(1) (a) After making an order of
adjudication, the court shall hear evidence on the question of the proper disposition
best serving the interests of the child and the public. Such evidence shall include,
but not necessarily be limited to, the social study and other reports as provided in
section 19-1-107.
(b) Prior to any dispositional hearing, the caseworker of the county
department assigned to the case shall submit to the court a statement that details
the services that were offered to or provided to the family to prevent unnecessary
out-of-home placement of the child and to facilitate the reunification of the child
with the family. The statement must contain an explanation of the services or
actions that, had such services or actions been available, would have been
necessary to enable the child to remain at home safely. In the alternative, the
caseworker may submit a statement as to why no services or actions would have
made it possible for the child to remain at home safely. If the child is part of a
sibling group, as defined in section 19-1-103, and the child was not placed with his
or her siblings, the caseworker shall submit to the court a statement about whether
it continues to be in the best interests of the child or the children in the sibling
group to be placed separately. If the caseworker locates an appropriate, capable,
willing, and available joint placement for all of the children in the sibling group, it is
presumed that placement of the entire sibling group in the joint placement is in the
best interests of the children. Such presumption may be rebutted 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.
(b.5) If the county department locates a capable, willing, and available
relative or kin for the child or youth, it is presumed that placement of the child or
youth with the relative or kin is in the best interests of the child or youth. The
presumption may be rebutted by a preponderance of the evidence, giving primary
consideration to the child's or youth's mental, physical, and emotional needs,
including the child's or youth's preference regarding placement. The court shall
consider whether a proposed placement would hinder efforts to reunite the parent
and child or youth and the parent's preference regarding placement. A parent's
objection to placement with a particular relative or kin is not alone sufficient to
show that the proposed placement would hinder reunification.
(b.7) Upon the motion of a party for placement of a child or youth with a
relative or kin, if the party objects to the requested placement, the court shall hold
a hearing within sixty-three days after the objection to determine whether the child
or youth may be placed with the relative or kin. When a child or youth resides with a
relative or kin, any other relative or kin seeking a placement change shall address
the factors set forth in section 19-3-702 (6).
(c) If one or both of the parents have a disability, reasonable
accommodations and modifications, as set forth in the federal Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. sec. 12101 et seq., and its related amendments
and implementing regulations, are necessary to ensure the treatment plan
components are accessible. If applicable, any identified accommodations and
modifications must be listed in the report prepared for the dispositional hearing.
(d) If the court denies placement with a relative or kin, the court shall make
detailed findings regarding the reasons for denial. A decision by a relative or kin to
not be initially identified as a potential placement resource must not be the sole
basis for the court to later rule out the relative or kin as the child's or youth's
permanent placement. When determining whether a child or youth should be placed
with a relative or kin, the court shall give primary consideration to a child's or
youth's mental, physical, and emotional needs. The court shall not consider any of
the following factors unless one of the factors would threaten the mental, physical,
and emotional health or safety of the child or youth:
(I) The size of the home, including whether the child or youth would have a
separate room;
(II) The socioeconomic status of the relative or kin compared to other
available placement options;
(III) The ability of the relative or kin to support the child's or youth's
participation in extracurricular activities;
(IV) Ordinary bonding or attachment that occurred during time spent in
foster placement;
(V) Immigration status of the relative or kin; or
(VI) Age or any disability of the relative or kin.
(e) The court may consider the relative's or kin's criminal background, as
permitted by section 19-3-406. When considering whether to allow a placement
with a relative or kin who has been disqualified for placement pursuant to section
19-3-406, the court shall consider the following factors:
(I) Whether the child's or youth's mental, physical, or emotional needs would
be adversely affected;
(II) The nature of the crime of conviction;
(III) Whether there is a direct relationship between the conviction and the
relative's or kin's ability to provide competent and safe care to the child or youth;
(IV) Length of time since conviction; and
(V) Evidence of rehabilitation.
(f) (I) If a child is eligible for services pursuant to section 19-3-208, and the
child's parent is incarcerated in a department of corrections facility, a private
correctional facility under contract with the department of corrections, or a jail,
then prior to any dispositional hearing, the county department, upon knowledge of
the incarceration, shall make reasonable efforts to involve the parent who is
incarcerated in planning the services for the child, or document the caseworker's
efforts to include the parent who is incarcerated in the planning. Reasonable
efforts include:
(A) In any meeting customarily attended by a parent, permitting and
facilitating, to the extent reasonably practicable, a parent's remote attendance and
participation through audio-visual communication technology;
(B) Opportunities for meaningful family time between the child and parent. If
in-person family time is not reasonably practicable, the caseworker shall
communicate with the facility or jail regarding the facility's or jail's ability to
facilitate family time between the child and parent through audio-visual
communication technology and arrange for available virtual family time. The court
shall consider the preferences of the child and parent when determining whether
in-person family time should occur. Nothing in this subsection (1)(f) requires the
court to order family time if a protection order prohibits contact between the child
and the parent, or if the court determines that family time would jeopardize the
child's mental, emotional, or physical health. The court shall not determine that
family time is not in the child's best interests based solely on the fact that in-person
family time would occur in a facility or jail.
(C) Communicating with the facility's or jail's designee.
(II) The department may promulgate rules necessary to comply with the
requirements of this subsection (1)(f).
(2) If the court has reason to believe that the child may have an intellectual
and developmental disability, the court shall refer the child to the case
management agency, as defined in section 25.5-6-1702, in the defined service area
where the action is pending for an eligibility determination pursuant to article 6 of
title 25.5 or article 10.5 of title 27. If the court has reason to believe that the child
may have a behavioral or mental health disorder, the court shall order a behavioral
or mental health disorder prescreening to be conducted in any appropriate place.
(3) (a) Except as provided in section 19-3-508 (1), the court may continue the
dispositional hearing, either on its own motion or on the motion of any interested
party, for a reasonable period to receive reports or other evidence.
(b) If the hearing is continued, the court shall make an appropriate order for
detention of the child or for such child's release in the custody of such child's
parents, guardian, or other responsible person or agency under such conditions of
supervision as the court may impose during the continuance.
(c) In scheduling investigations and hearings, the court shall give priority to
proceedings concerning a child who is in detention or who has otherwise been
removed from such child's home before an order of disposition has been made.
(4) (a) In any case in which the disposition is placement out of the home,
except for children or youth committed to the department of human services, the
court shall, at the time of placement, set a review within ninety-one days to
determine whether continued placement is necessary and in the best interests of
the child or youth and the community, and whether reasonable efforts have been
made to return the child or youth to the home or, in the case of a sibling group,
whether it is in the best interests of the children or youth in the sibling group to be
placed together. If the county department locates an appropriate, capable, willing,
and available joint placement for all of the children or youth in the sibling group, it
is presumed that placement of the entire sibling group in the joint placement is in
the best interests of the children or youth. Such presumption may be rebutted 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, children, or youth.
(b) If the county department locates a capable, willing, and available relative
or kin for the child or youth, it is presumed that placement of the child or youth with
a relative or kin is in the best interests of the child or youth. The presumption may
be rebutted by a preponderance of the evidence, giving primary consideration to
the child's or youth's mental, physical, and emotional needs, including the child's or
youth's preference regarding placement. The court shall consider whether a
proposed placement would hinder efforts to reunite the parent and the child or
youth and the parent's preference regarding placement. A parent's objection to
placement with a particular relative or kin is not alone sufficient to show that the
proposed placement would hinder reunification.
(c) The judge shall review the family services plan document regarding
placement of siblings and efforts to locate relatives or kin. If the child or youth is
residing with a relative or kin, the family services plan must describe the efforts
made by the county to maintain the child or youth in the relative or kinship home
and to not remove the child or youth from the kinship or relative home except to
effectuate a permanency goal of reunification or after finding that remaining in the
kinship placement is contrary to the child's or youth's mental, physical, or emotional
needs, or when the relative or kinship placement decides they are no longer able to
care for the child or youth. The court shall give notice of the review to all parties
and to the director of the facility or agency in which the child or youth is placed and
any person who has physical custody of the child or youth and any attorney or
guardian ad litem of record. The review shall be conducted in accordance with
section 19-1-115 (8)(f).
(5) (a) Parents, grandparents, or relatives who have information or
knowledge concerning the care and protection of the child or youth, or kin caregiver
who has the child in the caregiver's care for more than three months, may intervene
as a matter of right following adjudication with or without counsel.
(b) A county department of human or social services that placed a child in
foster care shall provide the foster parent of the child and any pre-adoptive parent
or relative providing care for the child with notice of any administrative review of
the child's case.
(c) Upon the written request of the foster parent, pre-adoptive parent, or
relative, notice of a court hearing for the child's case shall be provided in written
form and may be provided through the caseworker at the usual periodic meetings
with the person providing care for the child. The notice shall include, at a minimum:
(I) The child's court case number;
(II) The date and time of the next court hearing; and
(III) The name of the magistrate or judge and the court division to which the
case has been assigned.
(d) Foster parents who have the child or youth in their care for twelve months
or more may intervene, as a matter of right, with or without counsel, following
adjudication. The purpose of intervention is to provide knowledge or information
concerning the care and protection of the child or youth, including the child's or
youth's mental, physical, and emotional needs.
(e) An intervenor may not, on the intervenor's own motion, seek to restrict
family time between a child or youth and the parent or relatives, file a petition to
terminate parental rights, or appeal a denial of termination of parental rights.
(6) In adopting a treatment plan, the court shall consider services and
programs that provide the parent and child with language access and effective
communication and identify the manner in which the county department ensures
the provision of language access and effective communication consistent with the
requirements of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. sec.
12101 et seq., as amended, and its related amendments and implementing
regulations, and Title IV of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. sec.
2000d et seq., as amended, and its related amendments and implementing
regulations.