Placement of child in need of supervision or in need of commitment to institution for mentally retarded or mentally ill outside home; study and report; filing of plan; examination of child or parent or guardian by physician, psychiatrist or psychologist.
1. If it has been admitted or determined that a child is in need of supervision or in need of commitment to an institution for the mentally retarded or the mentally ill and the child has been or will be placed outside the home of the child by court order:
(a) The juvenile court shall direct a probation officer or an authorized agency to prepare for the juvenile court a study and a written report concerning the child, the family of the child, the environment of the child and other matters relevant to the need for treatment or disposition of the case; and
(b) The agency which is charged with the care and custody of the child or the agency which has the responsibility for supervising the placement of the child shall file with the juvenile court a plan which includes:
(1) The social history of the child and the family of the child;
(2) The wishes of the child relating to the placement of the child;
(3) A statement of the conditions which require intervention by the juvenile court and whether the removal of the child from the home of the child was a result of a judicial determination that the child’s continuation in the home would be contrary to the child’s welfare;
(4) A statement of the harm which the child is likely to suffer as a result of the removal;
(5) A discussion of the efforts made by the agency to avoid removing the child from the home of the child before the agency placed the child in foster care;
(6) The special programs available to the parent or guardian of the child which might prevent further harm to the child and the reason that each program is likely to be useful, and the overall plan of the agency to assure that the services are available;
(7) A description of the type of home or institution in which the child could be placed, a plan for assuring that the child would receive proper care and a description of the needs of the child; and
(8) A description of the efforts made by the agency to facilitate the return of the child to the home of the child or permanent placement of the child.
2. If there are indications that a child may be mentally retarded or mentally ill, the juvenile court may order the child to be examined at a suitable place by a physician, psychiatrist or psychologist before a hearing on the merits of the petition. The examinations made before a hearing or as part of the study provided for in subsection 1 must be conducted without admission to a hospital unless the juvenile court finds that placement in a hospital or other appropriate facility is necessary.
3. After a hearing, the juvenile court may order a parent or guardian of the child to be examined by a physician, psychiatrist or psychologist if:
(a) The ability of the parent or guardian to care for or supervise the child is at issue before the juvenile court; and
(b) The parent or guardian consents to the examination.
Last modified: February 25, 2006