Bill > H204

This bill aims to minimize trauma to court-involved children and families. It makes several key changes to existing laws: 1. Requires the Department of Children and Families (DCF) to report quarterly on cases where it took custody of a child without a court order, including the time taken to request court approval. 2. Specifies that consideration of a child's long-term well-being must include their cultural, racial, ethnic, religious, and linguistic identities. 3. Strengthens requirements for placing siblings together in foster care and maintaining frequent visitation if they are separated. 4. Establishes a rebuttable presumption of unsupervised parent-child visitation and limits the circumstances under which visitation can be suspended or terminated. 5. Mandates that DCF provide prompt notice to a child's attorney regarding changes in placement, hospitalization, investigations, and other significant events. 6. Requires DCF to obtain judicial approval within 4 hours when taking a child into temporary custody without a court order. The bill also makes related changes to laws governing child custody and guardianship proceedings to further prioritize the preservation of a child's cultural and familial identities.

Health and Social Services

https://malegislature.gov/Bills/193/H204