The law changes how lawyers for children in dependency cases represent them, bars retaliation against foster children who report rights violations, changes how the Department of Child Safety (DCS) handles children's federal benefits and relative searches, and raises the proof needed to list someone in the child abuse registry from probable cause to a preponderance of the evidence.
Official title: DCS; policies; procedures
- September 12, 2026
- January 15, 2027: Deadline for county offices that employ children's attorneys to report monthly data for June 1, 2026 through December 31, 2026 to the governor and legislative leaders
- Repealed after June 30, 2027: The one-time county office reporting requirement
What changes
BeforeA court-appointed lawyer represented a child in dependency or termination of parental rights cases through dismissal, with no stated steps for a child who cannot direct the case.
NowThe child's lawyer must decide whether the child has diminished capacity, after consulting the child, people who know the child and the family. If the child cannot direct the case, the lawyer must use 'substituted judgment,' meaning deciding what the child would choose if able. If the lawyer reasonably believes the child is at risk of substantial harm and lacks the capacity to adequately act in the child's own interest, the lawyer must either tell the court or ask it to appoint a guardian ad litem.
BeforeA foster child could report a rights violation without fear of punishment, except that punishment could be applied if the child was proven to have maliciously or wrongfully accused the foster parent.
NowThat exception is removed. Foster parents, kinship caregivers, foster and group homes, and their employees, contractors or agents may not take, threaten or cause retaliatory action against a child who reports, or takes part in an investigation, in good faith. The law lists examples, such as unjustified placement changes, cutting privileges or visits, and false reports about the child. Foster children also gain listed rights to immediate and unbiased health care, to voluntary enrichment activities and to be free of bullying or discrimination.
BeforeTo list a person in the central child abuse registry, DCS and the administrative law judge looked at whether probable cause supported the abuse or neglect finding.
NowThe finding must be supported by a preponderance of the evidence, which generally means more likely true than not.
BeforeDCS had to identify a representative payee for a child's Social Security or veterans benefits with the child and the child's lawyer, and apply to be payee only if no other suitable person was available.
NowDCS must apply to be the payee until someone else is appointed, and may stay payee only if no other appropriate person is available. DCS must file its efforts to find an outside payee with the court within 30 days after approval and at each review or permanency hearing, and must consult the parties at least by the annual screening, on request of the child or the child's lawyer, or when circumstances change.
BeforeDCS filed documentation of its search for relatives within 30 days of custody and at later hearings, and had to keep searching if a child was not in a permanent placement.
NowDCS files an initial report and must update it at each later hearing with new information. After the permanency hearing, if DCS and the court decide the child is with a prospective permanent placement, DCS may stop searching unless the court orders it, the placement changes or a party shows the search is in the child's best interest.
Who it affects
- Children in foster care or kinship foster care
- Parents and relatives of children in DCS cases
- Foster parents, kinship caregivers, group homes and their staff
- People accused of child abuse or neglect
- Attorneys appointed for children
- Department of Child Safety
- County offices that employ children's attorneys
- Courts and the office of administrative hearings
What you need to do
Nothing.
What the law doesn't answer
- Whether there is any penalty for a caregiver or facility that retaliates against a child
- Whether the new evidence standard applies to registry cases already pending
- How a lawyer should weigh the child's wishes against best interest beyond the listed steps
- Whether county offices receive funding for the new reporting
- What happens if DCS does not file the payee or relative search documentation
This summary describes the law as enacted. Later laws, court rulings or referendum petitions can change the picture. Check the official text for the current wording.