HB3371 Summary

• Courts must require parents, guardians, custodians, or responsible relatives to provide names, addresses, and telephone numbers of the minor's living maternal and paternal grandparents, aunts, uncles, adult siblings, and other adult relatives during temporary custody hearings.

• Minors charged with criminal offenses cannot be placed in Department of Children and Family Services custody before January 1, 2017 unless under age 16, except those with independent abuse, neglect, or dependency findings; on and after January 1, 2017, the age restriction lowers to under 15 years.

• Department of Children and Family Services must file parent-child visiting plans within 10 days of appointment as temporary custodian, detailing visit frequency, duration, location, and opportunities for telephone and mail contact.

• Department must file sibling placement and contact plans within 10 days when children have siblings in care, specifying whether siblings are placed together and documenting the basis if separation is determined to be in the child's best interest.

• Courts may waive or extend the deadline for filing parent-child visiting plans or sibling plans for good cause, and any party may request court review to determine if plans are consistent with the child's best interests.