1. The child advocacy board is created within the department of inspections and appeals. The state board consists of nine members appointed by the governor, subject to confirmation by the senate and directly responsible to the governor. One member shall be an active court appointed special advocate volunteer, one member shall be an active member of a local citizen foster care review board, and one member shall be a judicial branch employee or judicial officer appointed from nominees submitted by the judicial branch. The appointment is for a term of four years that begins and ends as provided in section 69.19. Vacancies on the state board shall be filled in the same manner as original appointments are made.

Terms Used In Iowa Code 237.16

  • Agency: means a person, as defined in section 4. See Iowa Code 237.1
  • Child: means child as defined in section 234. See Iowa Code 237.1
  • Court: shall mean and include any court upon which jurisdiction has been conferred to determine the liability of persons for the support of dependents. See Iowa Code 252A.2
  • Department: means the department of human services. See Iowa Code 237.1
  • Judicial officer: means a supreme court justice, a judge of the court of appeals, a district judge, a district associate judge, an associate juvenile judge, an associate probate judge, or a magistrate. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" may include the said district and territories. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • year: means twelve consecutive months. See Iowa Code 4.1
 2. The members of the state board shall annually select a chairperson, vice chairperson, and other officers the members deem necessary. The members may be entitled to receive reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties, subject to available funding. Each member of the board may also be eligible to receive compensation as provided in section 7E.6. The state board shall meet at least twice a year.
 3. An employee of the department or of the department of inspections and appeals, an employee of a child-placing agency, an employee of an agency with which the department contracts for services for children under foster care, a foster parent providing foster care, or an employee of the district court is not eligible to serve on the state board. However, the judicial branch employee or judicial officer appointed from nominees submitted by the judicial branch in accordance with subsection 1 shall be eligible to serve on the state board.
 4. The department and the department of inspections and appeals shall jointly develop written protocols detailing the responsibilities of each department with regard to children under the purview of the state board. The protocols shall be reviewed by the departments on an annual basis.