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Help! My grandchildren got taken away from their mother because of drugs, and now are in foster care. How can I get them placed with me?
In Iowa, proceedings regarding minor children are held in juvenile court. Iowa Code Chapter 232 is the state statute on these proceedings.
CINA
One type of juvenile proceeding involves children suspected of being neglected or abused. These are often called CINA actions, for Child in Need of Assistance. The child is found to need assistance in one of two ways. These are 1) if the parents stipulate, or agree, to the court making an adjudication, or finding that the child needs assistance, or 2) if the court makes such a finding after an evidentiary hearing.
Removal
Even if children are adjudicated to need assistance, they are not always removed from their homes. Only if the children are suspected of being in danger will a court approve the Department of Health and Human Services taking them from their home and putting them into another placement. To remove the child, the court must decide that continuation in the home is contrary to the child’s welfare, that reasonable efforts have been made to prevent this, and that the imminent risk to the child’s health or life outweighs the harm removal may cause the child.
If a child is removed, the state has to offer reasonable services to reunite the family. The Family First Prevention Services Act was passed in 2018. It aims to reduce the number of foster care placements by funding more services to keep children with their families. One of these services is a kinship navigator program that helps kin caregivers access services. Children removed from their homes are put with a relative, if possible. Also, siblings should be kept together, if possible.
Intervention
Parents and children are entitled to court-appointed attorneys in child welfare proceedings. Other relatives, like grandparents, are not, unless they were the child’s guardian or custodian at the time. However, relatives like grandparents, especially those being considered as a placement option, can hire their own lawyer to ask the court if they can intervene in the proceedings. The lawyer will file a Motion to Intervene in the juvenile court proceedings.
Intervening in a juvenile court case gives the intervening relative information about the case. Juvenile court records are not open to public inspection, so without intervention, it is hard to know what is going on in a case. This also gives the relative notices about upcoming court hearings so that the relative can appear and tell the judge how they think the child and parents are doing.
Permanency
There are many other stages and hearings required in child welfare cases. One of these is setting a permanency goal. HHS must follow certain timelines in getting the child back with the parents. If the child has been in foster care for 15 of the last 22 months, usually termination of parental rights will be sought. An alternative to termination of parental rights is to have the family member caring for the child to seek guardianship.
Child welfare law is very complex. If you want to consult us about intervening in a child welfare case, you can schedule a consult here.
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