Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

67th Legislature                                                                                                     HB 499.1
                                                     HOUSE BILL NO. 499
                                                    INTRODUCED BY ****
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   A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: “AN ACT REVISING CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT LAWS REGARDING
   REASONABLE EFFORTS REQUIRED TO PREVENT REMOVAL OF A CHILD FROM THE HOME OR TO
   REUNIFY FAMILIES SEPARATED BY THE STATE; DEFINING "REASONABLE EFFORTS"; AND AMENDING
   SECTION 41-3-423, MCA.”
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   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:
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              Section 1. Section 41-3-423, MCA, is amended to read:
              "41-3-423.   Reasonable efforts required to prevent removal of child or to return -- exemption --
   findings -- permanency plan. (1) (a) The department shall make reasonable efforts to prevent the necessity of
   removal of a child from the child's home and to reunify families that have been separated by the state.
              (b)   (i) For the purposes of this subsection (1), the term "reasonable efforts" means the department
   shall in good faith develop and implement voluntary services agreements and treatment plans that are designed
   to preserve the parent-child relationship and the family unit and shall in good faith assist parents in completing
   voluntary services agreements and treatment plans. Reasonable efforts
              (ii) The term includes but are is not limited to:
              (A)   services provided to foster care providers with equal financial support;
              (B)   voluntary protective services agreements;,
              (C)   development of individual written case plans specifying state efforts to preserve or reunify
   families,;
              (D)   placement in the least disruptive setting possible with priority given to family placement as
   provided in 41-3-439,;
              (E)   provision of services pursuant to a case plan that is designed to address the parent's treatment
   and other needs precluding the parent from safely parenting, including but not limited to individual and family
   therapy, parent education, substance abuse treatment, and trauma-related services,; and
                                                                   -1-                     Authorized Print Version – HB 499
67th Legislature                                                                                                       HB 499.1
              (F)   periodic review of each case to ensure timely progress toward reunification or permanent
   placement.
              (c)   In determining preservation or reunification services to be provided and in making reasonable
   efforts at providing preservation or reunification services, the child's health and safety are of paramount
   concern.
              (2)   Except in a proceeding subject to the federal Indian Child Welfare Act, the department may, at any
   time during an abuse and neglect proceeding, make a request for a determination that preservation or
   reunification services need not be provided. If an indigent parent is not already represented by counsel, the
   court shall immediately provide for the appointment or assignment of counsel to represent the indigent parent in
   accordance with the provisions of 41-3-425. A court may make a finding that the department need not make
   reasonable efforts to provide preservation or reunification services if the court finds that the parent has:
              (a)   subjected a child to aggravated circumstances, including but not limited to abandonment, torture,
   chronic abuse, or sexual abuse or chronic, severe neglect of a child;
              (b)   committed, aided, abetted, attempted, conspired, or solicited deliberate or mitigated deliberate
   homicide of a child;
              (c)   committed aggravated assault against a child;
              (d)   committed neglect of a child that resulted in serious bodily injury or death; or
              (e)   had parental rights to the child's sibling or other child of the parent involuntarily terminated and the
   circumstances related to the termination of parental rights are relevant to the parent's ability to adequately care
   for the child at issue.
              (3)   Preservation or reunification services are not required for a putative father, as defined in 42-2-201,
   if the court makes a finding that the putative father has failed to do any of the following:
              (a)   contribute to the support of the child for an aggregate period of 1 year, although able to do so;
              (b)   establish a substantial relationship with the child. A substantial relationship is demonstrated by:
              (i)   visiting the child at least monthly when physically and financially able to do so; or
              (ii) having regular contact with the child or with the person or agency having the care and custody of
   the child when physically and financially able to do so; and
              (iii) manifesting an ability and willingness to assume legal and physical custody of the child if the child
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67th Legislature                                                                                                        HB 499.1
   was not in the physical custody of the other parent.
              (c)   register with the putative father registry pursuant to Title 42, chapter 2, part 2, and the person has
   not been:
              (i)   adjudicated in Montana to be the father of the child for the purposes of child support; or
              (ii) recorded on the child's birth certificate as the child's father.
              (4)   A judicial finding that preservation or reunification services are not necessary under this section
   must be supported by clear and convincing evidence.
              (5)   If the court finds that preservation or reunification services are not necessary pursuant to
   subsection (2) or (3), a permanency hearing must be held within 30 days of that determination and reasonable
   efforts, including consideration of both in-state and out-of-state permanent placement options for the child, must
   be made to place the child in a timely manner in accordance with the permanency plan and to complete
   whatever steps are necessary to finalize the permanent placement of the child.
              (6)   If reasonable efforts have been made to prevent removal of a child from the home or to return a
   child to the child's home but continuation of the efforts is determined by the court to be inconsistent with the
   permanency plan for the child, the department shall make reasonable efforts to place the child in a timely
   manner in accordance with the permanency plan, including, if appropriate, placement in another state, and to
   complete whatever steps are necessary to finalize the permanent placement of the child. Reasonable efforts to
   place a child permanently for adoption or to make an alternative out-of-home permanent placement may be
   made concurrently with reasonable efforts to return a child to the child's home. Concurrent planning, including
   identifying in-state and out-of-state placements, may be used.
              (7) When determining whether the department has made reasonable efforts to prevent the necessity
   of removal of a child from the child's home or to reunify families that have been separated by the state, the
   court shall review the services provided by the agency including, if applicable, protective services provided
   pursuant to 41-3-302."
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                                                                     -3-                    Authorized Print Version – HB 499
Statutes affected: 
HB0499_1.pdf: 41-3-423
HB0499_2.pdf: 41-3-423
HB0499_X.pdf: 41-3-423
Amended: 41-3-423
Introduced: 41-3-423