| (1) |
In determining whether a parent or parents have abandoned a child, it is prima facie evidence of abandonment that the parent or parents:
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Terms Used In Utah Code 80-4-302- Abuse: means :
| (i) | | (A) | nonaccidental harm of a child; |
| (B) | threatened harm of a child; |
| (E) | human trafficking of a child in violation of Section 76-5-308. See Utah Code 80-1-102- Child: means , except as provided in Section 80-2-905, an individual who is under 18 years old. See Utah Code 80-1-102
- committed: means , unless specified otherwise:
| (a) | with respect to a child, to transfer legal custody; and |
| (b) | with respect to a minor who is at least 18 years old, to transfer custody. See Utah Code 80-1-102- Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
- Division: means the Division of Child and Family Services created in Section 80-2-201. See Utah Code 80-4-102
- 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.
- Failure of parental adjustment: means that a parent or parents are unable or unwilling within a reasonable time to substantially correct the circumstances, conduct, or conditions that led to placement of their child outside of their home, notwithstanding reasonable and appropriate efforts made by the division to return the child to the home. See Utah Code 80-4-102
- Legal custody: means a relationship embodying:
| (a) | the right to physical custody of the minor; |
| (b) | the right and duty to protect, train, and discipline the minor; |
| (c) | the duty to provide the minor with food, clothing, shelter, education, and ordinary medical care; |
| (d) | the right to determine where and with whom the minor shall live; and |
| (e) | the right, in an emergency, to authorize surgery or other extraordinary care. See Utah Code 80-1-102- Mental illness: means :
| (a) | a psychiatric disorder that substantially impairs an individual's mental, emotional, behavioral, or related functioning; or |
| (b) | the same as that term is defined in:| (i) | the current edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association; or |
| (ii) | the current edition of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems. See Utah Code 80-1-102- Minor: means , except as provided in Sections 80-6-501, 80-6-901, and 80-7-102:
| (b) | an individual:| (i) | | (A) | who is at least 18 years old and younger than 21 years old; and |
| (B) | for whom the Division of Child and Family Services has been specifically ordered by the juvenile court to provide services because the individual was an abused, neglected, or dependent child or because the individual was adjudicated for an offense; |
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| (ii) | | (A) | who is at least 18 years old and younger than 25 years old; and |
| (B) | whose case is under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court in accordance with Subsection 78A-6-103(1)(b); or |
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| (iii) | | (A) | who is at least 18 years old and younger than 21 years old; and |
| (B) | whose case is under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court in accordance with Subsection 78A-6-103(1)(c). See Utah Code 80-1-102- Natural parent: includes the minor's noncustodial parent. See Utah Code 80-1-102
- Neglect: means action or inaction causing:
| (i) | abandonment of a child, except as provided in 5; |
| (ii) | lack of proper parental care of a child by reason of the fault or habits of the parent, guardian, or custodian; |
| (iii) | failure or refusal of a parent, guardian, or custodian to provide proper or necessary subsistence or medical care, or any other care necessary for the child's health, safety, morals, or well-being; |
| (iv) | a child to be at risk of being neglected or abused because another child in the same home is neglected or abused; |
| (v) | abandonment of a child through an unregulated child custody transfer under Section 78B-24-203; or |
| (vi) | educational neglect. See Utah Code 80-1-102- Person: means :Utah Code 68-3-12.5
- Sexual exploitation: means knowingly:
| (a) | employing, using, persuading, inducing, enticing, or coercing any child to:| (i) | pose in the nude for the purpose of sexual arousal of any individual; or |
| (ii) | engage in any sexual or simulated sexual conduct for the purpose of photographing, filming, recording, or displaying in any way the sexual or simulated sexual conduct; |
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| (b) | displaying, distributing, possessing for the purpose of distribution, or selling material depicting a child:| (i) | in the nude, for the purpose of sexual arousal of any individual; or |
| (ii) | engaging in sexual or simulated sexual conduct; or |
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| (c) | engaging in any conduct that would constitute an offense under Section 76-5b-201, sexual exploitation of a minor, or Section 76-5b-201. See Utah Code 80-1-102- Shelter: means the temporary care of a child in a physically unrestricted facility pending a disposition or transfer to another jurisdiction. See Utah Code 80-1-102
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes a state, district, or territory of the United States. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
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| (a) |
although having legal custody of the child, have surrendered physical custody of the child, and for a period of six months following the surrender have not manifested to the child or to the person having the physical custody of the child a firm intention to resume physical custody or to make arrangements for the care of the child; |
| (b) |
have failed to communicate with the child by mail, telephone, or otherwise for six months; |
| (c) |
failed to have shown the normal interest of a natural parent, without just cause; or |
| (d) |
have abandoned an infant, as described in Section 80-4-203. |
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| (2) |
In determining whether a parent or parents are unfit or have neglected a child the juvenile court shall consider:
| (a) |
emotional illness, mental illness, or mental deficiency of the parent that renders the parent unable to care for the immediate and continuing physical or emotional needs of the child for extended periods of time; |
| (b) |
conduct toward a child of a physically, emotionally, or sexually cruel or abusive nature; |
| (c) |
habitual or excessive use of intoxicating liquors, controlled substances, or dangerous drugs that render the parent unable to care for the child; |
| (d) |
repeated or continuous failure to provide the child with adequate food, clothing, shelter, education, or other care necessary for the child’s physical, mental, and emotional health and development by a parent or parents who are capable of providing that care; |
| (e) |
whether the parent is incarcerated as a result of conviction of a felony, and the sentence is of such length that the child will be deprived of a normal home for more than one year; |
| (f) |
a history of violent behavior; |
| (g) |
whether the parent has intentionally exposed the child to pornography or material harmful to a minor, as defined in Section 76-10-1201; or |
| (h) |
any other circumstance, conduct, or condition that the court considers relevant in the determination of whether a parent or parents are unfit or have neglected the child. |
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| (3) |
Notwithstanding Subsection (2)(c), the juvenile court may not discriminate against a parent because of or otherwise consider the parent’s lawful possession or consumption of cannabis in a medicinal dosage form, a cannabis product, as those terms are defined in Section 26B-4-201 or a medical cannabis device, in accordance with 2. |
| (4) |
A parent who, legitimately practicing the parent’s religious beliefs, does not provide specified medical treatment for a child is not, for that reason alone, a negligent or unfit parent. |
| (5) |
| (a) |
Notwithstanding Subsection (2), a parent may not be considered neglectful or unfit because of a health care decision made for a child by the child’s parent unless the state or other party to the proceeding shows, by clear and convincing evidence, that the health care decision is not reasonable and informed. |
| (b) |
Nothing in Subsection (5)(a) may prohibit a parent from exercising the right to obtain a second health care opinion. |
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| (6) |
If a child has been placed in the custody of the division and the parent or parents fail to comply substantially with the terms and conditions of a plan within six months after the date on which the child was placed or the plan was commenced, whichever occurs later, that failure to comply is evidence of failure of parental adjustment. |
| (7) |
The following circumstances are prima facie evidence of unfitness:
| (a) |
sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, injury, or death of a sibling of the child, or of any child, due to known or substantiated abuse or neglect by the parent or parents; |
| (b) |
conviction of a crime, if the facts surrounding the crime are of such a nature as to indicate the unfitness of the parent to provide adequate care to the extent necessary for the child’s physical, mental, or emotional health and development; |
| (c) |
a single incident of life-threatening or gravely disabling injury to or disfigurement of the child; |
| (d) |
the parent has committed, aided, abetted, attempted, conspired, or solicited to commit murder or manslaughter of a child or child abuse homicide; or |
| (e) |
the parent intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly causes the death of another parent of the child, without legal justification. |
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Amended by Chapter 330, 2023 General Session
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