HF 1991

as introduced - 81st Legislature (1999 - 2000) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to child protection; specifying a deadline 
  1.3             for placing certain children in foster care; 
  1.4             shortening the time period for permanency planning; 
  1.5             amending Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 260.191, 
  1.6             subdivision 3b; proposing coding for new law in 
  1.7             Minnesota Statutes, chapter 257. 
  1.8   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.9      Section 1.  [257.068] [PLACEMENT OF CERTAIN CHILDREN.] 
  1.10     If a parent fails to indicate permanent progress toward 
  1.11  achieving the goals of a protective services plan made for the 
  1.12  family under Minnesota Rules, part 9560.0228, within nine months 
  1.13  after the plan is prepared, the local social service agency 
  1.14  shall seek a court order to place the child in a residential 
  1.15  facility. 
  1.16     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 260.191, 
  1.17  subdivision 3b, is amended to read: 
  1.18     Subd. 3b.  [REVIEW OF COURT ORDERED PLACEMENTS; PERMANENT 
  1.19  PLACEMENT DETERMINATION.] (a) The court shall conduct a hearing 
  1.20  to determine the permanent status of a child not later than 12 
  1.21  six months after the child is placed out of the home of the 
  1.22  parent, except that if the child was under eight years of age at 
  1.23  the time the petition was filed, the hearing must be conducted 
  1.24  no later than six three months after the child is placed out of 
  1.25  the home of the parent. 
  1.26     For purposes of this subdivision, the date of the child's 
  2.1   placement out of the home of the parent is the earlier of the 
  2.2   first court-ordered placement or 60 days after the date on which 
  2.3   the child has been voluntarily placed out of the home. 
  2.4      For purposes of this subdivision, 12 six months is 
  2.5   calculated as follows: 
  2.6      (1) during the pendency of a petition alleging that a child 
  2.7   is in need of protection or services, all time periods when a 
  2.8   child is placed out of the home of the parent are cumulated; 
  2.9      (2) if a child has been placed out of the home of the 
  2.10  parent within the previous five years in connection with one or 
  2.11  more prior petitions for a child in need of protection or 
  2.12  services, the lengths of all prior time periods when the child 
  2.13  was placed out of the home within the previous five years and 
  2.14  under the current petition, are cumulated.  If a child under 
  2.15  this clause has been out of the home for 12 six months or more, 
  2.16  the court, if it is in the best interests of the child, may 
  2.17  extend the total time the child may continue out of the home 
  2.18  under the current petition up to an additional six months before 
  2.19  making a permanency determination.  
  2.20     (b) Not later than ten days prior to this hearing, the 
  2.21  responsible social service agency shall file pleadings to 
  2.22  establish the basis for the permanent placement determination.  
  2.23  Notice of the hearing and copies of the pleadings must be 
  2.24  provided pursuant to section 260.141.  If a termination of 
  2.25  parental rights petition is filed before the date required for 
  2.26  the permanency planning determination, no hearing need be 
  2.27  conducted under this subdivision.  The court shall determine 
  2.28  whether the child is to be returned home or, if not, what 
  2.29  permanent placement is consistent with the child's best 
  2.30  interests.  The "best interests of the child" means all relevant 
  2.31  factors to be considered and evaluated. 
  2.32     (c) At a hearing under this subdivision, if the child was 
  2.33  under eight years of age at the time the petition was filed 
  2.34  alleging the child in need of protection or services, the court 
  2.35  shall review the progress of the case and the case plan, 
  2.36  including the provision of services.  The court may order the 
  3.1   local social service agency to show cause why it should not file 
  3.2   a termination of parental rights petition.  Cause may include, 
  3.3   but is not limited to, the following conditions: 
  3.4      (1) the parents or guardians have maintained regular 
  3.5   contact with the child, the parents are complying with the 
  3.6   court-ordered case plan, and the child would benefit from 
  3.7   continuing this relationship; 
  3.8      (2) grounds for termination under section 260.221 do not 
  3.9   exist; or 
  3.10     (3) the permanent plan for the child is transfer of 
  3.11  permanent legal and physical custody to a relative. 
  3.12     (d) If the child is not returned to the home, the 
  3.13  dispositions available for permanent placement determination are:
  3.14     (1) permanent legal and physical custody to a relative in 
  3.15  the best interests of the child.  In transferring permanent 
  3.16  legal and physical custody to a relative, the juvenile court 
  3.17  shall follow the standards and procedures applicable under 
  3.18  chapter 257 or 518.  An order establishing permanent legal or 
  3.19  physical custody under this subdivision must be filed with the 
  3.20  family court.  A transfer of legal and physical custody includes 
  3.21  responsibility for the protection, education, care, and control 
  3.22  of the child and decision making on behalf of the child.  The 
  3.23  social service agency may petition on behalf of the proposed 
  3.24  custodian; 
  3.25     (2) termination of parental rights and adoption; the social 
  3.26  service agency shall file a petition for termination of parental 
  3.27  rights under section 260.231 and all the requirements of 
  3.28  sections 260.221 to 260.245 remain applicable.  An adoption 
  3.29  completed subsequent to a determination under this subdivision 
  3.30  may include an agreement for communication or contact under 
  3.31  section 259.58; or 
  3.32     (3) long-term foster care; transfer of legal custody and 
  3.33  adoption are preferred permanency options for a child who cannot 
  3.34  return home.  The court may order a child into long-term foster 
  3.35  care only if it finds that neither an award of legal and 
  3.36  physical custody to a relative, nor termination of parental 
  4.1   rights nor adoption is in the child's best interests.  Further, 
  4.2   the court may only order long-term foster care for the child 
  4.3   under this section if it finds the following: 
  4.4      (i) the child has reached age 12 and reasonable efforts by 
  4.5   the responsible social service agency have failed to locate an 
  4.6   adoptive family for the child; or 
  4.7      (ii) the child is a sibling of a child described in clause 
  4.8   (i) and the siblings have a significant positive relationship 
  4.9   and are ordered into the same long-term foster care home; or 
  4.10     (4) foster care for a specified period of time may be 
  4.11  ordered only if: 
  4.12     (i) the sole basis for an adjudication that a child is in 
  4.13  need of protection or services is that the child is a runaway, 
  4.14  is an habitual truant, or committed a delinquent act before age 
  4.15  ten; and 
  4.16     (ii) the court finds that foster care for a specified 
  4.17  period of time is in the best interests of the child. 
  4.18     (e) In ordering a permanent placement of a child, the court 
  4.19  must be governed by the best interests of the child, including a 
  4.20  review of the relationship between the child and relatives and 
  4.21  the child and other important persons with whom the child has 
  4.22  resided or had significant contact. 
  4.23     (f) Once a permanent placement determination has been made 
  4.24  and permanent placement has been established, further court 
  4.25  reviews and dispositional hearings are only necessary if the 
  4.26  placement is made under paragraph (d), clause (4), review is 
  4.27  otherwise required by federal law, an adoption has not yet been 
  4.28  finalized, or there is a disruption of the permanent or 
  4.29  long-term placement.  
  4.30     (g) An order under this subdivision must include the 
  4.31  following detailed findings: 
  4.32     (1) how the child's best interests are served by the order; 
  4.33     (2) the nature and extent of the responsible social service 
  4.34  agency's reasonable efforts, or, in the case of an Indian child, 
  4.35  active efforts, to reunify the child with the parent or parents; 
  4.36     (3) the parent's or parents' efforts and ability to use 
  5.1   services to correct the conditions which led to the out-of-home 
  5.2   placement; 
  5.3      (4) whether the conditions which led to the out-of-home 
  5.4   placement have been corrected so that the child can return home; 
  5.5   and 
  5.6      (5) if the child cannot be returned home, whether there is 
  5.7   a substantial probability of the child being able to return home 
  5.8   in the next six months.  
  5.9      (h) An order for permanent legal and physical custody of a 
  5.10  child may be modified under sections 518.18 and 518.185.  The 
  5.11  social service agency is a party to the proceeding and must 
  5.12  receive notice.  An order for long-term foster care is 
  5.13  reviewable upon motion and a showing by the parent of a 
  5.14  substantial change in the parent's circumstances such that the 
  5.15  parent could provide appropriate care for the child and that 
  5.16  removal of the child from the child's permanent placement and 
  5.17  the return to the parent's care would be in the best interest of 
  5.18  the child.