1. The court shall not make a disposition of the petition until five working days after a social report has been submitted to the court and counsel for the child and has been considered by the court. The court may waive the five-day requirement upon agreement by all the parties. The court may direct either the juvenile court officer or the department of human services or any other agency licensed by the state to conduct a social investigation and to prepare a social report which may include any evidence provided by an individual providing foster care for the child. A report prepared shall include any founded reports of child abuse.
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Terms Used In Iowa Code 232.97

  • abuse: means :
     (1) Any nonaccidental physical injury, or injury which is at variance with the history given of it, suffered by a child as the result of the acts or omissions of a person responsible for the care of the child. See Iowa Code 232.68
  • 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
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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
  • 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
  • Sexual abuse: means the commission of a sex offense as defined by the penal law. See Iowa Code 232.2
  • Social investigation: means an investigation conducted for the purpose of collecting information relevant to the court's fashioning of an appropriate disposition of a child in need of assistance case over which the court has jurisdiction. See Iowa Code 232.2
  • Social report: means a report furnished to the court which contains the information collected during a social investigation. 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
 2. The social investigation may be conducted and the social history may be submitted to the court prior to the adjudication of the child as a child in need of assistance with the consent of the parties.
 3. The social report shall not be disclosed except as provided in this section and except as otherwise provided in this chapter. At least five days prior to the hearing at which the disposition is determined, the department shall file a copy of the social report with the court and the court shall restrict access of the social report to counsel for the child, counsel for the child’s parent, guardian, or custodian, the department, the court appointed special advocate, a local board as defined in section 237.15, the county attorney, the state’s counsel, and the guardian ad litem. The court may in its discretion order counsel not to disclose parts of the report to the child, or to the parent, guardian, or custodian. If the report indicates the child or parent has behaved in a manner that threatened the safety of another person, has committed a violent act causing bodily injury to another person, or has committed sexual abuse, or the child has been a victim of sexual abuse, unless otherwise ordered by the court, the child’s parent, guardian, or foster parent or other person with custody of or providing substantial care to the child shall be provided with that information.
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