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Department seeks change to juvenile‑custody hearing requirement; committee sends RS31804C1 to print
Summary
The Department of Health and Welfare and legislative staff presented RS31804C1 to reverse a recent Idaho Supreme Court interpretation that added an extra hearing requirement for youth in the department's custody; the committee voted to send the request to print.
Jared Larson, Legislative and Regulatory Affairs chief for the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, told the Senate Health and Welfare Committee that RS31804C1 would amend a subsection of Idaho Code (the transcript cites section 16‑20005, subsection 8) to restore the pre‑existing practice after an Idaho Supreme Court interpretation imposed an additional hearing for youth in the department’s custody.
Larson said the additional hearing requirement, as interpreted by the court, typically adds two to four months to a child's time in state custody and that the department’s goal is to reach permanency for youth as quickly as possible. "We believe that we can shave that number down slightly in cases of adoption out of the Department's court so that that hearing is no longer required," Larson said.
Larson said the department has coordinated with Sen. Shippey on the drafting and that the agency would bring experts to a hearing to explain the operational impacts. Sen. Wintrow, who moved the RS to print with Sen. Harris seconding, expressed support for bringing experts to the hearing to balance the rights of parents and the goal of expedited permanency.
The committee voted on a motion to send RS31804C1 to print; the motion carried on a voice vote. The transcript records no roll‑call tally.
