Subdivision 1.Required permanency proceedings.

(a) Except for children in foster care pursuant to chapter 260D, where the child is in foster care or in the care of a noncustodial or nonresident parent, the court shall commence proceedings to determine the permanent status of a child by holding the admit-deny hearing required under section 260C.507 not later than 12 months after the child is placed in foster care or in the care of a noncustodial or nonresident parent. Permanency proceedings for children in foster care pursuant to chapter 260D shall be according to section 260D.07.

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Terms Used In Minnesota Statutes 260C.503

  • Agency: means the responsible social services agency or a licensed child-placing agency. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
  • Case plan: means any plan for the delivery of services to a child and parent or guardian, or, when reunification is not required, the child alone, that is developed according to the requirements of section 245. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
  • Child: means an individual under 18 years of age. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
  • children: includes children by birth or adoption;

    (9) "day" comprises the time from midnight to the next midnight;

    (10) "fiscal year" means the year by or for which accounts are reckoned;

    (11) "hereafter" means a reference to the time after the time when the law containing such word takes effect;

    (12) "heretofore" means a reference to the time previous to the time when the law containing such word takes effect;

    (13) "judicial sale" means a sale conducted by an officer or person authorized for the purpose by some competent tribunal;

    (14) "minor" means an individual under the age of 18 years;

    (15) "money" means lawful money of the United States;

    (16) "night time" means the time from sunset to sunrise;

    (17) "non compos mentis" refers to an individual of unsound mind;

    (18) "notary" means a notary public;

    (19) "now" in any provision of a law referring to other laws in force, or to persons in office, or to any facts or circumstances as existing, relates to the laws in force, or to the persons in office, or to the facts or circumstances existing, respectively, on the effective date of such provision;

    (20) "verified" when used in reference to writings, means supported by oath or affirmation. See Minnesota Statutes 645.45

  • Compelling reasons: means an individualized determination by the responsible social services agency, which is approved by the court, related to a request by the agency not to initiate proceedings to terminate parental rights or transfer permanent legal and physical custody of a child to the child's relative or former noncustodial parent under section 260C. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
  • Court: means juvenile court unless otherwise specified in this section. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • Egregious harm: means the infliction of bodily harm to a child or neglect of a child which demonstrates a grossly inadequate ability to provide minimally adequate parental care. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
  • 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 24-hour substitute care for a child for whom a responsible social services agency has placement and care responsibility and:

    (1) who is placed away from the child's parent or guardian in foster family homes, foster homes of relatives, group homes, emergency shelters, residential facilities not excluded in this subdivision, child care institutions, and preadoptive homes;

    (2) who is colocated with the child's parent or guardian in a licensed residential family-based substance use disorder treatment program as defined in subdivision 22a; or

    (3) who is returned to the care of the child's parent or guardian from whom the child was removed under a trial home visit pursuant to section 260C. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Licensed residential family-based substance use disorder treatment program: means a residential treatment facility that provides the parent or guardian with parenting skills training, parent education, or individual and family counseling, under an organizational structure and treatment framework that involves understanding, recognizing, and responding to the effects of all types of trauma according to recognized principles of a trauma-informed approach and trauma-specific interventions to address the consequences of trauma and facilitate healing. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
  • Parent: means a person who has a legal parent and child relationship with a child which confers or imposes on the person legal rights, privileges, duties, and obligations consistent with sections 257. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
  • Qualified residential treatment program: means a children's residential treatment program licensed under chapter 245A or licensed or approved by a tribe that is approved to receive foster care maintenance payments under section 256. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
  • Relative: means a person related to the child by blood, marriage, or adoption; the legal parent, guardian, or custodian of the child's siblings; or an individual who is an important friend of the child or of the child's parent or custodian, including an individual with whom the child has resided or had significant contact or who has a significant relationship to the child or the child's parent or custodian. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
  • Responsible social services agency: means the county social services agency that has responsibility for public child welfare and child protection services and includes the provision of adoption services as an agent of the commissioner of human services. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
  • Sibling: means one of two or more individuals who have one or both parents in common through blood, marriage, or adoption. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
  • Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.

(b) Permanency proceedings for a foster child who is colocated with a parent in a licensed residential family-based substance use disorder treatment program shall be conducted according to section 260C.190.

Subd. 2.Termination of parental rights.

(a) The responsible social services agency must ask the county attorney to immediately file a termination of parental rights petition when:

(1) the child has been subjected to egregious harm as defined in section 260C.007, subdivision 14;

(2) the child is determined to be the sibling of a child who was subjected to egregious harm;

(3) the child is an abandoned infant as defined in section 260C.301, subdivision 2, paragraph (a), clause (2);

(4) the child’s parent has lost parental rights to another child through an order involuntarily terminating the parent’s rights;

(5) the parent has committed sexual abuse as defined in section 260E.03, against the child or another child of the parent;

(6) the parent has committed an offense that requires registration as a predatory offender under section 243.166, subdivision 1b, paragraph (a) or (b); or

(7) another child of the parent is the subject of an order involuntarily transferring permanent legal and physical custody of the child to a relative under this chapter or a similar law of another jurisdiction.

The county attorney shall file a termination of parental rights petition unless the conditions of paragraph (d) are met.

(b) When the termination of parental rights petition is filed under this subdivision, the responsible social services agency shall identify, recruit, and approve an adoptive family for the child. If a termination of parental rights petition has been filed by another party, the responsible social services agency shall be joined as a party to the petition.

(c) If criminal charges have been filed against a parent arising out of the conduct alleged to constitute egregious harm, the county attorney shall determine which matter should proceed to trial first, consistent with the best interests of the child and subject to the defendant‘s right to a speedy trial.

(d) The requirement of paragraph (a) does not apply if the responsible social services agency and the county attorney determine and file with the court:

(1) a petition for transfer of permanent legal and physical custody to a relative under sections 260C.505 and 260C.515, subdivision 4, including a determination that adoption is not in the child’s best interests and that transfer of permanent legal and physical custody is in the child’s best interests; or

(2) a petition under section 260C.141 alleging the child, and where appropriate, the child’s siblings, to be in need of protection or services accompanied by a case plan prepared by the responsible social services agency documenting a compelling reason why filing a termination of parental rights petition would not be in the best interests of the child.

Subd. 3.Calculating time to required permanency proceedings.

(a) For purposes of this section, the date of the child’s placement in foster care is the earlier of the first court-ordered placement or 60 days after the date on which the child has been voluntarily placed in foster care by the child’s parent or guardian. For purposes of this section, time spent by a child in the home of the noncustodial parent pursuant to court order under section 260C.178 or under the protective supervision of the responsible social services agency in the home of the noncustodial parent pursuant to an order under section 260C.201, subdivision 1, counts towards the requirement of a permanency hearing under this section. Time spent on a trial home visit counts towards the requirement of a permanency hearing under this section and the permanency progress review required under section 260C.204.

(b) For the purposes of this section, 12 months is calculated as follows:

(1) during the pendency of a petition alleging that a child is in need of protection or services, all time periods when a child is placed in foster care or in the home of a noncustodial parent are cumulated; and

(2) if a child has been placed in foster care within the previous five years under one or more previous petitions, the lengths of all prior time periods when the child was placed in foster care within the previous five years are cumulated. If a child under this clause has been in foster care for 12 months or more, the court, if it is in the best interests of the child and for compelling reasons, may extend the total time the child may continue out of the home under the current petition up to an additional six months before making a permanency determination.

(c) If the child is on a trial home visit 12 months after the child was placed in foster care or in the care of a noncustodial parent, the responsible social services agency may file a report with the court regarding the child’s and parent’s progress on the trial home visit and the agency’s reasonable efforts to finalize the child’s safe and permanent return to the care of the parent in lieu of filing the petition required under section 260C.505. The court shall make findings regarding the reasonable efforts of the agency to finalize the child’s return home as the permanency disposition order in the best interests of the child. The court may continue the trial home visit to a total time not to exceed six months as provided in section 260C.201, subdivision 1, paragraph (a), clause (3). If the court finds the agency has not made reasonable efforts to finalize the child’s return home as the permanency disposition order in the child’s best interests, the court may order other or additional efforts to support the child remaining in the care of the parent. If a trial home visit ordered or continued at permanency proceedings under sections 260C.503 to 260C.521 terminates, the court shall commence or recommence permanency proceedings under this chapter no later than 30 days after the child is returned to foster care or to the care of a noncustodial parent.

Subd. 4.Qualified residential treatment program; permanency hearing requirements.

When a child is placed in a qualified residential treatment program as defined in section 260C.007, subdivision 26d, the responsible social services agency must submit evidence to the court as specified in section 260C.712.