71st OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2001 Regular Session
 
NOTE:  Matter within  { +  braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within  { -  braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
 { +  braces and plus signs + } .
 
LC 1509
 
                         House Bill 2391
 
Ordered printed by the Speaker pursuant to House Rule 12.00A (5).
  Presession filed (at the request of Joint Interim Judiciary
  Committee for Oregon Law Commission)
 
 
                             SUMMARY
 
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure as
introduced.
 
  Requires court or local citizen review board at juvenile
dependency review hearings to ask for current contact information
for parent. Allows court, where appropriate, to keep contact
information confidential. Requires State Office for Services to
Children and Families to provide parent with letter setting forth
expectations of parent to make return of child to parent
possible.
 
                        A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to juvenile dependency proceedings; amending ORS
  419B.343 and 419B.350.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
  SECTION 1. ORS 419B.350 is amended to read:
  419B.350. (1) At any review conducted under ORS 419A.106 or a
court hearing conducted in lieu of that review, if the case plan
is to reunify the family, the court or local citizen review board
shall evaluate the efforts and progress the parent has made in
adjusting the parent's circumstances, conduct or conditions to
make it possible for the child to safely return home and the
efforts of the State Office for Services to Children and Families
in supporting the parent's efforts.
  (2)(a) If the court or the local citizen review board finds
that the State Office for Services to Children and Families has
made reasonable efforts or, if the Indian Child Welfare Act
applies, active efforts to make it possible for the child to
safely return home, the court or local citizen review board shall
so state. If, in spite of the efforts of the State Office for
Services to Children and Families, the court or the local citizen
review board finds that the parent has not made sufficient
progress to make it possible for the child to safely return home,
the court or the local citizen review board may recommend that
the State Office for Services to Children and Families pursue
implementation of the alternate, permanent plan required under
ORS 419B.343 (2). The implementation may include, but is not
limited to:
  (A) Preparation of a petition for termination of parental
rights;
  (B) Search for an adoptive home or permanent foster care
placement;
  (C) Identification and study of guardianship placement; and
  (D) Mediation with the parent for the purpose of implementing
the alternate, permanent plan for the child.
  (b) If the court or the local citizen review board finds that
the State Office for Services to Children and Families has not
made reasonable efforts or, if the Indian Child Welfare Act
applies, active efforts to make it possible for the child to
safely return home, the court or local citizen review board shall
so state and the period referred to in ORS 419B.343 (2) shall be
extended by a period of time equal to that between the prior
finding that the office had made reasonable efforts or, if the
Indian Child Welfare Act applies, active efforts to make it
possible for the child to safely return home, and the current
finding that the office has not made reasonable or active
efforts.
  (3) In determining whether the State Office for Services to
Children and Families has made reasonable efforts or, if the
Indian Child Welfare Act applies, active efforts to make it
possible for the child to safely return home, the court or local
citizen review board shall consider the child's health and safety
the paramount concerns.
   { +  (4) At any review conducted under ORS 419A.106 or at a
court hearing conducted in lieu of that review, the court or
local citizen review board shall inquire of those present as to
the parent's current address and telephone numbers and, if the
parent has a contact person, the name, current address and
telephone number of the contact person. When appropriate, the
court may enter a protective order limiting disclosure of
information obtained under this subsection. + }
    { - (4) - }  { +  (5) + } No later than 10 days after
receiving the findings and recommendations of the local citizen
review board, a party adversely affected by the findings and
recommendations may request judicial review.
  SECTION 2. ORS 419B.343 is amended to read:
  419B.343. (1) To ensure effective planning for children, the
State Office for Services to Children and Families shall take
into consideration recommendations and information provided by
the committing court before placement in any facility. The State
Office for Services to Children and Families shall ensure that
the case planning in any case:
  (a) For the reunification of the family bears a rational
relationship to the jurisdictional findings that brought the
child within the court's jurisdiction under ORS 419B.100;
  (b) Incorporates the perspective of the child and the family
and, whenever possible, allows the family to assist in designing
its own service programs, based on an assessment of the family's
needs and the family's solutions and resources for change; and
  (c) Is integrated with other agencies in cooperation with the
caseworkers.
  (2) Except in cases when the plan is something other than to
reunify the family, the State Office for Services to Children and
Families shall include in the case plan:
  (a) Appropriate services { + , expressed in a service
agreement, + } to allow the parent the opportunity to adjust the
parent's circumstances, conduct or conditions to make return of
the child possible within the time described in paragraph (b) of
this subsection; and
  (b) An alternate, permanent plan to be implemented if the
parent is unable or unwilling to adjust the parent's
circumstances, conduct or conditions in such a way as to allow
the return of the child. A rebuttable presumption is created that
it is in the best interest of the child to implement the
alternate, permanent plan if:
  (A) The State Office for Services to Children and Families has
made reasonable efforts or, if the Indian Child Welfare Act
 
applies, active efforts to provide services that would make
return of the child possible; and
  (B) Twelve months after the date the child was found to be
within the jurisdiction of the court under ORS 419B.100 or 14
months after the child was placed in substitute care, whichever
is the earlier, the child could not be returned to the parent.
   { +  (3)(a) If the parent claims to be unable to comply or
refuses to comply with a service agreement required by subsection
(2) of this section and the parties to the service agreement are
unable to resolve the disagreement, the State Office for Services
to Children and Families shall take reasonable steps to provide
the parent with a letter clearly setting forth what is expected
of the parent to make return of the child possible.
  (b) If the parties to the service agreement agree, they may
enter into mediation, if it is available, to resolve conflicts
concerning the service agreement.
  (c) If, within a reasonable time after providing the parent
with the letter required by paragraph (a) of this subsection, the
parent continues to be unable or unwilling to comply with the
service agreement, the State Office for Services to Children and
Families shall request that the court review and approve or
disapprove the case plan. + }
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