S.B. 3237 Summary

• Expands Department of Human Services investigative authority to include children who have been adopted or placed in legal guardianship where adoptive families or legal guardians receive federal or state financial assistance.

• Extends DHS oversight to children in foster care with pending adoption petitions or where adoption decrees have been issued but children have not yet been placed in adoptive custody.

• Establishes a two-year Crisis Mobile Outreach Team Pilot Program within the Department of Health beginning July 16, 2022, to provide crisis prevention, intervention, de-escalation, and stabilization services for at-risk youth, with a report due before the 2024 legislative session.

• Requires Department of Human Services to conduct annual or semi-annual in-home visits for families receiving adoption assistance or legal guardianship assistance and submit a report on the impact to the legislature before the 2027 legislative session.

• Appropriates funds to the Department of Health and Department of Human Services for hiring mental health professionals, case workers, support staff, and increasing compensation for existing child welfare case workers; pilot program repeals June 30, 2024.