Bill Text: MS HB1589 | 2025 | Regular Session | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Durable legal custody; remove as dispositional alternative in neglect and abuse cases.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Independent 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2025-02-13 - Died On Calendar [HB1589 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2025-HB1589-Comm_Sub.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2025 Regular Session
To: Judiciary A
By: Representative Cockerham
House Bill 1589
(COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE)
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 43-21-609, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REMOVE DURABLE LEGAL CUSTODY AS A DISPOSITIONAL ALTERNATIVE IN NEGLECT AND ABUSE CASES; TO AMEND SECTIONS 43-21-613, 43-21-651, 43-21-105 AND 43-15-13, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM TO THE PRECEDING SECTION; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 43-21-609, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
43-21-609. In neglect and abuse cases, the disposition order may include any of the following alternatives, giving precedence in the following sequence:
(a) Release the child without further action;
(b) Place the child in
the custody of his parents, a relative or other person subject to any
conditions and limitations as the court may prescribe * * *;
(c) (i) Grant durable legal relative guardianship to a relative or fictive kin licensed as a foster parent if the licensed relative foster parent or licensed fictive kin foster parent exercised physical custody of the child for at least six (6) months before the grant of durable legal relative guardianship and the Department of Child Protection Services had legal custody or exercised supervision of the child for at least six (6) months. In order to establish durable legal relative guardianship, the youth court must find the following:
1. That reunification has been determined to be inappropriate;
2. That the relative guardian or fictive kin guardian shows full commitment to the care, shelter, education, nurture, and reasonable medical care of the child; and
3. That the youth court consulted with any child twelve (12) years of age or older before granting durable legal relative guardianship.
(ii) The
requirements of Section 43-21-613 as to disposition review hearings do not
apply to a hearing concerning durable legal relative guardianship. * * *
If a material change in circumstances occurs adverse to the best interest of
the child, the parent, relative guardian, fictive kin guardian, or Department
of Child Protection Services may petition the court to review the durable legal
relative guardianship;
(d) Order terms of treatment calculated to assist the child and the child's parent, guardian or custodian which are within the ability of the parent, guardian or custodian to perform;
(e) Order youth court personnel, the Department of Child Protection Services or child care agencies to assist the child and the child's parent, guardian or custodian to secure social or medical services to provide proper supervision and care of the child;
(f) Give legal custody of the child to any of the following but in no event to any state training school:
(i) The Department of Child Protection Services for appropriate placement; or
(ii) Any private or public organization, preferably community-based, able to assume the education, care and maintenance of the child, which has been found suitable by the court. Prior to assigning the custody of any child to any private institution or agency, the youth court through its designee shall first inspect the physical facilities to determine that they provide a reasonable standard of health and safety for the child;
(g) If the court makes a finding that custody is necessary as defined in Section 43-21-301(3)(b), and that the child, in the action pending before the youth court had not previously been taken into custody, the disposition order shall recite that the effect of the continuation of the child's residing within his or her own home would be contrary to the welfare of the child, that the placement of the child in foster care is in the best interests of the child, and unless the reasonable efforts requirement is bypassed under Section 43-21-603(7)(c), the order also must state:
(i) That reasonable efforts have been made to maintain the child within his or her own home, but that the circumstances warrant his or her removal, and there is no reasonable alternative to custody; or
(ii) The circumstances are of such an emergency nature that no reasonable efforts have been made to maintain the child within his or her own home, and there is no reasonable alternative to custody; or
(iii) If the court makes a finding in accordance with subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph, the court shall order that reasonable efforts be made towards the reunification of the child with his or her family; or
(h) If the court had, before the disposition hearing in the action pending before the court, taken the child into custody, the judge or referee shall determine, and the youth court order shall recite that reasonable efforts were made by the Department of Child Protection Services to finalize the child's permanency plan that was in effect on the date of the disposition hearing.
SECTION 2. Section 43-21-613, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
43-21-613. (1) If the youth court finds, after a hearing which complies with the sections governing adjudicatory hearings, that the terms of a delinquency or child in need of supervision disposition order, probation or parole have been violated, the youth court may, in its discretion, revoke the original disposition and make any disposition which it could have originally ordered. The hearing shall be initiated by the filing of a petition that complies with the sections governing petitions in this chapter and that includes a statement of the youth court's original disposition order, probation or parole, the alleged violation of that order, probation or parole, and the facts which show the violation of that order, probation or parole. Summons shall be served in the same manner as summons for an adjudicatory hearing.
(2) On motion of a child or a child's parent, guardian or custodian, the youth court may, in its discretion, conduct an informal hearing to review the disposition order. If the youth court finds a material change of circumstances relating to the disposition of the child, the youth court may modify the disposition order to any appropriate disposition of equal or greater precedence which the youth court could have originally ordered.
(3) (a) All disposition orders for supervision, probation or placement of a child with an individual or an agency shall be reviewed by the youth court judge or referee at least annually to determine if continued placement, probation or supervision is in the best interest of the child or the public. For children who have been adjudicated abused or neglected, except for those children for which a different timeframe is provided under Section 43-21-603(7), the youth court shall conduct a permanency hearing within one hundred twenty (120) days or every sixty (60) days for children under three (3) years of age after the earlier of:
(i) An adjudication that the child has been abused or neglected; or
(ii) The date of
the child's removal from the allegedly abusive or neglectful custodian/parent.
Notice of such hearing shall be given in accordance with the provisions of
Section 43-21-505(5). In conducting the hearing, the judge or referee shall
require a written report and may require information or statements from the
child's youth court counselor, parent, guardian or custodian, which includes,
but is not limited to, an evaluation of the child's progress and
recommendations for further supervision or treatment. The judge or referee
shall, at the permanency hearing determine the future status of the child,
including, but not limited to, whether the child should be returned to the
parent(s) or placed with suitable relatives, placed for adoption, placed for
the purpose of establishing durable legal * * * guardianship or should, because
of the child's special needs or circumstances, be continued in foster care on a
permanent or long-term basis. If the child is in an out-of-state placement,
the hearing shall determine whether the out-of-state placement continues to be
appropriate and in the best interest of the child. At the permanency hearing
the judge or referee shall determine, and the youth court order shall recite
that reasonable efforts were made by the Department of Child Protection
Services to finalize the child's permanency plan that was in effect on the date
of the permanency hearing. The judge or referee may find that reasonable
efforts to maintain the child within his home shall not be required in accordance
with Section 43-21-603(7)(c), and that the youth court shall continue to
conduct permanency hearings for a child who has been adjudicated abused or
neglected, at least annually thereafter, for as long as the child remains in
the custody of the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services.
(b) The court may find that the filing of a termination of parental rights petition is not in the child's best interest if:
(i) The child is being cared for by a relative; and/or
(ii) The Department of Child Protection Services has documented compelling and extraordinary reasons why termination of parental rights would not be in the best interests of the child.
(c) The provisions of this subsection shall also apply to review of cases involving a dependent child; however, such reviews shall take place not less frequently than once each one hundred eighty (180) days, or upon the request of the child's attorney, a parent's attorney, or a parent as deemed appropriate by the youth court in protecting the best interests of the child. A dependent child shall be ordered by the youth court judge or referee to be returned to the custody and home of the child's parent, guardian or custodian unless the judge or referee, upon such review, makes a written finding that the return of the child to the home would be contrary to the child's best interests.
* * *
(4) The provisions of this section do not apply to proceedings concerning durable legal relative guardianship.
SECTION 3. Section 43-21-651, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
43-21-651. (1) (a) The
court to which appeals may be taken from final orders or decrees of the youth
court shall be the Supreme Court of Mississippi pursuant to the Rules of
Appellate Procedure. Final Orders in youth court include orders that grant * * * durable legal relative
guardianship, transfer jurisdiction over the minor child to another court, such
as for an adoption, or otherwise terminate the jurisdiction of the youth court
over the minor child. All factual findings, legal determinations, and
adjudication of issues by the youth court prior to the time the final order is
entered are preserved for appellate review and any common law to the contrary
is expressly abrogated. Any matters adjudicated by the youth court through
interim orders such as adjudication/disposition orders, or permanency review
orders, may be only appealed through the interlocutory appeal process provided
by the Rules of Appellate Procedure.
(b) The rule of construction that statutes in derogation of the common law are to be strictly construed shall have no application to this subsection.
(2) In any case wherein an appeal is desired, written notice of intention to appeal shall be filed with the youth court clerk within the time, and costs in the youth court and the filing fee in the Supreme Court shall be paid, as is otherwise required for appeals to the Supreme Court. If the appellant shall make affidavit that he is unable to pay such costs and filing fee, he shall have an appeal without prepayment of court costs and filing fee. Only the initials of the child shall appear on the record on appeal.
(3) The pendency of an appeal shall not suspend the order or decree of the youth court regarding a child, nor shall it discharge the child from the custody of that court or of the person, institution or agency to whose care such child shall have been committed, unless the youth court or Supreme Court shall so order. If appellant desires to appeal with supersedeas, the matter first shall be presented to the youth court. If refused, the youth court shall forthwith issue a written order stating the reasons for the denial, which order shall be subject to review by the Supreme Court. If the Supreme Court does not dismiss the proceedings and discharge the child, it shall affirm or modify or reverse the order of the youth court and remand the child to the jurisdiction of the youth court for placement and supervision in accordance with its order, and thereafter the child shall be and remain under the jurisdiction of the youth court in the same manner as if the youth court had made the order without an appeal having been taken.
(4) Appeals from the youth court shall be preference cases in the Supreme Court.
SECTION 4. Section 43-21-105, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
43-21-105. The following words and phrases, for purposes of this chapter, shall have the meanings ascribed herein unless the context clearly otherwise requires:
(a) "Youth court" means the Youth Court Division.
(b) "Judge" means the judge of the Youth Court Division.
(c) "Designee" means any person that the judge appoints to perform a duty which this chapter requires to be done by the judge or his designee. The judge may not appoint a person who is involved in law enforcement or who is an employee of the Mississippi Department of Human Services or the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services to be his designee.
(d) "Child" and "youth" are synonymous, and each means a person who has not reached his eighteenth birthday. A child who has not reached his eighteenth birthday and is on active duty for a branch of the armed services or is married is not considered a "child" or "youth" for the purposes of this chapter.
(e) "Parent" means the father or mother to whom the child has been born, or the father or mother by whom the child has been legally adopted.
(f) "Guardian" means a court-appointed guardian of the person of a child.
(g) "Custodian" means any person having the present care or custody of a child whether such person be a parent or otherwise.
(h) "Legal custodian" means a court-appointed custodian of the child.
(i) "Delinquent child" means a child who has reached his tenth birthday and who has committed a delinquent act.
(j) "Delinquent act" is any act, which if committed by an adult, is designated as a crime under state or federal law, or municipal or county ordinance other than offenses punishable by life imprisonment or death. A delinquent act includes escape from lawful detention and violations of the Uniform Controlled Substances Law and violent behavior.
(k) "Child in need of supervision" means a child who has reached his seventh birthday and is in need of treatment or rehabilitation because the child:
(i) Is habitually disobedient of reasonable and lawful commands of his parent, guardian or custodian and is ungovernable; or
(ii) While being required to attend school, willfully and habitually violates the rules thereof or willfully and habitually absents himself therefrom; or
(iii) Runs away from home without good cause; or
(iv) Has committed a delinquent act or acts.
(l) "Neglected child" means a child:
(i) Whose parent, guardian or custodian or any person responsible for his care or support, neglects or refuses, when able so to do, to provide for him proper and necessary care or support, or education as required by law, or medical, surgical, or other care necessary for his well-being; however, a parent who withholds medical treatment from any child who in good faith is under treatment by spiritual means alone through prayer in accordance with the tenets and practices of a recognized church or religious denomination by a duly accredited practitioner thereof shall not, for that reason alone, be considered to be neglectful under any provision of this chapter; or
(ii) Who is otherwise without proper care, custody, supervision or support; or
(iii) Who, for any reason, lacks the special care made necessary for him by reason of his mental condition, whether the mental condition is having mental illness or having an intellectual disability; or
(iv) Who is not provided by the child's parent, guardian or custodian, with food, clothing, or shelter necessary to sustain the life or health of the child, excluding such failure caused primarily by financial inability unless relief services have been offered and refused and the child is in imminent risk of harm.
(m) "Abused child" means a child whose parent, guardian or custodian or any person responsible for his care or support, whether legally obligated to do so or not, has caused or allowed to be caused, upon the child, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, commercial sexual exploitation, emotional abuse, mental injury, nonaccidental physical injury or other maltreatment. However, physical discipline, including spanking, performed on a child by a parent, guardian or custodian in a reasonable manner shall not be deemed abuse under this section. "Abused child" also means a child who is or has been trafficked within the meaning of the Mississippi Human Trafficking Act by any person, without regard to the relationship of the person to the child.
(n) "Sexual abuse" means obscene or pornographic photographing, filming or depiction of children for commercial purposes, or the rape, molestation, incest, prostitution or other such forms of sexual exploitation of children under circumstances which indicate that the child's health or welfare is harmed or threatened.
(o) "A child in need of special care" means a child with any mental or physical illness that cannot be treated with the dispositional alternatives ordinarily available to the youth court.
(p) A "dependent child" means any child who is not a child in need of supervision, a delinquent child, an abused child or a neglected child, and which child has been voluntarily placed in the custody of the Department of Child Protection Services by his parent, guardian or custodian.
(q) "Custody" means the physical possession of the child by any person.
(r) "Legal custody" means the legal status created by a court order which gives the legal custodian the responsibilities of physical possession of the child and the duty to provide him with food, shelter, education and reasonable medical care, all subject to residual rights and responsibilities of the parent or guardian of the person.
(s) "Detention" means the care of children in physically restrictive facilities.
(t) "Shelter" means care of children in physically nonrestrictive facilities.
(u) "Records involving children" means any of the following from which the child can be identified:
(i) All youth court records as defined in Section 43-21-251;
(ii) All forensic interviews conducted by a child advocacy center in abuse and neglect investigations;
(iii) All law enforcement records as defined in Section 43-21-255;
(iv) All agency records as defined in Section 43-21-257; and
(v) All other documents maintained by any representative of the state, county, municipality or other public agency insofar as they relate to the apprehension, custody, adjudication or disposition of a child who is the subject of a youth court cause.
(v) "Any person responsible for care or support" means the person who is providing for the child at a given time. This term shall include, but is not limited to, stepparents, foster parents, relatives, nonlicensed babysitters or other similar persons responsible for a child and staff of residential care facilities and group homes that are licensed by the Department of Human Services or the Department of Child Protection Services.
(w) The singular includes the plural, the plural the singular and the masculine the feminine when consistent with the intent of this chapter.
(x) "Out-of-home" setting means the temporary supervision or care of children by the staff of licensed day care centers, the staff of public, private and state schools, the staff of juvenile detention facilities, the staff of unlicensed residential care facilities and group homes and the staff of, or individuals representing, churches, civic or social organizations.
* * *
( * * *y) "Status offense" means
conduct subject to adjudication by the youth court that would not be a crime if
committed by an adult.
( * * *z) "Financially able" means
a parent or child who is ineligible for a court-appointed attorney.
( * * *aa) "Assessment" means an
individualized examination of a child to determine the child's psychosocial
needs and problems, including the type and extent of any mental health,
substance abuse or co-occurring mental health and substance abuse disorders and
recommendations for treatment. The term includes, but is not limited to, a
drug and alcohol, psychological or psychiatric evaluation, records review,
clinical interview or the administration of a formal test and instrument.
( * * *bb) "Screening" means a
process, with or without the administration of a formal instrument, that is
designed to identify a child who is at increased risk of having mental health,
substance abuse or co-occurring mental health and substance abuse disorders
that warrant immediate attention, intervention or more comprehensive
assessment.
( * * *cc) "Durable legal relative
guardianship" means the legal status created by a youth court order that
conveys the physical and legal custody of a child or children by durable legal
guardianship to a relative or fictive kin who is licensed as a foster or
resource parent.
( * * *dd) "Relative" means a
person related to the child by affinity or consanguinity within the third
degree.
( * * *ee) "Fictive kin" means a
person not related to the child legally or biologically but who is considered a
relative due to a significant, familial-like and ongoing relationship with the
child and family.
( * * *ff) "Reasonable efforts"
means the exercise of reasonable care and due diligence by the Department of
Human Services, the Department of Child Protection Services, or any other
appropriate entity or person to use services appropriate to the child's
background, accessible, and available to meet the individualized needs of the
child and child's family to prevent removal and reunify the family as soon as
safely possible consistent with the best interests of the child. Reasonable
efforts must be made in collaboration with the family and must address the
individualized needs of the family that brought the child to the attention of
the Department of Child Protection Services and must not consist of required services
that are not related to the family's needs.
( * * *gg) "Commercial sexual
exploitation" means any sexual act or crime of a sexual nature, which is
committed against a child for financial or economic gain, to obtain a thing of
value for quid pro quo exchange of property or for any other purpose.
SECTION 5. Section 43-15-13, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
43-15-13. (1) For purposes of this section, "children" means persons found within the state who are under the age of twenty-one (21) years, and who were placed in the custody of the Department of Child Protection Services by the youth court of the appropriate county. For purposes of this chapter, "commercial sexual exploitation" means any sexual act or crime of a sexual nature, which is committed against a child for financial or economic gain, to obtain a thing of value, for quid pro quo exchange of property or any other purpose.
(2) The Department of Child Protection Services shall establish a foster care placement program for children whose custody lies with the department, with the following objectives:
(a) Protecting and promoting the health, safety and welfare of children;
(b) Preventing the unnecessary separation of children from their families by identifying family problems, assisting families in resolving their problems and preventing the breakup of the family where the prevention of child removal is desirable and possible when the child can be cared for at home without endangering the child's health and safety;
(c) Remedying or assisting in the solution of problems that may result in the neglect, abuse, exploitation, commercial sexual exploitation, human trafficking or delinquency of children;
(d) Restoring to their families children who have been removed, by the provision of services to the child and the families when the child can be cared for at home without endangering the child's health and safety;
(e) Placing children in suitable adoptive homes approved by a licensed adoption agency or family protection specialist, in cases where restoration to the biological family is not safe, possible or appropriate;
(f) Assuring safe and adequate care of children away from their homes, in cases where the child cannot be returned home or cannot be placed for adoption, including temporary or emergency placement with a relative or fictive kin pending youth court action on the case. At the time of placement, the department shall implement concurrent planning, as described in subsection (8) of this section, so that permanency may occur at the earliest opportunity. Consideration of possible failure or delay of reunification should be given, to the end that the placement made is the best available placement to provide permanency for the child; and
(g) Providing a family protection specialist or worker or team of such specialists or workers for a family and child throughout the implementation of their permanent living arrangement plan. Wherever feasible, the same family protection specialist or worker or team shall remain on the case until the child is no longer under the jurisdiction of the youth court.
(3) The Department of Child Protection Services shall administer a system of individualized plans, reviews and reports once every six (6) months for each child under its custody within the State of Mississippi, which document each child who has been adjudged a neglected, abandoned or abused child, including a child alleged to have experienced commercial sexual exploitation and/or human trafficking and whose custody was changed by court order as a result of that adjudication, and each public or private facility licensed by the department. The Department of Child Protection Services' administrative review shall be completed on each child within the first three (3) months and a relative placement, fictive kin placement, or foster care review once every six (6) months after the child's initial forty-eight-hour shelter hearing. That system shall be for the purpose of enhancing potential family life for the child by the development of individual plans to return the child to the child's natural parent or parents, or to refer the child to the appropriate court for termination of parental rights and placement in a permanent relative's home, adoptive home or foster/adoptive home. The goal of the Department of Child Protection Services shall be to return the child to the child's natural parent(s) or refer the child to the appropriate court for termination of parental rights and placement in a permanent relative's home, adoptive home or foster/adoptive home within the time periods specified in this subsection or in subsection (4) of this section. In furthering this goal, the department shall establish policy and procedures designed to appropriately place children in permanent homes, and provide counseling services and other appropriate services to children who have been victims of commercial sexual exploitation or human trafficking. The policy shall include a system of reviews for all children in foster care, as follows: foster care counselors in the department shall make all possible contact with the child's natural parent(s), custodial parent(s) of all siblings of the child, and any interested relative for the first two (2) months following the child's entry into the foster care system, and provide care for victims of commercial sexual exploitation or human trafficking. For purposes of contacting custodial parent(s) of a sibling, siblings include those who are considered a sibling under state law, and those who would have been considered a sibling under state law, except for termination or disruption of parental rights. For any child who has been in foster care for fifteen (15) of the last twenty-two (22) months regardless of whether the foster care was continuous for all of those twenty-two (22) months, the department shall file a petition to terminate the parental rights of the child's parents. The time period starts to run from the date the court makes a finding of abuse and/or neglect, or commercial sexual exploitation or human trafficking, or sixty (60) days from when the child was removed from his or her home, whichever is earlier. The department can choose not to file a termination of parental rights petition if the following apply:
(a) The child is being cared for by a relative; and/or
(b) The department has documented compelling and extraordinary reasons why termination of parental rights would not be in the best interests of the child. Before granting or denying a request by the department for an extension of time for filing a termination of parental rights action, the court shall receive a written report on the progress which a parent of the child has made in treatment, to be made to the court in writing by a mental health/substance abuse therapist or counselor.
(4) In the case of any
child who is placed in foster care on or after July 1, 1998, except in cases of
aggravated circumstances prescribed in Section 43-21-603(7)(c), the child's
natural parent(s) will have a reasonable time to be determined by the court,
which shall not exceed a six-month period of time, in which to meet the service
agreement with the department for the benefit of the child unless the
department has documented extraordinary and compelling reasons for extending
the time period in the best interest of the child. If this agreement has not
been satisfactorily met, simultaneously the child will be referred to the
appropriate court for termination of parental rights and placement in a
permanent relative's home, adoptive home or a foster/adoptive home. For
children under the age of three (3) years, termination of parental rights shall
be initiated within six (6) months, unless the department has documented
compelling and extraordinary circumstances, and placement in a permanent relative's
home, adoptive home or foster/adoptive home within two (2) months. For
children who have been abandoned under the provisions of Section 97-5-1,
termination of parental rights shall be initiated within thirty (30) days and
placement in an adoptive home shall be initiated without necessity for
placement in a foster home. The department need not initiate termination of
parental rights proceedings where the child has been placed in durable legal * * * guardianship, durable legal
relative guardianship, or long-term or formalized foster care by a court of
competent jurisdiction.
(5) The foster care review once every six (6) months shall be conducted by the youth court or its designee(s), and/or by personnel within the Department of Child Protection Services or by a designee or designees of the department and may include others appointed by the department, and the review shall include at a minimum an evaluation of the child based on the following:
(a) The extent of the care and support provided by the parents or parent while the child is in temporary custody;
(b) The extent of communication with the child by parents, parent or guardian;
(c) The degree of compliance by the agency and the parents with the social service plan established;
(d) The methods of achieving the goal and the plan establishing a permanent home for the child;
(e) Social services offered and/or utilized to facilitate plans for establishing a permanent home for the child; and
(f) Relevant testimony and recommendations from the foster parent of the child, the grandparents of the child, the guardian ad litem of the child, when appointed, the Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) of the child, representatives of any private care agency that has cared for the child, the family protection worker or family protection specialist assigned to the case, and any other relevant testimony pertaining to the case.
Each child's review plan once every six (6) months shall be filed with the court which awarded custody and shall be made available to natural parents or foster parents upon approval of the court. The court shall make a finding as to the degree of compliance by the agency and the parent(s) with the child's social service plan. The court also shall find that the child's health and safety are the paramount concern. In the interest of the child, the court shall, where appropriate, initiate proceedings on its own motion. The Department of Child Protection Services shall report to the Legislature as to the number of those children, the findings of the foster care review board and relevant statistical information in foster care in a semiannual report to the Legislature to be submitted to the Joint Oversight Committee of the Department of Child Protection Services. The report shall not refer to the specific name of any child in foster care.
(6) (a) The Department of Child Protection Services, with the cooperation and assistance of the State Department of Health, shall develop and implement a training program for foster care parents to indoctrinate them as to their proper responsibilities upon a child's entry into their foster care. The program shall provide a minimum of twelve (12) clock hours of training, which shall include training foster care parents about providing mental and physical support to children who have experienced commercial sexual exploitation or human trafficking. The foster care training program shall be satisfactorily completed by such foster care parents before or within ninety (90) days after child placement with the parent. Record of the foster care parent's training program participation shall be filed with the court as part of a child's foster care review plan once every six (6) months.
(b) (i) The court may waive foster care training for an appropriate relative placement.
(ii) A relative exempted from foster care training is not eligible for board payments, foster care payments, kinship care payments, therapeutic care payments, or any other monthly payments from the department to assist in the care of the child.
(7) When the Department of Child Protection Services is considering placement of a child in a foster home and when the department deems it to be in the best interest of the child, the department shall give first priority to placing the child in the home of one (1) of the child's relatives within the third degree, as computed by the civil law rule.
(a) In placing the child in a relative's home, the department may waive any rule, regulation or policy applicable to placement in foster care that would otherwise require the child to have a separate bed or bedroom or have a bedroom of a certain size, if placing the child in a relative's home would be in the best interest of the child and those requirements cannot be met in the relative's home.
(b) The court may waive foster care training for a relative only when appropriate.
(8) The Legislature recognizes that the best interests of the child require that the child be placed in the most permanent living arrangement as soon as is practicably possible. To achieve this goal, the Department of Child Protection Services is directed to conduct concurrent planning so that a permanent living arrangement may occur at the earliest opportunity. Permanent living arrangements may include prevention of placement of a child outside the home of the family when the child can be cared for at home without endangering the child's health or safety; reunification with the family, when safe and appropriate, if temporary placement is necessary; or movement of the child toward the most permanent living arrangement and permanent legal status. When a child is placed in foster care or relative care, the department shall first ensure and document that reasonable efforts, as defined in Section 43-21-105, were made to prevent or eliminate the need to remove the child from the child's home. The department's first priority shall be to make reasonable efforts to reunify the family when temporary placement of the child occurs or shall request a finding from the court that reasonable efforts are not appropriate or have been unsuccessful. A decision to place a child in foster care or relative care shall be made with consideration of the child's health, safety and best interests. At the time of placement, consideration should also be given so that if reunification fails or is delayed, the placement made is the best available placement to provide a permanent living arrangement for the child. The department shall adopt rules addressing concurrent planning for reunification and a permanent living arrangement. The department shall consider the following factors when determining appropriateness of concurrent planning:
(a) The likelihood of prompt reunification;
(b) The past history of the family;
(c) The barriers to reunification being addressed by the family;
(d) The level of cooperation of the family;
(e) The foster parents' willingness to work with the family to reunite;
(f) The willingness and ability of the foster family or relative placement to provide an adoptive home or long-term placement;
(g) The age of the child; and
(h) Placement of siblings.
(9) If the department has placed a child in foster care or relative care under a court order, the department may not change the child's placement unless the department specifically documents to the court that the current placement is unsafe or unsuitable or that another placement is in the child's best interests unless the new placement is in an adoptive home or other permanent placement. Except in emergency circumstances as determined by the department or where the court orders placement of the child under Section 43-21-303, the foster parents, grandparents or other relatives of the child shall be given an opportunity to contest the specific reasons documented by the department at least seventy-two (72) hours before any such departure, and the court may conduct a review of that placement unless the new placement is in an adoptive home or other permanent placement. When a child is returned to foster care or relative care, the former foster parents or relative placement shall be given the prior right of return placement in order to eliminate additional trauma to the child.
(10) The Department of Child Protection Services shall provide the foster parents, grandparents or other relatives with at least a seventy-two-hour notice of departure for any child placed in their foster care or relative care, except in emergency circumstances as determined by the department or where the court orders placement of the child under Section 43-21-303. The parent/legal guardian, grandparents of the child, guardian ad litem and the court exercising jurisdiction shall be notified in writing when the child leaves foster care or relative care placement, regardless of whether the child's departure was planned or unplanned. The only exceptions to giving a written notice to the parent(s) are when a parent has voluntarily released the child for adoption or the parent's legal rights to the child have been terminated through the appropriate court with jurisdiction.
(11) There is hereby created a Foster Parents' Bill of Rights and Responsibilities which shall be provided to all foster parents at foster parent training. The Department of Child Protection Services shall extend the following rights to persons who provide foster care and relative care:
(a) A clear understanding of their role while providing care and the roles of the birth parent(s) and the placement agency in respect to the child in care;
(b) Respect, consideration, trust and value as a family who is making an important contribution to the agency's objectives;
(c) Notification of benchmarks that will be required of the foster parent such as appointments, home visits with department personnel, visitations of the child at school and meetings between department personnel and the child's family;
(d) Advance notice of information regarding scheduled meetings other than meetings where the Department of Child Protection Services personnel or social workers are going to the foster parent's home for site visits, appointments and court hearings concerning the foster child;
(e) The opportunity to communicate with professionals who work with the foster child including therapists, physicians and teachers who work directly with the child;
(f) The opportunity to communicate and collaborate, without threat of reprisal, with a department representative when further educational services are needed to ensure the child's educational needs are met, including services such as an Individualized Educational Plan (IEP), tutoring, occupational therapy, speech therapy and after-school programs;
(g) The opportunity to attend all IEP meetings, along with the department worker, at the child's school as long as the child is in custody and receiving special educational services;
(h) The opportunity to communicate with the foster child's guardian ad litem;
(i) The opportunity to attend all youth court hearings involving a foster child occurring while that child is placed in their care without being a party to the youth court action, unless the youth court determines that any foster parent should not be present. Foster parents may attend all youth court hearings and have legal counsel attend and observe with them if the child's permanent plan is adoption by the foster parents, unless the youth court determines that any foster parent should not be present. Foster parents may communicate with the guardian ad litem in writing at any time. Foster parents may ask to be heard concerning the best interest of the child at any disposition or permanency hearing;
(j) When the dates of the permanency hearing and permanency review hearing have been set by the youth court, and if necessary to fulfill the notice requirements, the judge or the judge's designee shall order the clerk of the youth court to issue a summons to the foster parents to appear personally at the hearings as provided by Section 43-21-501;
(k) The opportunity to request from the youth court permission to communicate with the child's birth family, previous foster parents of the child, and prospective and finalized adoptive parents of the child, without the threat of reprisal. However, this right creates no obligation of the birth family, previous foster parents, or prospective and finalized adoptive parents to communicate in return;
(l) Involvement in all the agency's crucial decisions regarding the child as team members who have pertinent information based on their day-to-day knowledge of the child in care and involvement in planning, including, but not limited to, individual service planning meetings, foster care review, individual educational planning meetings, and medical appointments;
(m) The opportunity to participate in the planning of visitations between the child and the child's siblings, parents or former guardians or other biological family members which have been previously authorized by the youth court. Visitations shall be scheduled at a time and place meeting the needs of the child, the biological family, and the foster family. Recognizing that visitation with family members is an important right of children in foster care, foster parents shall be flexible and cooperative with regard to family visits but shall retain the right to reasonable advance notice of all scheduled visitations;
(n) The ability to communicate with department personnel or representatives twenty-four (24) hours a day, seven (7) days a week, for the purpose of aiding the foster parent;
(o) A comprehensive list of all resources available to the foster parent and child, including dental providers, medical providers, respite workers in the area, day cares, and methods for submitting reimbursements;
(p) Support from the family protection worker or the family protection specialist in efforts to do a better day-to-day job in caring for the child and in working to achieve the agency's objectives for the child and the birth family through provision of:
(i) A copy of the "Foster Child Information Form" and all other pertinent information about the child and the birth family, including medical, dental, behavioral health history, psychological information, educational status, cultural and family background, and other issues relevant to the child which are known to the department at the time the child is placed in foster care prior to the child's placement with a foster parent or parents. The department shall make reasonable efforts to gather and provide all additional current medical, dental, behavioral, educational and psychological information reasonably available from the child's service providers within fifteen (15) days of placement. When the department learns of such information after fifteen (15) days of placement, the department shall communicate such information to the foster parent as soon as practicable;
(ii) An explanation of the plan for placement of the child in the foster parent's home and the ongoing and timely communication of any necessary information which is relevant to the care of the child, including any changes in the case plan;
(iii) Help in using appropriate resources to meet the child's needs, including counseling or other services for victims of commercial sexual exploitation or human trafficking;
(iv) Direct interviews between the family protection worker or specialist and the child, previously discussed and understood by the foster parents;
(v) Information regarding whether the child experienced commercial sexual exploitation or human trafficking;
(vi) Information related to the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. Foster parents shall protect the confidentiality of the child by working directly with a designated school official to complete the application for free lunches.
(q) The opportunity to develop confidence in making day-to-day decisions in regard to the child;
(r) The opportunity to learn and grow in their vocation through planned education in caring for the child;
(s) The opportunity to be heard regarding agency practices that they may question;
(t) Information related to all costs eligible for reimbursement, including:
(i) Reimbursement for costs of the child's care in the form of a board payment based on the age of the child as prescribed in Section 43-15-17 unless the relative is exempt from foster care training and chooses to exercise the exemption; and
(ii) Reimbursement for property damages caused by children in the custody of the Department of Child Protection Services in an amount not to exceed Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00), as evidenced by written documentation. The Department of Child Protection Services shall not incur liability for any damages as a result of providing this reimbursement.
(12) The Department of Child Protection Services shall require the following responsibilities from participating persons who provide foster care and relative care:
(a) Understanding the department's function in regard to the foster care and relative care program and related social service programs;
(b) Sharing with the department any information which may contribute to the care of children;
(c) Functioning within the established goals and objectives to improve the general welfare of the child;
(d) Recognizing the problems in home placement that will require professional advice and assistance and that such help should be utilized to its full potential;
(e) Recognizing that the family who cares for the child will be one of the primary resources for preparing a child for any future plans that are made, including return to birth parent(s), termination of parental rights or reinstitutionalization;
(f) Expressing their views of agency practices which relate to the child with the appropriate staff member;
(g) Understanding that all information shared with the persons who provide foster care or relative care about the child and his/her birth parent(s) must be held in the strictest of confidence;
(h) Cooperating with any plan to reunite the child with his birth family and work with the birth family to achieve this goal; and
(i) Attending dispositional review hearings and termination of parental rights hearings conducted by a court of competent jurisdiction, or providing their recommendations to the guardian ad litem in writing.
(13) The department shall develop a grievance procedure for foster parents to raise any complaints or concerns regarding the provisions of subsection (11) or (12) of this section.
(14) Nothing in this section shall be construed to create a private right of action or claim on the part of any individual, the department, or any child-placing agency.
SECTION 6. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2025.
