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Senate amends child-welfare bill to shorten time to permanency and add notice requirement
Summary
Lawmakers reduced the time to a permanency hearing from 12 to 9 months and approved an amendment requiring notice that reasonable efforts to reunify were made; sponsors said the change aims to shorten time children spend in state custody and could reduce costs.
The Kansas Senate, acting in the committee of the whole on March 17, advanced House Bill 20 75, changing the period before a permanency hearing from 12 months to 9 months and adopting a floor amendment that requires courts to ensure that interested parties have been notified that reasonable efforts were made to reunify or locate family members prior to the hearing.
Senator Gossage, who explained the bill on the floor, said the legislation was sponsored by the Kansas Child Advocate and the Kansas Department for Children and Families and that the primary goal is to expedite permanency for children in state custody. The bill's proponents told the committee they expect the measure to reduce the time children remain in state custody by roughly two months on average and estimated state savings in foster-care and related costs of about $7,000,000 (the floor explanation attributed an estimated savings and echoed figures reported to the committee).
Senator Faust Goudot offered an amendment (HB2075 substitute 1973) to require that "all interested parties are notified that reasonable efforts have been made to reunify" prior to the permanency hearing. The sponsor described the amendment as ensuring that biological parents, foster parents and possible adoptive parents are made aware of the efforts taken before the court decides permanency. Senator Kossage (floor comments) described the amendment as appropriate and indicated support; the amendment was adopted on the floor and the bill was reported favorably for passage as amended.
Why it matters: Shortening the window to a permanency hearing aims to reduce the time children spend in foster care without a permanent placement. The amendment adds a procedural notice requirement intended to ensure that parties have information about reunification efforts before a permanency determination.
The committee-adopted bill includes the amendment and the measure was reported favorably for passage to the full Senate. Sponsors said the change is intended to prioritize permanency while retaining procedural safeguards such as notification and hearings under the Kansas Administrative Procedure Act where applicable.
