§ 31-34-20-1 — Dispositional decrees; conditions for placement of child in home or facility outside Indiana; written findings and conclusions

Indiana § 31-34-20-1

• Jurisdiction: Indiana
• Art. 34: JUVENILE LAW: CHILDREN IN NEED OF
• Ch. 20: Dispositional Decrees

Text

(a) Subject to this section and sections 1.5 and
1.6 of this chapter, if a child is a child in need of services, the juvenile
court may enter one (1) or more of the following dispositional decrees:
(1) Order supervision of the child by the department.
(2) Order the child to receive outpatient treatment:
(A) at a social service agency or a psychological, a psychiatric,
a medical, or an educational facility; or
(B) from an individual practitioner.
(3) Remove the child from the child's home and authorize the
department to place the child in another home, shelter care
facility, child caring institution, group home, or secure private
facility. Placement under this subdivision includes authorization
to control and discipline the child.
(4) Award wardship of the child to the department for
supervision, care, and placement.
(5) Partially or completely emancipate the child under section 6
of this chapter.
(6) Unless a finding has been made under IC 31-34-21-5.6 that
reasonable efforts for family preservation or reunification are not
required, order the child's parent, guardian, or custodian to
complete reunification services recommended by the department
and approved by the court under IC 31-34-18 and IC 31-34-19,
which may include services described in section 3(a) of this
chapter. In determining the reunification services that are
appropriate, the court shall take into consideration:
(A) any failure of the parent, guardian, or custodian to
substantially participate in previously ordered services or
substantially comply with a previous case plan;
(B) any history of the parent, guardian, or custodian abusing the
child while the parent, guardian, or custodian was under the
influence of drugs or alcohol;
(C) any history of the parent, guardian, or custodian directing
violent behavior at the child or at a member of the child's
immediate family;
(D) whether the parent, guardian, or custodian continues to
reside with an individual who abused the child;
(E) any patterns of behavior by the parent, guardian, or
custodian that have exposed the child to repeated abuse;
(F) any testimony by a competent professional that remediation
of the parent's, guardian's, or custodian's behavior is unlikely to
be successful; and
(G) whether the parent, guardian, or custodian has expressed an
interest in reunification with the child.
In determining the appropriateness of the reunification services,
the court shall consider the child's health, welfare, and safety as
the paramount concern.
(7) Order a person who is a party to refrain from direct or indirect
contact with the child.
(8) Order a perpetrator of child abuse or neglect to refrain from
returning to the child's residence.
(b) A juvenile court may not place a child in a home or facility that
is located outside Indiana unless:
(1) the placement is recommended or approved by the director of
the department or the director's designee; or
(2) the juvenile court makes written findings based on clear and
convincing evidence that:
(A) the out-of-state placement is appropriate because there is
not an equivalent facility with adequate services located in
Indiana;
(B) institutional care in the other jurisdiction is in the best
interest of the child and will not produce undue hardship; or
(C) the location of the home or facility is within a distance not
greater than fifty (50) miles from the county of residence of the
child.
(c) If a dispositional decree under this section:
(1) orders or approves removal of a child from the child's home or
awards wardship of the child to the department; and
(2) is the first juvenile court order in the child in need of services
proceeding that authorizes or approves removal of the child from
the child's parent, guardian, or custodian;
the juvenile court shall include in the decree the appropriate findings
and conclusions described in IC 31-34-5-3(b) and IC 31-34-5-3(c).
[Pre-1997 Recodification Citation: 31-6-4-15.4(a)
part.]

Legislative History

As added by P.L.1-1997, SEC.17. Amended by P.L.70-2004, SEC.21; P.L.145-2006, SEC.311; P.L.146-2006, SEC.50; P.L.52-2007, SEC.10; P.L.146-2008, SEC.602; P.L.104-2015, SEC.39; P.L.46-2016, SEC.14; P.L.183-2017, SEC.48; P.L.172-2022, SEC.9; P.L.179-2025, SEC.16.