1. Any hearings or proceedings under this subchapter subsequent to the filing of a petition shall not take place without the presence of the child‘s parent, guardian, custodian, or guardian ad litem in accordance with and subject to section 232.38. A parent without custody shall be made a party to proceedings under this subchapter.
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Terms Used In Iowa Code 232.91

  • 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
  • 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
  • Fictive kin: means an adult person who is not a relative of a child but who has an emotionally positive significant relationship with the child or the child's family. 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.
  • Institution: means a birthing hospital. See Iowa Code 252A.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
  • person: means individual, corporation, limited liability company, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership or association, or any other legal entity. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Petition: means a pleading the filing of which initiates formal judicial proceedings in the juvenile court. See Iowa Code 232.2
  • Preadoptive care: means the provision of parental nurturing on a full-time basis to a child in foster care by a person who has signed a preadoptive placement agreement with the department for the purposes of proceeding with a legal adoption of the child. 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
 2. An agency, facility, institution, adult relative with a substantial relationship to the child, fictive kin, or individual providing custodial care to the child may petition the court to be made a party to proceedings under this subchapter.
 3. Any person who is entitled under section 232.88 to receive notice of a hearing concerning a child shall be given the opportunity to be heard in any other review or hearing involving the child. A foster parent, adult relative, or other individual with whom a child has been placed for preadoptive care shall have the right to be heard in any proceeding involving the child. If a child is of an age appropriate to attend the hearing but the child does not attend, the court shall determine if the child was informed of the child’s right to attend the hearing. A presumption exists that it is in the best interests of a child ten years of age or older to attend all hearings.
 4. If a child is of an age appropriate to attend a hearing but the child does not attend, the court shall determine if the child was informed of the child’s right to attend the hearing. A presumption exists that it is in the best interests of a child ten years of age or older to attend all hearings and all staff or family meetings involving placement options or services provided to the child. The department shall allow the child to attend all such hearings and meetings unless the attorney for the child finds the child’s attendance is not in the best interests of the child. If the child is excluded from attending a hearing or meeting, the department shall maintain a written record detailing the reasons for excluding the child. Notwithstanding sections 232.147 through 232.151, a copy of the written record shall be made available to the child upon the request of the child after reaching the age of majority.
 5. For purposes of this section, “attend” includes the appearance of the child at a hearing by video or telephonic means.
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