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HF86 • 2026

A bill for an act relating to aid, processes, and services for children in, adopted from, or in need of foster care.(See HF 873 .)

A bill for an act relating to aid, processes, and services for children in, adopted from, or in need of foster care.(See HF 873 .)

Children
Passed Legislature

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

Sponsor
LOHSE
Last action
2025-03-07
Official status
Committee report approving bill, renumbered as HF 873 .
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 aid, processes, and services for children in, adopted from, or in need of foster care.(See HF 873 .)

A bill for an act relating to aid, processes, and services for children in, adopted from, or in need of foster care.(See HF 873 .)

What This Bill Does

  • A bill for an act relating to aid, processes, and services for children in, adopted from, or in need of foster care.(See HF 873 .)

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

  1. 2025-03-07 Iowa Legislature

    Committee report approving bill, renumbered as HF 873 .

  2. 2025-03-04 Iowa Legislature

    Committee vote: Yeas, 20. Nays, 0. Excused, 1. H.J. 506 .

  3. 2025-03-04 Iowa Legislature

    Committee report, recommending amendment and passage. H.J. 506 .

  4. 2025-01-28 Iowa Legislature

    Subcommittee recommends passage.

  5. 2025-01-24 Iowa Legislature

    Subcommittee Meeting: 01/28/2025 12:00PM RM 102.

  6. 2025-01-23 Iowa Legislature

    Subcommittee: Lohse, Nordman and Wilburn. H.J. 123 .

  7. 2025-01-17 Iowa Legislature

    Introduced, referred to Judiciary. H.J. 99 .

Official Summary Text

A bill for an act relating to aid, processes, and services for children in, adopted from, or in need of foster care.(See HF 873 .)

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
House

File

86

-

Introduced

HOUSE

FILE

86

BY

LOHSE

A

BILL

FOR

An

Act

relating

to

aid,

processes,

and

services

for

children

1

in,

adopted

from,

or

in

need

of

foster

care.

2

BE

IT

ENACTED

BY

THE

GENERAL

ASSEMBLY

OF

THE

STATE

OF

IOWA:

3

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86

Section

1.

Section

232.96A,

subsection

6,

Code

2025,

is

1

amended

to

read

as

follows:

2

6.

The

child

is

in

need

of

treatment

to

cure

or

alleviate

a

3

serious

chemical

dependency

or

mental

illness

or

disorder,

or

4

emotional

damage

as

evidenced

by

severe

anxiety,

depression,

5

withdrawal,

or

behavioral

health

disorder

that

compromises

6

the

child’s

safety

or

causes

untoward

aggressive

behavior

7

toward

the

child’s

self

or

others

in

the

household,

and

the

8

child’s

parent,

guardian,

or

custodian

is

unwilling

to

provide

9

such

treatment

or

the

parent’s,

guardian’s,

or

custodian’s

10

efforts

to

secure

needed

treatment

have

been

exhausted

and

11

unsuccessful

.

12

Sec.

2.

Section

232.96A,

subsections

11,

12,

and

13,

Code

13

2025,

are

amended

by

striking

the

subsections.

14

Sec.

3.

Section

234.38,

Code

2025,

is

amended

to

read

as

15

follows:

16

234.38

Foster

care

reimbursement

rates.

17

The

department

shall

make

reimbursement

payments

directly

18

to

foster

parents

for

services

provided

to

children

pursuant

19

to

section

234.6,

subsection

1

,

paragraph

“e”

,

subparagraph

20

(2),

or

section

234.35

.

In

any

fiscal

year,

the

reimbursement

21

rate

shall

be

based

upon

sixty-five

percent

of

the

United

22

States

department

of

agriculture

estimate

of

the

cost

to

raise

23

a

child

in

the

calendar

year

immediately

preceding

the

fiscal

24

year.

The

department

may

pay

an

additional

stipend

for

a

child

25

with

special

needs.

The

department

shall

review

reimbursement

26

payment

rates

paid

to

foster

parents

under

this

section

no

less

27

than

once

every

three

years.

The

department

shall

adopt

rules

28

pursuant

to

chapter

17A

to

administer

this

section.

29

Sec.

4.

Section

600.8,

subsection

3,

Code

2025,

is

amended

30

to

read

as

follows:

31

3.

a.

The

department,

an

agency,

or

a

certified

adoption

32

investigator

shall

conduct

all

investigations

and

reports

33

required

under

subsection

2

.

34

b.

The

department

shall

pay

the

costs

of

the

preplacement

35

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86

investigation

under

subsection

2

and

the

postplacement

1

investigation

under

subsection

4,

up

to

a

maximum

of

two

2

thousand

dollars

for

the

preplacement

investigation

and

up

3

to

a

maximum

of

two

thousand

dollars

for

the

postplacement

4

investigation.

5

c.

The

department

shall

not

pay

the

costs

of

the

6

preplacement

investigation

or

the

postplacement

investigation

7

as

required

under

paragraph

“b”

until

a

prospective

adoption

8

petitioner

has

been

approved

under

subsection

1,

paragraph

“a”

,

9

subparagraph

(3),

by

the

person

making

the

investigation.

10

EXPLANATION

11

The

inclusion

of

this

explanation

does

not

constitute

agreement

with

12

the

explanation’s

substance

by

the

members

of

the

general

assembly.

13

This

bill

relates

to

aid,

processes,

and

services

for

14

children

in,

adopted

from,

or

in

need

of

foster

care.

15

The

bill

allows

a

court

to

adjudicate

a

child

in

need

of

16

assistance

(CINA)

when

the

child

requires

treatment

to

cure

or

17

alleviate

a

serious

chemical

dependency

or

mental

or

behavioral

18

health

disorder

that

compromises

the

child’s

safety

or

causes

19

untoward

aggressive

behavior

toward

others

in

the

household,

20

and

the

child’s

parent,

guardian,

or

custodian

(parent)

is

21

unwilling

to

provide

such

treatment,

or

the

parent’s

efforts

to

22

secure

needed

treatment

have

been

exhausted

and

unsuccessful.

23

Under

current

law,

to

be

adjudicated

a

CINA,

a

child

must

need

24

treatment

to

cure

or

alleviate

a

serious

mental

illness

or

25

disorder,

or

emotional

damage

as

evidenced

by

severe

anxiety,

26

depression,

withdrawal,

or

untoward

aggressive

behavior

toward

27

the

child’s

self

or

others

and

the

child’s

parent

is

unwilling

28

to

provide

such

treatment.

29

The

bill

eliminates

certain

circumstances

when

a

child

may

30

be

adjudicated

a

CINA.

31

The

bill

eliminates

the

requirement

that

certain

32

reimbursements

to

foster

parents

must

be

based

on

65

percent

33

of

the

United

States

department

of

agriculture

estimate

of

34

the

cost

to

raise

a

child

in

the

calendar

year

immediately

35

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H.F.

86

preceding

the

fiscal

year,

and

eliminates

the

additional

1

stipend

for

special

needs

children.

Instead,

the

bill

requires

2

the

department

of

health

and

human

services

(HHS)

to

adopt

3

rules

relating

to

the

foster

parent

reimbursement

rates

(rates)

4

and

to

review

the

rates

no

less

than

once

every

three

years.

5

The

bill

requires

HHS

to

reimburse

an

adoption

petitioner

6

for

the

costs

of

the

preplacement

and

postplacement

7

investigations

related

to

the

adoption

up

to

a

maximum

8

amount

of

$2,000

per

investigation.

The

bill

prohibits

HHS

9

from

making

such

reimbursements

until

the

person

performing

10

the

preplacement

background

check

approves

the

adoption

11

petitioner’s

initial

required

background

checks.

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