sb238 intr

Senate Bill No. 238
(By Senators Wooton, Jackson, Prezioso, Facemyer, McKenzie, Mitchell, Craigo, Unger, Edgell, Kessler, Minard, Snyder, Fanning, Sharpe, Ross, Oliverio, Caldwell, Rowe, Hunter, Sprouse, Bailey, Anderson, Bowman, Minear and Chafin)
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[Introduced February 27, 2001; referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section five, article six, chapter forty-nine of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to the disposition of abused or neglected children; and providing that all placement alternatives be found by the court to be unsuitable and contrary to the best interests of the child before long-term or permanent foster care be considered.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That section five, article six, chapter forty-nine of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:

ARTICLE 6. PROCEDURE IN CASES OF CHILD NEGLECT OR ABUSE.

§49-6-5. Disposition of neglected or abused children.

(a) Following a determination pursuant to section two of this article wherein the court finds a child to be abused or neglected, the department shall file with the court a copy of the child's case plan, including the permanency plan for the child. The term case plan means a written document that includes, where applicable, the requirements of the family case plan as provided for in section three, article six-d of this chapter and that also includes at least the following: A description of the type of home or institution in which the child is to be placed, including a discussion of the appropriateness of the placement and how the agency which is responsible for the child plans to assure that the child receives proper care and that services are provided to the parents, child and foster parents in order to improve the conditions in the parent(s) home; facilitate return of the child to his or her own home or the permanent placement of the child; and address the needs of the child while in foster care, including a discussion of the appropriateness of the services that have been provided to the child. The term "permanency plan" refers to that part of the case plan which is designed to achieve a permanent home for the child in the least restrictive setting available. The plan must document efforts to ensure that the child is returned home within approximate time lines for reunification as set out in the plan. Reasonable efforts to place a child for adoption or with a legal guardian may be made at the same time reasonable efforts are made to prevent removal or to make it possible for a child to safely return home. If reunification is not the permanency plan for the child, the plan must state why reunification is not appropriate and detail the alternative placement for the child to include approximate time lines for when such placement is expected to become a permanent placement. This case plan shall serve as the family case plan for parents of abused or neglected children. Copies of the child's case plan shall be sent to the child's attorney and parent, guardian or custodian or their counsel at least five days prior to the dispositional hearing. The court shall forthwith proceed to disposition giving both the petitioner and respondents an opportunity to be heard. The court shall give precedence to dispositions in the following sequence:

(1) Dismiss the petition;

(2) Refer the child, the abusing parent or other family members to a community agency for needed assistance and dismiss the petition;

(3) Return the child to his or her own home under supervision of the department;

(4) Order terms of supervision calculated to assist the child and any abusing parent or parents or custodian which prescribe the manner of supervision and care of the child and which are within the ability of any parent or parents or custodian to perform;

(5) Upon a finding that the abusing parent or parents are presently unwilling or unable to provide adequately for the child's needs, commit the child temporarily to the custody of the state department, a licensed private child welfare agency or a suitable person who may be appointed guardian by the court. The court order shall state: (1) That continuation in the home is contrary to the best interests of the child and why; (2) whether or not the department has made reasonable efforts, with the child's health and safety being the paramount concern, to preserve the family and to prevent or eliminate the need for removing the child from the child's home and to make it possible for the child to safely return home; (3) what efforts were made or that the emergency situation made such efforts unreasonable or impossible; and (4) the specific circumstances of the situation which made such efforts unreasonable if services were not offered by the department. The court order shall also determine under what circumstances the child's commitment to the department shall continue. Considerations pertinent to the determination include whether the child should: (1) Be continued in foster care for a specified period; (2) be considered for adoption; (3) because of a child's special needs or circumstances, be continued in foster care on a permanent or long- term basis; or (4) be continued in foster care until reunification is achieved: Provided, That foster care on a long-term or permanent basis shall be considered only after all other placement alternatives are found by the court to be unsuitable and contrary to the best interests of the child. The court may order services to meet the special needs of the child. Whenever the court transfers custody of a youth to the department, an appropriate order of financial support by the parents or guardians shall be entered in accordance with section five, article seven of this chapter; or

(6) Upon a finding that there is no reasonable likelihood that the conditions of neglect or abuse can be substantially corrected in the near future, and when necessary for the welfare of the child terminate the parental, custodial or guardianship rights and/or responsibilities of the abusing parent and commit the child to the permanent sole custody of the nonabusing parent, if there be one, or, if not, to either the permanent guardianship of the department or a licensed child welfare agency. If the court shall so find, then in fixing its dispositional order the court shall consider the following factors: (1) The child's need for continuity of care and caretakers; (2) the amount of time required for the child to be integrated into a stable and permanent home environment; and (3) other factors as the court considers necessary and proper. Notwithstanding any other provision of this article,
the court shall give consideration to the wishes of a child fourteen years of age or older or otherwise of an age of discretion as determined by the court regarding the permanent termination of parental rights. No adoption of a child shall take place until all proceedings for termination of parental rights under this article and appeals thereof are final. In determining whether or not parental rights should be terminated, the court shall consider the efforts made by the department to provide remedial and reunification services to the parent. The court order shall state: (1) That continuation in the home is not in the best interest of the child and why; (2) why reunification is not in the best interests of the child; (3) whether or not the department made reasonable efforts, with the child's health and safety being the paramount concern, to preserve the family and to prevent the placement or to eliminate the need for removing the child from the child's home and to make it possible for the child to safely return home, or that the emergency situation made such efforts unreasonable or impossible; and (4) whether or not the department made reasonable efforts to preserve and reunify the family including a description of what efforts were made or that such efforts were unreasonable due to specific circumstances.

(7) For purposes of the court's consideration of the disposition custody of a child pursuant to the provisions of this subsection, the department is not required to make reasonable efforts to preserve the family if the court determines:

(A) The parent has subjected the child to aggravated circumstances which include, but are not limited to, abandonment, torture, chronic abuse and sexual abuse;

(B) The parent has:

(i) Committed murder of another child of the parent;

(ii) Committed voluntary manslaughter of another child of the parent;

(iii) Attempted or conspired to commit such a murder or voluntary manslaughter or been an accessory before or after the fact to either such crime; or

(iv) Committed a felonious assault that results in serious bodily injury to the child or to another child of the parent; or

(b) As used in this section, "no reasonable likelihood that conditions of neglect or abuse can be substantially corrected" shall mean that, based upon the evidence before the court, the abusing adult or adults have demonstrated an inadequate capacity to solve the problems of abuse or neglect, on their own or with help. Such conditions shall be ~~deemed~~ considered to exist in the following circumstances, which shall not be exclusive:

(1) The abusing parent or parents have habitually abused or are addicted to alcohol, controlled substances or drugs, to the extent that proper parenting skills have been seriously impaired and such person or persons have not responded to or followed through the recommended and appropriate treatment which could have improved the capacity for adequate parental functioning;

(2) The abusing parent or parents have willfully refused or are presently unwilling to cooperate in the development of a reasonable family case plan designed to lead to the child's return to their care, custody and control;

(3) The abusing parent or parents have not responded to or followed through with a reasonable family case plan or other rehabilitative efforts of social, medical, mental health or other rehabilitative agencies designed to reduce or prevent the abuse or neglect of the child, as evidenced by the continuation or insubstantial diminution of conditions which threatened the health, welfare or life of the child;

(4) The abusing parent or parents have abandoned the child;

(5) The abusing parent or parents have repeatedly or seriously injured the child physically or emotionally, or have sexually abused or sexually exploited the child, and the degree of family stress and the potential for further abuse and neglect are so great as to preclude the use of resources to mitigate or resolve family problems or assist the abusing parent or parents in fulfilling their responsibilities to the child; or

(6) The abusing parent or parents have incurred emotional illness, mental illness or mental deficiency of such duration or nature as to render such parent or parents incapable of exercising proper parenting skills or sufficiently improving the adequacy of such skills.

(c) The court may as an alternative disposition allow the parents or custodians an improvement period not to exceed six months. During this period the court shall require the parent to rectify the conditions upon which the determination was based. The court may order the child to be placed with the parents, or any person found to be a fit and proper person, for the temporary care of the child during the period. At the end of the period, the court shall hold a hearing to determine whether the conditions have been adequately improved and at the conclusion of ~~such~~ the hearing shall make a further dispositional order in accordance with this section.

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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to effect placement of neglected or abused children outside the foster care program unless there remains no other choice.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.)