§ 19-3-500.2 — Legislative declaration

Colorado § 19-3-500.2

• Jurisdiction: Colorado
• Title 19: Children's
• Art.: Dependency and Neglect

Text

(1) The general assembly hereby finds
and declares that:

(a) It is beneficial for a child who is removed from his or her home and placed
in foster care to be able to continue relationships with his or her brothers and
sisters, regardless of age, in order that the siblings may share their strengths and
association in their everyday and often common experiences. The general assembly
also finds that the initial decisions about temporary placement of a child may affect
the ultimate permanent placement of the child or of the children in a sibling group.

(b) When parents and other adult relatives are no longer available to a child,
the child's siblings constitute his or her biological family;

(c) When placing children in foster care, efforts should be made to place
siblings together, unless there is a danger of specific harm to a child or it is not in
the child's or children's best interests to be placed together. The general assembly
further finds that if the county department locates an appropriate, capable, willing,
and available joint placement for all of the children in the sibling group, there
should be a rebuttable presumption that placement of the entire sibling group in
the joint placement is in the best interests of the children. Such presumption should
be rebuttable by a preponderance of the evidence that placement of the entire
sibling group in the joint placement is not in the best interests of a child or of the
children.

(2) The general assembly also declares that nothing in this article regarding
the placement of sibling groups together should be construed as requiring the
removal of a child from his or her home and placement into foster care if that is not
in the best interests of the child.

Legislative History

Source: L. 2000: Entire section added, p. 474, � 2, effective July 1. L. 2003: (1)(c) amended, p. 2624, � 4, effective June 5.