A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning family law and juvenile law.

A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning family law and juvenile law.

Family and children matters.

Requires the local office of the department of child services to provide notice of an adoption petition to the court in which a CHINS proceeding is open or pending. Provides that the consent to adoption may be executed or acknowledged at any time after the birth of the child in the presence of an attorney, in person, or by video conferencing.
Provides that a court may grant postadoption contact privileges if the child is at least 12 months of age. (Current law requires the child to be at least two years of age.) Provides certain exceptions to confidentiality requirements. Requires the department of child services (department) to consider certain factors when evaluating an out-of-home placement for a child in a child in need of services (CHINS) case. Provides that a placement with whom a child has resided with for at least 12 months, consecutively or nonconsecutively, is presumed to be an individual who has a significant relationship with the child. Requires a court to write a formal order in certain circumstances and include specific information in the order. Provides that the objectives of the dispositional decree are not considered met solely because a court is prohibited from changing a child's placement under IC 31-34-23-6(g) and prohibits the court from considering certain information when deciding whether the objectives of the dispositional decree are met. Requires any party seeking a change in placement for certain children to file a motion with the court, provide notice to all persons affected, and inform all persons affected of the right to file a written objection within 15 days. (Current law only allows the department to file the motion for a change of placement.) Allows a court to rule on a party's motion for the change in placement without delay if exigent circumstances are alleged in the party's motion. Provides that, with certain exceptions, if a child is the subject of an adoption petition, the adoption petitioner is the child's current placement, and the adoption petitioner has been the child's placement for at least 12 months, the court shall not change the child's placement until the adoption petition has been ruled on. Provides that if the party seeking a change of placement is a parent, guardian ad litem, or a court appointed special advocate, the party must provide notice to the department of child services, and the department shall then provide notice of the motion to the child's out-of-home placement.