78A-6-318 - Review of foster care removal -- Foster parent's standing. - Utah Statutes

78A-6-318. Review of foster care removal -- Foster parent's standing.
(1) With regard to a child in the custody of the Division of Child and Family Serviceswho is the subject of a petition alleging abuse, neglect, or dependency, and who has been placedin foster care with a foster family, the Legislature finds that:
(a) except with regard to the child's natural parents, a foster family has a very limited butrecognized interest in its familial relationship with the child; and
(b) children in the custody of the division are experiencing multiple changes in fostercare placements with little or no documentation, and that numerous studies of child growth anddevelopment emphasize the importance of stability in foster care living arrangements.
(2) For the reasons described in Subsection (1), the Legislature finds that, except withregard to the child's natural parents, procedural due process protections must be provided to afoster family prior to removal of a foster child from the foster home.
(3) (a) A foster parent who has had a foster child in the foster parent's home for 12months or longer may petition the juvenile court for a review and determination of theappropriateness of a decision by the Division of Child and Family Services to remove the childfrom the foster home, unless the removal was for the purpose of:
(i) returning the child to the child's natural parent or legal guardian;
(ii) immediately placing the child in an approved adoptive home;
(iii) placing the child with a relative, as defined in Subsection 78A-6-307(1)(b), whoobtained custody or asserted an interest in the child within the preference period described inSubsection 78A-6-307(18)(a); or
(iv) placing an Indian child in accordance with preplacement preferences and otherrequirements described in the Indian Child Welfare Act, 25 U.S.C. Sec. 1915.
(b) The foster parent may petition the court under this section without exhaustingadministrative remedies within the division.
(c) The court may order the division to place the child in a specified home, and shall baseits determination on the best interest of the child.
(4) The requirements of this section do not apply to the removal of a child based on afoster parent's request for that removal.

Renumbered and Amended by Chapter 3, 2008 General Session
Amended by Chapter 17, 2008 General Session