MS HB484

Allows parents or legal custodians to delegate care and custody powers to an attorney-in-fact through a power of attorney, excluding consent to marriage, adoption, abortion, or termination of parental rights.

Requires powers of attorney to be facilitated by a licensed nongovernmental organization or charitable organization operating under the Safe Families for Children model, with criminal history and abuse background checks required for designated caregivers and household members over age 15.

Prohibits use of power of attorney solely for school enrollment or athletic participation purposes, except as permitted under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act.

Adds definitions to youth court law including "durable legal relative guardianship," "relative," and "fictive kin" (a person with significant familial-like ongoing relationship but not legally or biologically related).

Requires child protective investigators to provide parents or guardians information about community service programs when investigations do not result in out-of-home placement; effective July 1, 2017.