Children’s cabinet must plan care for youth with serious behavioral health needs

A child who meets the listed criteria is defined as a child in need of protection. The definition covers children who meet all of these behavioral health, conduct, and family safety conditions. The child must need care and treatment, have a serious condition diagnosed by a licensed child psychologist or psychiatrist, and have committed a violent or sexual act against a family member in the household that would be a crime if committed by an adult. If the criteria for informal adjustment apply, it must have been considered at minimum. The parent must be unable to control the child properly and fear for a household family member’s safety. This definition applies through July 31, 2027; after that date, the section becomes ineffective.

The children’s cabinet must establish a workgroup to study and plan care for children with serious behavioral health needs. The workgroup studies children with serious behavioral health needs who need out-of-home placement or treatment, including children involved in juvenile court proceedings because of criminal activity. The study must consider children also involved in juvenile court proceedings because of criminal activity. A consultant with expertise in the connected placement and treatment systems must lead the workgroup. It must send reports to the children’s cabinet every two months. The workgroup is required during the 2025–26 interim and must report every two months.

A court may choose protective care and treatment orders, and must allow a transition period for certain family transfers. These provisions apply when a court finds that a child needs protection. A court may choose orders it considers best for the child or family, including supervised residence, temporary custody, treatment, or guardianship. It may order another planned permanent living arrangement only when there is a compelling reason that the listed alternatives are not in the child’s best interests. Without a compelling reason otherwise, an order transferring a child from a protective placement to a parent or other biological family must provide a reasonable transition period. A child in need of protection may not be placed in a residential facility that houses delinquent children. These provisions apply through July 31, 2027; after that date, the section becomes ineffective.

A termination of parental rights petition must be filed when specified foster care, abandonment, or parent-conviction conditions are met, unless an exception applies. The filing rules concern children in foster care and cases involving an abandoned infant or a parent convicted of specified crimes against a child. A petition need not be filed in specified cases, including when an approved relative cares for the child, a documented compelling reason shows filing is not in the child’s best interests, or required reunification services have not been provided as planned. For extended foster care, filing is required after at least 450 of the previous 660 nights. In the other listed cases, filing is due within 60 days of the court’s finding or conviction.