Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Child Welfare topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Senate approves child-welfare code revisions after amendment to protect parental counsel participation
Summary
The Utah Senate passed the third substitute to Senate Bill 128 on Feb. 19, 2019, after adopting technical and substantive amendments that clarify child-welfare procedures and explicitly preserve a partyor counsels ability to participate in child-and-family plan development when allowed by law.
The Utah State Senate on Feb. 19 passed the third substitute of Senate Bill 128, a lengthy revision of child-welfare procedures that clarifies Department of Human Services practices for child-protection complaints, licensing, juvenile-court requirements for residential placement and the development of child-and-family plans.
Sponsor Senator Daniel Harper (Senate) said Amendment No. 2 replaces the phrase "reasonable practices" with "best practices" in the child-welfare code to align terminology and clarify expectations for agencies and providers. Harper said the rewrite cleans up language across the Department of Child and Family Services code and clarifies steps for licensing and team meetings.
Senator Wyler, who worked with Harper on the bill, moved Amendment No. 4 to address concerns raised by attorneys representing parents and guardians. "This amendment clarifies that nothing in this statute would prohibit a party or their counsel from being involved in the development of a child's child-and-family plan, if the party or the counsel's participation is otherwise not prohibited by law," Wyler said on the floor. Wyler said the change was offered after legal feedback indicated some language could unintentionally limit counsel's role.
Both amendments were adopted without recorded opposition on the floor. After additional discussion and an assurance the changes had stakeholder input, Senator Harper moved the bill as amended. The Senate recorded the final passage of the third substitute; the clerk announced that the bill had received unanimous aye tallies in the roll calls reported on the floor and that it would be transmitted to the House for consideration.
Why it matters: SB128 covers multiple procedural aspects of child welfare and foster-care practice, affecting how agencies document and respond to complaints, how juvenile courts apply placement rules and how child-and-family plans are developed. The Wyler amendment specifically preserves access for parties and counsel to participate in planning when not barred by other law, addressing lawyersand parentsconcerns about due process and involvement.
Next steps: The bill, as amended and passed by the Senate, will be sent to the House for its consideration. The Senate record shows the bill passed the body following adoption of amendments and recorded roll-call tallies, and no further Senate action is required until the House acts.
