HF2154 • 2026

A bill for an act relating to the placement of siblings when custody of the siblings has been transferred to the department of health and human services or an agency for placement.

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor: BARKER
Last action: 2026-02-04
Official status: Tabled until future meeting.
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

A bill for an act relating to the placement of siblings when custody of the siblings has been transferred to the department of health and human services or an agency for placement.

What This Bill Does

A bill for an act relating to the placement of siblings when custody of the siblings has been transferred to the department of health and human services or an agency for placement.

Limits and Unknowns

This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

2026-02-04 Iowa Legislature
Tabled until future meeting.
2026-01-27 Iowa Legislature
Subcommittee Meeting: 02/04/2026 12:00PM House Lounge 2.
2026-01-26 Iowa Legislature
Subcommittee: Weldon, Barker and Johnson, R. H.J. 153 .
2026-01-26 Iowa Legislature
Introduced, referred to Health and Human Services. H.J. 150 .

Official Summary Text

A bill for an act relating to the placement of siblings when custody of the siblings has been transferred to the department of health and human services or an agency for placement.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

House

File

2154

-

Introduced

HOUSE

FILE

2154

BY

BARKER

A

BILL

FOR

An

Act

relating

to

the

placement

of

siblings

when

custody

of

1

the

siblings

has

been

transferred

to

the

department

of

2

health

and

human

services

or

an

agency

for

placement.

3

BE

IT

ENACTED

BY

THE

GENERAL

ASSEMBLY

OF

THE

STATE

OF

IOWA:

4

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H.F.

2154

Section

1.

Section

232.108,

Code

2026,

is

amended

by

adding

1

the

following

new

subsection:

2

NEW

SUBSECTION

.

8.

Notwithstanding

any

provision

of

law

to

3

the

contrary,

this

section

shall

not

apply,

and

the

department

4

shall

not

be

required

to

place

a

child

with

a

sibling,

if

all

5

of

the

following

apply:

6

a.

The

child’s

custody,

or

the

sibling’s

custody,

was

7

previously

transferred

to

the

department

and

the

department

8

placed

the

child

or

the

sibling.

9

b.

The

department

determined

that

the

child

and

the

sibling

10

have

little

or

no

established

relationship.

11

EXPLANATION

12

The

inclusion

of

this

explanation

does

not

constitute

agreement

with

13

the

explanation’s

substance

by

the

members

of

the

general

assembly.

14

This

bill

relates

to

the

placement

of

siblings

together

when

15

custody

of

the

siblings

has

been

transferred

to

the

department

16

of

health

and

human

services

(HHS)

or

an

agency

for

placement

17

(placing

agency).

18

Under

current

law,

HHS

or

a

placing

agency

must

make

19

reasonable

efforts

to

place

siblings

together

whenever

possible

20

if

such

placement

is

in

the

best

interests

of

each

child.

21

The

bill

makes

the

requirement

to

place

siblings

together

22

inapplicable,

and

removes

HHS’s

requirement

to

place

siblings

23

together,

when

a

child’s

custody,

or

the

child’s

sibling’s

24

custody,

was

previously

transferred

to

HHS,

HHS

placed

the

25

child

or

the

sibling,

and

HHS

determined

that

the

child

and

the

26

sibling

have

little

or

no

established

relationship.

27

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