Bill > SB257

This bill expands the scope of delinquency placements, providing for petitions for alternative placements and ensuring that placements for Indian children provide access to cultural practices. It also enacts requirements for court orders for delinquency placements. Specifically, the bill: 1. Defines "fictive kin" as a non-relative who has a significant and familial relationship with a child or child's family, and allows for the placement of a child with fictive kin. 2. Allows the department to temporarily move a child to an alternative placement if the child's initial placement in the home or place of residence of a parent or guardian is disrupted, and requires the department to petition the court for an order authorizing the child's removal from the custody of the parent or guardian. 3. Allows the department, the child, or the child's attorney to petition the court for an order authorizing the child's removal from the custody of the parent or guardian or modifying a previous placement order. 4. Requires the court to specify in writing that the continuance of the child in the home of the parent or legal guardian is contrary to the welfare of the child and that reasonable efforts were made by the department to prevent the need to remove the child. 5. Provides that when a child is placed on probation, the court may place the child in the custody of a parent or guardian or order that the responsibility for temporary placement be with the juvenile probation services office. 6. Requires the consideration of an Indian child's cultural needs and reasonable access to cultural practices and traditional treatment when making placements.

Government Affairs, Justice

https://www.nmlegis.gov/lcs/legislation.aspx?chamber=S&legtype=B&legno=257&year=21