Relating to child welfare including the temporary custody of a child and judicial proceedings in child in need of assistance and termination of parental rights cases

This bill relates to child welfare including the temporary custody of a child and judicial proceedings in child in need of assistance and termination of parental rights cases. The bill provides that, in cases where a child has been ordered to be removed from the custody of a parent prior to the filing of a petition under Code chapter 232 (juvenile justice), the department of human services or a court with jurisdiction over the child shall consider placing the child with a relative in the following order of priority: the child’s other parent; a grandparent of the child; an adult sibling of the child; an uncle or aunt of the child; and any other blood relative. The bill prohibits a court from placing a child with a nonrelative without a specific finding that a relative as prioritized in the bill is inappropriate for placement of the child and providing reasons for such a finding. The bill requires that parents without custody of their child be made a party to child in need of assistance proceedings involving the parent’s child. Under current law, parents without custody of their child may petition the court to become a party to a child in need of assistance proceeding. The bill requires the guardian of a child whose adoptive parents have been terminated by court order to investigate whether the child’s biological parents are appropriate for placement or adoption of the child if the parental rights of the child’s biological parents had previously been terminated. The bill requires biological parents to be given priority for placement or adoption if the guardian finds that placement or adoption with the biological parents is appropriate.