Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Committee hears bill to limit placement moves and accelerate permanency; judges and defenders raise funding and jurisdiction concerns
Summary
Senate Bill 171 would require motions and notice before moving a child who has lived in a foster/relative home 12 months, strengthen kinship recognition and bar placement changes while temporary custody is pending; judges and public defenders cited funding, duplicated litigation and due-process risks at the committee hearing.
Senate Bill 171, presented to the House Judiciary Committee by Senator Johnson, seeks to reduce placement instability and speed permanency by requiring formal motions and notice before changing the placement of a child who has lived in the same foster or relative home for 12 months, creating presumptive recognition of kinship and restricting placement changes while temporary-custody petitions are pending.
Senator Johnson, a sponsoring lawmaker and a foster parent, said the bill is aimed at ‘‘how we treat our children in need of services’’ and described concurrent‑jurisdiction questions between adoption and CHINS (child-in-need-of-services) courts that the legislation seeks to address.
Judge Stephanie Campbell and other members of the Indiana…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
