72nd OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2003 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 889
 
                           A-Engrossed
 
                         Senate Bill 115
                 Ordered by the Senate April 22
           Including Senate Amendments dated April 22
 
Printed pursuant to Senate Interim Rule 213.28 by order of the
  President of the Senate in conformance with presession filing
  rules, indicating neither advocacy nor opposition on the part
  of the President (at the request of Attorney General Hardy
  Myers for Department of Justice)
 
 
                             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.
 
  Provides that rules of evidence do not apply at shelter
hearing.
 
                        A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to shelter hearings; amending ORS 419B.185.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
  SECTION 1. ORS 419B.185 is amended to read:
  419B.185. (1) When the child is taken, or is about to be taken,
into protective custody pursuant to ORS 419B.160, 419B.165,
419B.168 and 419B.171 and placed in detention or shelter care, a
parent or child shall be given the opportunity to present
evidence to the court at the hearings specified in ORS 419B.183,
and at any subsequent review hearing, that the child can be
returned home without further danger of suffering physical injury
or emotional harm, endangering or harming others, or not
remaining within the reach of the court process prior to
adjudication. At the hearing:
  (a) The court shall make written findings as to whether the
Department of Human Services has made reasonable efforts or, if
the Indian Child Welfare Act applies, active efforts to prevent
or eliminate the need for removal of the child from the home and
to make it possible for the child to safely return home. When the
court finds that no services were provided but that reasonable
services would not have eliminated the need for protective
custody, the court shall consider the department to have made
reasonable efforts or, if the Indian Child Welfare Act applies,
active efforts to prevent or eliminate the need for protective
custody. The court shall include in the written findings a brief
description of what preventive and reunification efforts were
made by the department.
  (b) In determining whether a child shall be removed or
continued out of home, the court shall consider whether the
provision of reasonable services can prevent or eliminate the
need to separate the family.
  (c) In determining whether the department has made reasonable
efforts or, if the Indian Child Welfare Act applies, active
efforts to prevent or eliminate the need for removal of the child
from the home and to make it possible for the child to safely
return home, the court shall consider the child's health and
safety the paramount concerns.
  (d) The court shall make a written finding in every order of
removal that describes why it is in the best interests of the
child that the child be removed from the home or continued in
care.
  (e) The court shall determine whether the child is an Indian
child as defined in ORS 419A.004 or in the applicable
State-Tribal Indian Child Welfare Agreement.
   { +  (f) The court may receive testimony, reports and other
evidence without regard to whether the evidence is admissible
under ORS 40.010 to 40.210 and 40.310 to 40.585 if the evidence
is relevant to the determinations and findings required under
this section. As used in this paragraph, 'relevant evidence' has
the meaning given that term in ORS 40.150. + }
  (2) To aid the court in making the written findings required by
subsection (1)(a) and (d) of this section, the department shall
present written documentation to the court outlining the
reasonable or active efforts made to prevent taking the child
into protective custody and to provide services to make it
possible for the child to safely return home and why protective
custody is in the best interests of the child.
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