1. Upon the filing of a petition, the court shall fix a time for a hearing and give notice thereof to the child and the child’s parent, guardian, or custodian.
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Terms Used In Iowa Code 232.127

  • Assessment: means the process by which the department responds to all accepted reports of alleged child abuse. See Iowa Code 232.68
  • Case permanency plan: means the plan, mandated by Pub. See Iowa Code 232.2
  • Child: means any person under the age of eighteen years. See Iowa Code 232.68
  • Court: means the juvenile court established under section 602. See Iowa Code 232.2
  • Court appointed special advocate: means a person duly certified by the child advocacy board created in section 237. See Iowa Code 232.2
  • Custodian: means a stepparent or a relative within the fourth degree of consanguinity to a child who has assumed responsibility for that child, a person who has accepted a release of custody pursuant to subchapter IV, or a person appointed by a court or juvenile court having jurisdiction over a child. See Iowa Code 232.2
  • Department: means the state department of human services and includes the local, county, and service area offices of the department. See Iowa Code 232.68
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Family in need of assistance: means a family in which there has been a breakdown in the relationship between a child and the child's parent, guardian, or custodian. See Iowa Code 232.2
  • following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Foster care: means the provision of parental nurturing, including but not limited to the furnishing of food, lodging, training, education, supervision, treatment, or other care, to a child on a full-time basis by a person, including an adult relative or fictive kin of the child, and where the child is under the placement, care, or supervision of the department, juvenile court services, or tribes with whom the department has entered into an agreement pursuant to a court order or voluntary placement, but not including a guardian of the child. See Iowa Code 232.2
  • Guardian: means a person who is not the parent of a child, but who has been appointed by a court having jurisdiction over the child, to have a permanent self-sustaining relationship with the child and to make important decisions which have a permanent effect on the life and development of that child and to promote the general welfare of that child. See Iowa Code 232.2
  • Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
  • Guardian ad litem: means a person appointed by the court to represent the interests of a child in any judicial proceeding to which the child is a party. See Iowa Code 232.2
  • Nonsecure facility: means a physically unrestricting facility in which children may be placed pursuant to a dispositional order of the court made in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. See Iowa Code 232.2
  • Parent: means a biological or adoptive mother or father of a child; or a father whose paternity has been established by operation of law due to the individual's marriage to the mother at the time of conception, birth, or at any time during the period between conception and birth of the child, by order of a court of competent jurisdiction, or by administrative order when authorized by state law. See Iowa Code 232.2
  • Party: means a petitioner, a respondent, or a person who intervenes in a proceeding instituted under this chapter. See Iowa Code 252A.2
  • Petition: means a pleading the filing of which initiates formal judicial proceedings in the juvenile court. See Iowa Code 232.2
  • Rule: includes "regulation". See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Secure facility: means a physically restricting facility in which children adjudicated to have committed a delinquent act may be placed pursuant to a dispositional order of the court. See Iowa Code 232.2
  • state: means the general interest held by the people in the health, safety, welfare, and protection of all children living in this state. See Iowa Code 232.90
  • year: means twelve consecutive months. See Iowa Code 4.1
 2. A parent without custody may petition the court to be made a party to proceedings under this subchapter.
 3. The court shall exclude the general public from such hearing except the court in its discretion may admit persons having a legitimate interest in the case or the work of the court.
 4. The hearing shall be informal and all relevant and material evidence shall be admitted.
 5. The court may adjudicate the family to be a family in need of assistance and enter an appropriate dispositional order if the court finds all of the following:

 a. There has been a breakdown in the relationship between the child and the child’s parent, guardian, or custodian.
 b. The child or the child’s parent, guardian, or custodian has sought services from public or private agencies to maintain and improve the familial relationship.
 c. The court has at its disposal services for this purpose which can be made available to the family.
 6. If the court makes such a finding the court may order any or all of the parties to accept counseling and to comply with any other reasonable orders designed to maintain and improve the familial relationship. At the conclusion of any counseling ordered by the court, or at any other time deemed necessary, the parties shall be required to meet together and be apprised of the findings and recommendations of such counseling. Such an order shall remain in force for a period not to exceed one year unless the court otherwise specifies or sooner terminates the order.
 7. The court may not order the child placed on probation, in a foster home or in a nonsecure facility unless the child requests and agrees to such supervision or placement. In no event shall the court order the child placed in the state training school or other secure facility.
 8. The court shall not order group foster care placement of the child which is a charge upon the state unless the group foster care meets requirements as established by the department by rule.
 9. A child found in contempt of court because of violation of conditions imposed under this section shall not be considered delinquent. Such a contempt may be punished by imposition of a work assignment or assignments to benefit the state or a governmental subdivision of the state. In addition to or in lieu of such an assignment or assignments, the court may impose one of the dispositions set out in sections 232.100 through 232.102.
 10. If the child is fourteen years of age or older and an order for an out-of-home placement is entered, the order shall specify the services needed to assist the child in preparing for the transition from foster care to adulthood. If the child has a case permanency plan, the court shall consider the written transition plan of services and needs assessment developed for the child’s case permanency plan. If the child does not have a case permanency plan containing the transition plan and needs assessment at the time the order is entered, the written transition plan and needs assessment shall be developed and submitted for the court’s consideration no later than six months from the date of the transfer order. The court shall modify the initial transfer order as necessary to specify the services needed to assist the child in preparing for the transition from foster care to adulthood. If the transition plan identifies services or other support needed to assist the child in transitioning from foster care to adulthood and the court deems it to be beneficial to the child, the court may authorize the individual who is the child’s guardian ad litem or court appointed special advocate to continue a relationship with and provide advice to the child for a period of time beyond the child’s eighteenth birthday.
 11. If after hearing pursuant to this section, the court finds, by clear and convincing evidence, that no remedy is available that would result in strengthening or maintaining the familial relationship, the court may order the minor emancipated pursuant to section 232C.3, subsection 4.
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