Iowa Code 232.21 – Placement in shelter care
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1. No child shall be placed in shelter care unless one of the following circumstances applies:
a. The child has no parent, guardian, custodian, responsible adult relative or other adult approved by the court who will provide proper shelter, care and supervision.
b. The child desires to be placed in shelter care.
c. It is necessary to hold the child until the child’s parent, guardian, or custodian has been contacted and has taken custody of the child.
d. It is necessary to hold the child for transfer to another jurisdiction.
e. The child is being placed pursuant to an order of the court.
Terms Used In Iowa Code 232.21
- Adult: means a person other than a child. See Iowa Code 232.2
- Child: means any person under the age of eighteen years. See Iowa Code 232.68
- Child in need of assistance: means a child who has been found to meet the grounds for adjudication pursuant to section 232. See Iowa Code 232.2
- Court: means the juvenile court established under section 602. 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
- Detention: means the temporary care of a child in a physically restricting facility designed to ensure the continued custody of the child at any point between the child's initial contact with the juvenile authorities and the final disposition of the child's case. See Iowa Code 232.2
- 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
- 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.
- Institution: means a birthing hospital. See Iowa Code 252A.2
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Juvenile: means the same as "child". 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
- Petition: means a pleading the filing of which initiates formal judicial proceedings in the juvenile court. See Iowa Code 232.2
- relative: includes the parent of a sibling of the child if the sibling's parent's parental rights were not previously terminated in relation to the child. See Iowa Code 232.2
- Shelter care: means the temporary care of a child in a physically unrestricting facility at any time between a child's initial contact with juvenile authorities and the final judicial disposition of the child's case. See Iowa Code 232.2
- Shelter care hearing: means a hearing at which the court determines whether it is necessary to place or retain a child in shelter care. See Iowa Code 232.2
2. a. A child may be placed in shelter care as provided in this section only in one of the following facilities:
(1) A juvenile shelter care home.
(2) A licensed foster home.
(3) An institution or other facility operated by the department of human services, or one which is licensed or otherwise authorized by law to receive and provide care for the child.
(4) Any other suitable place designated by the court provided that no place used for the detention of a child may be so designated.
b. Placement shall be made in the least restrictive facility available consistent with the best interests and special needs of the child. Foster family care shall be used for a child unless the child has problems requiring specialized service or supervision which cannot be provided in a family living arrangement.
3. When there is reason to believe that a child placed in shelter care pursuant to section 232.19, subsection 1, paragraph “c”, would not voluntarily remain in the shelter care facility, the shelter care facility shall impose reasonable restrictions necessary to ensure the child’s continued custody.
4. A child placed in a shelter care facility under this section shall not be held for a period in excess of forty-eight hours without an oral or written court order authorizing the shelter care. When the action is authorized by an oral court order, the court shall enter a written order before the end of the next day confirming the oral order and indicating the reasons for the order. A child placed in shelter care pursuant to section 232.19, subsection 1, paragraph “c”, shall not be held in excess of seventy-two hours in any event. If deemed appropriate by the court, an order authorizing shelter care placement may include a determination that continuation of the child in the child’s home is contrary to the child’s welfare and that reasonable efforts as defined in section 232.57 have been made. The inclusion of such a determination shall not under any circumstances be deemed a prerequisite for entering an order pursuant to this section. However, the inclusion of such a determination, supported by the record, may be used by the department to assist in obtaining federal funding for the child’s placement.
5. If no satisfactory provision is made for uniting a child placed in shelter care pursuant to section 232.19, subsection 1, paragraph “c”, with the child’s family, a child in need of assistance complaint may be filed pursuant to section 232.81. Nothing in this subsection shall limit the right of a child to file a family in need of assistance petition under section 232.125.
6. A child twelve years of age or younger shall not be placed in a group shelter care home, unless there have been reasonable but unsuccessful efforts to place the child in an emergency foster family home which is able to meet the needs of the child. The efforts shall be documented at the shelter care hearing.