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Lawmakers advance bill tightening timelines for foster-care reunification and permitting limited third-party filings
Summary
The committee advanced House Bill 1605, a broad rewrite of timelines and procedural rules in child-welfare proceedings intended to speed permanency for children who cannot be reunified with parents; the measure passed committee 10-3 after extended debate over parental rights and court discretion.
The Appropriations Committee advanced House Bill 1605 on a 10-3 roll-call vote after more than an hour of testimony and debate over how to balance quicker permanency for foster children with parents’ due-process protections. Representative McGuire, sponsor of the bill, described the measure as an attempt to reduce delays that leave children in temporary care for multiple years.
The bill contains multiple provisions aimed at accelerating permanency decisions, including new limits on implied continuances of procedural deadlines in termination-of-parental-rights (TPR) proceedings, a requirement the court hold an initial TPR hearing within 30 days of filing, expanded rights for long-term caregivers to intervene under specified guardrails, and tightened guidance…
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