HB4736 Amendment Summary

• Amends the Children and Family Services Act to require the Department to place children with siblings unless placement is not in the child's best interest, and to consider placements that preserve sibling relationships.

• Requires the Department to make reasonable efforts to identify, locate, and provide notice to all adult grandparents and other adult relatives when first assuming custody of a child, and to renew these efforts each time a placement change occurs.

• Prohibits placement of a child with a relative if the relative or any adult household member has a prior criminal conviction for specified serious offenses including murder, sex offenses, kidnapping, child abuse, and other violent crimes, with limited exceptions as defined by Department rules.

• Requires the Department to document decisions regarding relative placements, including the basis for rejecting a relative placement or determining that efforts to identify relatives would be futile or inconsistent with the child's best interests.

• Shifts the burden to the Department to prove that a decision not to place a child with a relative is consistent with the child's best interests if an administrative appeal is filed.