when the child becomes an adult in transitioning
from foster care to adulthood and the court deems it to be
beneficial to the child, the court may authorize the individual
who is the child's guardian ad litem or court appointed special
advocate to continue a relationship with and provide advice to
the child for a period of time beyond the child's eighteenth
birthday.
Sec. 19. Section 232.183, subsection 5, paragraph d, Code
2016, is amended to read as follows:
d. If the child is sixteen fourteen years of age or older,
the order shall specify the services needed to assist the child
in preparing for the transition from foster care to adulthood.
If the child has a case permanency plan, the court shall
consider the written transition plan of services and needs
assessment developed for the child's case permanency plan. If
the child does not have a case permanency plan containing the
transition plan and needs assessment at the time the order is
entered, the transition plan and needs assessment shall be
developed and submitted for the court's consideration no later
than six months from the date of the transfer order. The court
shall modify the initial transfer order as necessary to specify
the services needed to assist the child in preparing for the
transition from foster care to adulthood. If the transition
plan identifies services or other support needed to assist
the child when the child becomes an adult in transitioning
from foster care to adulthood and the court deems it to be
beneficial to the child, the court may authorize the individual
who is the child's guardian ad litem or court appointed special
advocate to continue a relationship with and provide advice to
the child for a period of time beyond the child's eighteenth
birthday.
Sec. 20. Section 237.1, Code 2016, is amended by adding the
following new subsection:
NEW SUBSECTION. 9. "Reasonable and prudent parent standard"
means the standard characterized by careful and sensible
parenting decisions that maintain the health, safety, and
best interests of a child, while at the same time encouraging
the emotional and developmental growth of a child, that a
caregiver shall use when determining whether to allow a child
in foster care under the placement, care, or supervision of
the department to participate in extracurricular, enrichment,
cultural, or social activities. For the purposes of this
subsection, "caregiver" means an individual or an agency
licensed under this chapter with which a child in foster care
has been placed or a juvenile shelter care home approved under
chapter 232 in which a child in foster care has been placed.
Sec. 21. NEW SECTION. 237.14A Reasonable and prudent parent
standard == immunity from liability.
The department, or any individual, agency, or juvenile
shelter care home that applies the reasonable and prudent
parent standard reasonably and in good faith in regard to a
child in foster care shall have immunity from civil or criminal
liability which might otherwise be incurred or imposed. This
section shall not remove or limit any existing liability
protection afforded under any other law.
Sec. 22. DRUG ENDANGERED CHILDREN WORKGROUP.
1. The governor's office of drug control policy shall
convene a stakeholder workgroup to meet during the 2016
legislative interim to examine issues and develop policy
recommendations relating to the protection and safety of
drug endangered children for purposes of child in need of
assistance and child abuse proceedings. The workgroup shall
request relevant data and outcome measures relating to drug
endangered children from workgroup member organizations and
from state departments and agencies, including but not limited
to the departments of human services and public safety, the
juvenile court, the judicial branch, and other appropriate
organizations. The workgroup shall comprehensively review and
analyze such information and propose a statutory definition
of a drug endangered child for purposes of child in need of
assistance and child abuse proceedings.
2. The workgroup shall be composed of all of the following
members:
a. Four members of the general assembly appointed to serve
in an ex officio, nonvoting capacity. The legislative members
shall be selected, one member each, by the majority leader of
the senate, the minority leader of the senate, the speaker of
the house of representatives, and the minority leader of the
house of representatives.
b. Fifteen voting members to include all of the following:
(1) One representative from each of the following:
(a) The division of criminal and juvenile justice planning
in the department of human rights.
(b) The department of human services.
(c) The child advocacy board.
(d) The department of justice.
(e) The judicial branch.
(f) The governor's office of drug control policy.
(g) The Iowa alliance for drug endangered children.
(h) The Iowa county attorneys association.
(i) The Iowa state sheriffs' and deputies' association.
(j) A child welfare service provider group.
(k) A health care provider group.
(l) A mental health care provider group.
(m) A substance abuse provider group.
(n) A peace officer group.
(2) A child abuse prevention advocate.
3. The workgroup shall meet up to two times during the
2016 legislative interim and shall submit findings and
recommendations in a report to the general assembly by December
15, 2016.
4. If possible, workgroup members and workgroup member
organizations shall pay any costs incurred by members in
attending workgroup meetings. The governor's office of drug
control policy shall not be responsible for payment of per
diem and other expenses of workgroup members but may pay any
additional costs associated with the workgroup, not to exceed
one thousand dollars, from the operating budget of the office.
PAM JOCHUM
President of the Senate
LINDA UPMEYER
Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that this bill originated in the Senate and
is known as Senate File 2258, Eighty=sixth General Assembly.
MICHAEL E. MARSHALL
Secretary of the Senate
Approved , 2016
TERRY E. BRANSTAD
Governor
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