Minnesota Session Laws - 1995, Regular Session

                            CHAPTER 242-H.F.No. 628 
                  An act relating to the family; creating a presumption 
                  of refusal or neglect of parental duties in certain 
                  termination of parental rights cases; amending 
                  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 260.221, subdivision 
                  1. 
        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
           Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 260.221, 
        subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
           Subdivision 1.  [VOLUNTARY AND INVOLUNTARY.] The juvenile 
        court may upon petition, terminate all rights of a parent to a 
        child in the following cases: 
           (a) With the written consent of a parent who for good cause 
        desires to terminate parental rights; or 
           (b) If it finds that one or more of the following 
        conditions exist: 
           (1) That the parent has abandoned the child.  Abandonment 
        is presumed when: 
           (i) the parent has had no contact with the child on a 
        regular basis and no demonstrated, consistent interest in the 
        child's well-being for six months; and 
           (ii) the social service agency has made reasonable efforts 
        to facilitate contact, unless the parent establishes that an 
        extreme financial or physical hardship or treatment for mental 
        disability or chemical dependency or other good cause prevented 
        the parent from making contact with the child.  This presumption 
        does not apply to children whose custody has been determined 
        under chapter 257 or 518.  The court is not prohibited from 
        finding abandonment in the absence of this presumption; or 
           (2) That the parent has substantially, continuously, or 
        repeatedly refused or neglected to comply with the duties 
        imposed upon that parent by the parent and child relationship, 
        including but not limited to providing the child with necessary 
        food, clothing, shelter, education, and other care and control 
        necessary for the child's physical, mental, or emotional health 
        and development, if the parent is physically and financially 
        able, and reasonable efforts by the social service agency have 
        failed to correct the conditions that formed the basis of the 
        petition; or 
           (3) That a parent has been ordered to contribute to the 
        support of the child or financially aid in the child's birth and 
        has continuously failed to do so without good cause.  This 
        clause shall not be construed to state a grounds for termination 
        of parental rights of a noncustodial parent if that parent has 
        not been ordered to or cannot financially contribute to the 
        support of the child or aid in the child's birth; or 
           (4) That a parent is palpably unfit to be a party to the 
        parent and child relationship because of a consistent pattern of 
        specific conduct before the child or of specific conditions 
        directly relating to the parent and child relationship either of 
        which are determined by the court to be of a duration or nature 
        that renders the parent unable, for the reasonably foreseeable 
        future, to care appropriately for the ongoing physical, mental, 
        or emotional needs of the child.  It is presumed that a parent 
        is palpably unfit to be a party to the parent and child 
        relationship upon a showing that: 
           (i) the child was adjudicated in need of protection or 
        services due to circumstances described in section 260.015, 
        subdivision 2a, clause (1), (2), (3), (5), or (8); and 
           (ii) within the three-year period immediately prior to that 
        adjudication, the parent's parental rights to one or more other 
        children were involuntarily terminated under clause (1), (2), 
        (4), or (7) of this paragraph, or under clause (5) of this 
        paragraph if the child was initially determined to be in need of 
        protection or services due to circumstances described in section 
        260.015, subdivision 2a, clause (1), (2), (3), (5), or (8); or 
           (5) That following upon a determination of neglect or 
        dependency, or of a child's need for protection or services, 
        reasonable efforts, under the direction of the court, have 
        failed to correct the conditions leading to the determination.  
        It is presumed that reasonable efforts under this clause have 
        failed upon a showing that: 
           (i) a child under the age of 12 has resided out of the 
        parental home under court order for more than one year following 
        an adjudication of dependency, neglect, need for protection or 
        services under section 260.015, subdivision 2a, clause (1), 
        (2), (3), (6), (8), or (9), or neglected and in foster care, and 
        an order for disposition under section 260.191, including 
        adoption of the case plan required by section 257.071; 
           (ii) conditions leading to the determination will not be 
        corrected within the reasonably foreseeable future.  It is 
        presumed that conditions leading to a child's out-of-home 
        placement will not be corrected in the reasonably foreseeable 
        future upon a showing that the parent or parents have not 
        substantially complied with the court's orders and a reasonable 
        case plan, and the conditions which led to the out-of-home 
        placement have not been corrected; and 
           (iii) reasonable efforts have been made by the social 
        service agency to rehabilitate the parent and reunite the family.
           This clause does not prohibit the termination of parental 
        rights prior to one year after a child has been placed out of 
        the home.  
           It is also presumed that reasonable efforts have failed 
        under this clause upon a showing that: 
           (i) the parent has been diagnosed as chemically dependent 
        by a professional certified to make the diagnosis; 
           (ii) the parent has been required by a case plan to 
        participate in a chemical dependency treatment program; 
           (iii) the treatment programs offered to the parent were 
        culturally, linguistically, and clinically appropriate; 
           (iv) the parent has either failed two or more times to 
        successfully complete a treatment program or has refused at two 
        or more separate meetings with a caseworker to participate in a 
        treatment program; and 
           (v) the parent continues to abuse chemicals.  
        Provided, that this presumption applies only to parents required 
        by a case plan to participate in a chemical dependency treatment 
        program on or after July 1, 1990; or 
           (6) That the parent has been convicted of causing the death 
        of another of the parent's children; or 
           (7) That in the case of a child born to a mother who was 
        not married to the child's father when the child was conceived 
        nor when the child was born the person is not entitled to notice 
        of an adoption hearing under section 259.49 and either the 
        person has not filed a notice of intent to retain parental 
        rights under section 259.51 or that the notice has been 
        successfully challenged; or 
           (8) That the child is neglected and in foster care. 
        In an action involving an American Indian child, sections 257.35 
        to 257.3579 and the Indian Child Welfare Act, United States 
        Code, title 25, sections 1901 to 1923, control to the extent 
        that the provisions of this section are inconsistent with those 
        laws. 
           Presented to the governor May 23, 1995 
           Signed by the governor May 25, 1995, 8:51 a.m.