SF 733

1st Engrossment - 79th Legislature (1995 - 1996) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to the family; creating a presumption of 
  1.3             refusal or neglect of parental duties in certain 
  1.4             termination of parental rights cases; amending 
  1.5             Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 260.221, subdivision 
  1.6             1. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 260.221, 
  1.9   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.10     Subdivision 1.  [VOLUNTARY AND INVOLUNTARY.] The juvenile 
  1.11  court may upon petition, terminate all rights of a parent to a 
  1.12  child in the following cases: 
  1.13     (a) With the written consent of a parent who for good cause 
  1.14  desires to terminate parental rights; or 
  1.15     (b) If it finds that one or more of the following 
  1.16  conditions exist: 
  1.17     (1) That the parent has abandoned the child.  Abandonment 
  1.18  is presumed when: 
  1.19     (i) the parent has had no contact with the child on a 
  1.20  regular basis and no demonstrated, consistent interest in the 
  1.21  child's well-being for six months; and 
  1.22     (ii) the social service agency has made reasonable efforts 
  1.23  to facilitate contact, unless the parent establishes that an 
  1.24  extreme financial or physical hardship or treatment for mental 
  1.25  disability or chemical dependency or other good cause prevented 
  1.26  the parent from making contact with the child.  This presumption 
  2.1   does not apply to children whose custody has been determined 
  2.2   under chapter 257 or 518.  The court is not prohibited from 
  2.3   finding abandonment in the absence of this presumption; or 
  2.4      (2) That the parent has substantially, continuously, or 
  2.5   repeatedly refused or neglected to comply with the duties 
  2.6   imposed upon that parent by the parent and child relationship, 
  2.7   including but not limited to providing the child with necessary 
  2.8   food, clothing, shelter, education, and other care and control 
  2.9   necessary for the child's physical, mental, or emotional health 
  2.10  and development, if the parent is physically and financially 
  2.11  able, and reasonable efforts by the social service agency have 
  2.12  failed to correct the conditions that formed the basis of the 
  2.13  petition.  It is presumed that the parent has refused or 
  2.14  neglected to comply with the duties imposed upon the parent by 
  2.15  the parent and child relationship if the parent has 
  2.16  substantially, continuously, or repeatedly failed to cooperate 
  2.17  with the court's orders and has substantially, continuously, or 
  2.18  repeatedly failed to make progress toward the requirements of 
  2.19  the case plan developed by the social service agency and adopted 
  2.20  by the court under section 260.191, subdivision 1e; or 
  2.21     (3) That a parent has been ordered to contribute to the 
  2.22  support of the child or financially aid in the child's birth and 
  2.23  has continuously failed to do so without good cause.  This 
  2.24  clause shall not be construed to state a grounds for termination 
  2.25  of parental rights of a noncustodial parent if that parent has 
  2.26  not been ordered to or cannot financially contribute to the 
  2.27  support of the child or aid in the child's birth; or 
  2.28     (4) That a parent is palpably unfit to be a party to the 
  2.29  parent and child relationship because of a consistent pattern of 
  2.30  specific conduct before the child or of specific conditions 
  2.31  directly relating to the parent and child relationship either of 
  2.32  which are determined by the court to be of a duration or nature 
  2.33  that renders the parent unable, for the reasonably foreseeable 
  2.34  future, to care appropriately for the ongoing physical, mental, 
  2.35  or emotional needs of the child.  It is presumed that a parent 
  2.36  is palpably unfit to be a party to the parent and child 
  3.1   relationship upon a showing that: 
  3.2      (i) the child was adjudicated in need of protection or 
  3.3   services due to circumstances described in section 260.015, 
  3.4   subdivision 2a, clause (1), (2), (3), (5), or (8); and 
  3.5      (ii) within the three-year period immediately prior to that 
  3.6   adjudication, the parent's parental rights to one or more other 
  3.7   children were involuntarily terminated under clause (1), (2), 
  3.8   (4), or (7) of this paragraph, or under clause (5) of this 
  3.9   paragraph if the child was initially determined to be in need of 
  3.10  protection or services due to circumstances described in section 
  3.11  260.015, subdivision 2a, clause (1), (2), (3), (5), or (8); or 
  3.12     (5) That following upon a determination of neglect or 
  3.13  dependency, or of a child's need for protection or services, 
  3.14  reasonable efforts, under the direction of the court, have 
  3.15  failed to correct the conditions leading to the determination.  
  3.16  It is presumed that reasonable efforts under this clause have 
  3.17  failed upon a showing that: 
  3.18     (i) a child under the age of 12 has resided out of the 
  3.19  parental home under court order for more than one year following 
  3.20  an adjudication of dependency, neglect, need for protection or 
  3.21  services under section 260.015, subdivision 2a, clause (1), (2), 
  3.22  (6), (8), or (9), or neglected and in foster care, and an order 
  3.23  for disposition under section 260.191, including adoption of the 
  3.24  case plan required by section 257.071; 
  3.25     (ii) conditions leading to the determination will not be 
  3.26  corrected within the reasonably foreseeable future; and 
  3.27     (iii) reasonable efforts have been made by the social 
  3.28  service agency to rehabilitate the parent and reunite the family.
  3.29     This clause does not prohibit the termination of parental 
  3.30  rights prior to one year after a child has been placed out of 
  3.31  the home.  
  3.32     It is also presumed that reasonable efforts have failed 
  3.33  under this clause upon a showing that: 
  3.34     (i) the parent has been diagnosed as chemically dependent 
  3.35  by a professional certified to make the diagnosis; 
  3.36     (ii) the parent has been required by a case plan to 
  4.1   participate in a chemical dependency treatment program; 
  4.2      (iii) the treatment programs offered to the parent were 
  4.3   culturally, linguistically, and clinically appropriate; 
  4.4      (iv) the parent has either failed two or more times to 
  4.5   successfully complete a treatment program or has refused at two 
  4.6   or more separate meetings with a caseworker to participate in a 
  4.7   treatment program; and 
  4.8      (v) the parent continues to abuse chemicals.  
  4.9   Provided, that this presumption applies only to parents required 
  4.10  by a case plan to participate in a chemical dependency treatment 
  4.11  program on or after July 1, 1990; or 
  4.12     (6) That the parent has been convicted of causing the death 
  4.13  of another of the parent's children; or 
  4.14     (7) That in the case of a child born to a mother who was 
  4.15  not married to the child's father when the child was conceived 
  4.16  nor when the child was born the person is not entitled to notice 
  4.17  of an adoption hearing under section 259.49 and either the 
  4.18  person has not filed a notice of intent to retain parental 
  4.19  rights under section 259.51 or that the notice has been 
  4.20  successfully challenged; or 
  4.21     (8) That the child is neglected and in foster care. 
  4.22  In an action involving an American Indian child, sections 257.35 
  4.23  to 257.3579 and the Indian Child Welfare Act, United States 
  4.24  Code, title 25, sections 1901 to 1923, control to the extent 
  4.25  that the provisions of this section are inconsistent with those 
  4.26  laws.