SENATE BILL 97

55th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2021

INTRODUCED BY

Linda M. Lopez

 

 

 

 

 

AN ACT

RELATING TO GUARDIANSHIPS; AMENDING AND CHANGING THE NAME OF THE FAMILY SERVICES ACT; AMENDING THE KINSHIP GUARDIANSHIP ACT; PROVIDING FOR VOLUNTARY PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN; PROVIDING FOR FINANCIAL SUBSIDIES; AMENDING, REPEALING AND ENACTING SECTIONS OF THE NMSA 1978.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

         SECTION 1. Section 22-12A-14 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2019, Chapter 223, Section 14, as amended) is amended to read:

         "22-12A-14. TIMELY GRADUATION AND SUPPORT FOR STUDENTS WHO EXPERIENCE DISRUPTION IN THE STUDENT'S EDUCATION.--

                   A. For purposes of this section, "a student who has experienced a disruption in the student's education" means a student who experiences one or more changes in public school or school district enrollment during a single school year as the result of:

                               (1) homelessness as defined in the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act and as determined by the public school or school district;

                               (2) adjudication:

                                         (a) as an abused or neglected child as determined by the children, youth and families department pursuant to the Abuse and Neglect Act;

                                         (b) as part of a family in need of court-ordered services voluntary placement pursuant to the Voluntary Placement and Family Services Act; or

                                         (c) as a delinquent if the parent wishes to disclose the adjudication of delinquency; or

                               (3) placement in a mental health treatment facility or habilitation program for developmental disabilities pursuant to the Children's Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Act or placement in treatment foster care.

                   B. When a student who has experienced a disruption in the student's education transfers to a new public school or school district, the receiving public school or school district shall communicate with the sending public school or school district within two days of the student's enrollment. The sending public school or school district shall provide the receiving public school or school district with any requested records within two days of having received the receiving public school's or school district's communication.

                   C. A student who has experienced a disruption in the student's education because of transferring to a new public school as the result of circumstances set forth in this section shall have:

                               (1) priority placement in classes that meet state graduation requirements; and

                               (2) timely placement in elective classes that are comparable to those in which the student was enrolled at the student's previous public school or schools as soon as the public school or school district receives verification from the student's records.

                   D. For a student who has experienced a disruption in the student's education at any time during the student's high school enrollment, a school district and public schools shall ensure:

                               (1) acceptance of the student's state graduation requirements for a diploma of excellence pursuant to the Public School Code;

                               (2) equal access to participation in sports and other extracurricular activities, career and technical programs or other special programs for which the student qualifies;

                               (3) timely assistance and advice from counselors to improve the student's college or career readiness; and

                               (4) that the student receives all special education services to which the student is entitled.

                   E. A student who has experienced a disruption in the student's education and has transferred between public schools in different school districts or between public schools within the same school district shall receive credit for any work completed prior to the transfer, regardless of whether the transfer occurred at the end of a grading period. The department shall promulgate and adopt a rule to determine how credit shall be awarded for courses that are partially completed, and school districts shall follow the department rule."

         SECTION 2. Section 32A-1-4 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1993, Chapter 77, Section 13, as amended) is amended to read:

         "32A-1-4. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Children's Code:

                   A. "adult" means a person who is eighteen years of age or older;

                   B. "child" means a person who is less than eighteen years old;

                   C. "council" means the substitute care advisory council established pursuant to Section 32A-8-4 NMSA 1978;

                   D. "court", when used without further qualification, means the children's court division of the district court and includes the judge, special master or commissioner appointed pursuant to the provisions of the Children's Code or supreme court rule;

                   E. "court-appointed special advocate" means a person appointed pursuant to the provisions of the Children's Court Rules to assist the court in determining the best interests of the child by investigating the case and submitting a report to the court;

                   F. "custodian" means an adult with whom the child lives who is not a parent or guardian of the child;

                   G. "department" means the children, youth and families department, unless otherwise specified;

                   H. "disproportionate minority contact" means the involvement of a racial or ethnic group with the criminal or juvenile justice system at a proportion either higher or lower than that group's proportion in the general population;

                   I. "fictive kin" means a non-relative who has a significant and family-like relationship with a child or a child's family that existed prior to the child entering foster care or a non-relative who is the current foster parent of a child in the legal custody of the department if the child has been placed in the home for at least one year and has established a significant and family-like relationship with the foster parent and the foster parent has been identified by the department as the child's permanent connection. "Fictive kin" may also be a person chosen by a child fourteen years of age or older, without regard to when the relationship was established or for how long, or a person defined according to tribal or pueblo law, custom or tradition;

                   [I.] J. "foster parent" means a person, including a relative of the child, licensed or certified by the department or a child placement agency to provide care for children in the custody of the department or agency;

                   [J.] K. "guardian" means a person appointed as a guardian by a court or Indian tribal authority [or a person authorized to care for the child by a parental power of attorney as permitted by law];

                   [K.] L. "guardian ad litem" means an attorney appointed by the children's court to represent and protect the best interests of the child in a case; provided that no party or employee or representative of a party to the case shall be appointed to serve as a guardian ad litem;

                   [L.] M. "Indian child" means an unmarried person who is:

                               (1) less than eighteen years old;

                               (2) a member of an Indian tribe or is eligible for membership in an Indian tribe; and

                               (3) the biological child of a member of an Indian tribe;

                   [M.] N. "Indian child's tribe" means:

                               (1) the Indian tribe in which an Indian child is a member or eligible for membership; or

                               (2) in the case of an Indian child who is a member or eligible for membership in more than one tribe, the Indian tribe with which the Indian child has more significant contacts;

                   [N.] O. "Indian tribe" means a federally recognized Indian tribe, community or group pursuant to 25 U.S.C. Section 1903(1);

                   [O.] P. "judge", when used without further qualification, means the judge of the court;

                   [P.] Q. "legal custody" means a legal status created by order of the court or other court of competent jurisdiction or by operation of statute that vests in a person, department or agency the right to determine where and with whom a child shall live; the right and duty to protect, train and discipline the child and to provide the child with food, shelter, personal care, education and ordinary and emergency medical care; the right to consent to major medical, psychiatric, psychological and surgical treatment and to the administration of legally prescribed psychotropic medications pursuant to the Children's Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Act; and the right to consent to the child's enlistment in the armed forces of the United States;

                   [Q.] R. "parent" or "parents" includes a biological or adoptive parent if the biological or adoptive parent has a constitutionally protected liberty interest in the care and custody of the child;

                   [R.] S. "permanency plan" means a determination by the court that the child's interest will be served best by:

                               (1) reunification;

                               (2) placement for adoption after the parents' rights have been relinquished or terminated or after a motion has been filed to terminate parental rights;

                               (3) placement with a person who will be the child's permanent guardian;

                               (4) placement in the legal custody of the department with the child placed in the home of a fit and willing relative; or

                               (5) placement in the legal custody of the department under a planned permanent living arrangement;

                   [S.] T. "person" means an individual or any other form of entity recognized by law;

                   [T.] U. "plan of care" means a plan created by a health care professional intended to ensure the safety and well-being of a substance-exposed newborn by addressing the treatment needs of the child and any of the child's parents, relatives, guardians, family members or caregivers to the extent those treatment needs are relevant to the safety of the child;

                   [U.] V. "preadoptive parent" means a person with whom a child has been placed for adoption;

                   [V.] W. "protective supervision" means the right to visit the child in the home where the child is residing, inspect the home, transport the child to court-ordered diagnostic examinations and evaluations and obtain information and records concerning the child;

                   [W.] X. "relative" means a person related to another person by blood within the fifth degree of consanguinity or through marriage by the fifth degree of affinity;

                   [X.] Y. "reunification" means either a return of the child to the parent or to the home from which the child was removed or a return to the noncustodial parent;

                   [Y.] Z. "tribal court" means:

                               (1) a court established and operated pursuant to a code or custom of an Indian tribe; or

                               (2) any administrative body of an Indian tribe that is vested with judicial authority;

                   [Z.] AA. "tribal court order" means a document issued by a tribal court that is signed by an appropriate authority, including a judge, governor or tribal council member, and that orders an action that is within the tribal court's jurisdiction; and

                   [AA.] BB. "tribunal" means any judicial forum other than the court."

         SECTION 3. Section 32A-1-14 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1993, Chapter 77, Section 23, as amended) i