Legislative Session number- 86

Bill Name: SF1503

2E Relating to child welfare

ARTICLE 1- CHILD WELFARE TECHNICAL

Making
technical changes to the interstate compact for the placement of children
(ICPC), child protection and general assistance (GA), specifying instructions to
the revisor of statutes; repealing a provision requiring the subject of a child
protection background check to be provided with results of the study

ARTICLE
2 - CHILD WELFARE POLICY

Clarifying data practices; authorizing the sharing
of child support data on parents and children among agencies administering
certain federal programs and regulating disclosure; authorizing child welfare
projects participating native American (Indian) tribes to conduct children's
mental health screenings and to establish a local child mortality review panel;
changing certain adoption provisions; allowing an exemption to the requirement
to search registry before adoption petition is granted for social services
agencies proceeding under safe place for newborns; modifying the father adoption
registry limitations to include termination of parental rights; modifying the
adoption assistance program provision, modifying adoption assistance and
adoption assistance agreements, providing a schedule for benefits and payments,
providing for an extension of adoption assistance agreement under certain
conditions, specifying criteria for special needs determinations, modifying
certain determination of residency and reimbursement of costs requirements,
requiring commissioner or designee to promote the adoption assistance program
including information to prospective adoptive parents of eligible children and
specifying certain information requirements as to the adoption tax credit;
modifying placement prevention and family reunification requirements to include
safety plans and same foster care placement for siblings and visitation for
multiple foster care placements among siblings, allowing out of home placement
for medical necessities, changing the foster care definition, making clarifying
changes regarding placement and delinquent child dispositions, modifying the
definition of parent, providing diligent efforts to identify parents of a child,
procedures for review and reasonable effort, providing notice and termination of
parental rights or permanency proceeding, alternative dispute resolution, family
group decision making and parallel protection process and mediation, clarifying
immediate custody, modifying parental visitation, visitation, out-of-home
placement plans and relative search, requiring caseworkers to affirm school
attendance, requiring social agencies to provide older minors with assistance
and help with a transition plan, exempting juvenile court proceedings from the
alternative dispute resolution program; repealing certain rules regulating
criteria and determinations for adoption subsidy and subsidy agreements
(je)