Amends existing law to establish provisions regarding visitation and termination of parental rights.

LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO Sixty-eighth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2026 IN THE SENATE SENATE BILL NO. 1257 BY HEALTH AND WELFARE COMMITTEE AN ACT1 RELATING TO CHILD PROTECTION; AMENDING SECTION 16-1602, IDAHO CODE, TO2 DEFINE A TERM; AMENDING SECTION 16-2005, IDAHO CODE, TO REVISE PROVI-3 SIONS REGARDING CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH TERMINATION MAY BE GRANTED; AND4 DECLARING AN EMERGENCY AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.5

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:6

SECTION 1. That Section 16-1602, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby7 amended to read as follows:8 16-1602. DEFINITIONS. For purposes of this chapter:9 (1) "Abused" means any case in which a child has been the victim of:10 (a) Conduct or omission resulting in skin bruising, bleeding, mal-11 nutrition, burns, fracture of any bone, head injury, soft tissue12 swelling, failure to thrive or death, and such condition or death is not13 justifiably explained, or where the history given concerning such con-14 dition or death is at variance with the degree or type of such condition15 or death, or the circumstances indicate that such condition or death may16 not be the product of an accidental occurrence; or17 (b) Sexual conduct, including rape, molestation, incest, commercial18 sexual activity, obscene or pornographic photographing, filming or de-19 piction for commercial purposes, human trafficking as defined in chap-20 ter 86, title 18, Idaho Code, or other similar forms of sexual exploita-21 tion harming or threatening the child's health or welfare or mental in-22 jury to the child.23 (2) "Abandoned" means the failure of the parent to maintain a normal24 parental relationship with his child including, but not limited to, reason-25 able support or regular personal contact. Failure to maintain this rela-26 tionship without just cause for a period of one (1) year shall constitute27 prima facie evidence of abandonment.28 (3) "Adaptive equipment" means any piece of equipment or any item that29 is used to increase, maintain or improve the parenting capabilities of a par-30 ent with a disability.31 (4) "Adjudicatory hearing" means a hearing to determine:32 (a) Whether the child comes under the jurisdiction of the court pur-33 suant to the provisions of this chapter;34 (b) Whether continuation of the child in the home would be contrary to35 the child's welfare and whether the best interest of the child requires36 protective supervision or vesting legal custody of the child in an au-37 thorized agency.38 (5) "Age of developmentally appropriate" means:39 (a) Activities that are generally accepted as suitable for children of40 the same chronological age or level of maturity or that are determined41 to be developmentally appropriate for a child, based on the development42

2 of cognitive, emotional, physical and behavioral capacities that are1 typical for an age or age group; and2 (b) In the case of a specific child, activities or items that are suit-3 able for the child based on the developmental stages attained by the4 child with respect to the cognitive, emotional, physical and behavioral5 capacities of the child.6 (6) "Aggravated circumstances" includes, but is not limited to:7 (a) Circumstances in which the parent has engaged in any of the follow-8 ing:9 (i) Abandonment, chronic abuse or chronic neglect of the child.10 Chronic neglect or chronic abuse of a child shall consist of abuse11 or neglect that is so extreme or repetitious as to indicate that12 return of the child to the home would result in unacceptable risk13 to the health and welfare of the child.14 (ii) Sexual abuse against a child of the parent. Sexual abuse, for15 the purposes of this section, includes any conduct described in16 section 18-1506, 18-1506A, 18-1507, 18-1508, 18-1508A, 18-6101,17 or 18-6604, or chapter 86, title 18, Idaho Code.18 (iii) Torture of a child. Any conduct listed in section19 18-8303(1), Idaho Code; battery or an injury to a child that re-20 sults in serious or great bodily injury to a child; voluntary21 manslaughter of a child, or aiding or abetting such voluntary22 manslaughter, soliciting such voluntary manslaughter or attempt-23 ing or conspiring to commit such voluntary manslaughter;24 (b) The parent has committed murder, aided or abetted a murder, so-25 licited a murder or attempted or conspired to commit murder; or26 (c) The parental rights of the parent to another child have been termi-27 nated involuntarily.28 (7) "Authorized agency" means the department, a local agency, a person,29 an organization, corporation, benevolent society or association licensed30 or approved by the department or the court to receive children for control,31 care, maintenance or placement.32 (8) "Caregiver" means a foster parent with whom a child in foster care33 has been placed or a designated official for a child care institution in34 which a child in foster care has been placed.35 (9) "Case plan hearing" means a hearing to approve, modify or reject the36 case plan as provided in section 16-1621, Idaho Code.37 (10) "Child" means an individual who is under the age of eighteen (18)38 years.39 (11) "Child advocacy center" or "CAC" means an organization that ad-40 heres to national best practice standards established by the national41 membership and accrediting body for children's advocacy centers and that42 promotes a comprehensive and coordinated multidisciplinary team response to43 allegations of child abuse by maintaining a child-friendly facility at which44 appropriate services are provided. These services may include forensic in-45 terviews, forensic medical examinations, mental health services and other46 related victim services.47 (12) "Circumstances of the child" includes, but is not limited to, the48 joint legal custody or joint physical custody of the child.49 (13) "Commit" means to transfer legal and physical custody.50

3 (14) "Concurrent planning" means a planning model that prepares for and1 implements different outcomes at the same time.2 (15) "Court" means district court or magistrate division thereof or, if3 the context requires, a magistrate or judge thereof.4 (16) "Custodian" means a person, other than a parent or legal guardian,5 to whom legal or joint legal custody of the child has been given by court or-6 der.7 (17) "Department" means the department of health and welfare and its au-8 thorized representatives.9 (18) "Disability" means, with respect to an individual, any mental or10 physical impairment that substantially limits one (1) or more major life11 activities of the individual including, but not limited to, self-care, man-12 ual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, learning or working, or a13 record of such an impairment, or being regarded as having such an impairment.14 Disability shall not include transvestism, transsexualism, pedophilia,15 exhibitionism, voyeurism, other sexual behavior disorders, or substance use16 disorders, compulsive gambling, kleptomania or pyromania. Sexual prefer-17 ence or orientation is not considered an impairment or disability. Whether18 an impairment substantially limits a major life activity shall be determined19 without consideration of the effect of corrective or mitigating measures20 used to reduce the effects of the impairment.21 (19) "Family or household member" shall have the same meaning as in sec-22 tion 39-6303(6), Idaho Code.23 (20) "Foster care" means twenty-four (24) hour substitute parental care24 for children placed away from their parents or guardians by persons who may25 or may not be related to the children and for whom the state agency has place-26 ment and care responsibility.27 (21) "Foster parent" means a person or persons licensed to provide fos-28 ter care.29 (22) "Grant administrator" means the supreme court or any organization30 or agency as may be designated by the supreme court in accordance with such31 procedures as may be adopted by the supreme court. The grant administrator32 shall administer funds from the guardian ad litem account in accordance with33 the provisions of this chapter.34 (23) "Guardian ad litem" means a person appointed by the court pursuant35 to a guardian ad litem volunteer program to act as special advocate for a36 child under this chapter.37 (24) "Guardian ad litem coordinator" means a person or entity receiving38 moneys from the grant administrator for the purpose of carrying out any of39 the duties set forth in section 16-1632, Idaho Code.40 (25) "Guardian ad litem program" means the program to recruit, train and41 coordinate volunteer persons to serve as guardians ad litem for abused, ne-42 glected or abandoned children.43 (26) "Homeless," as used in this chapter, shall mean that the child is44 without adequate shelter or other living facilities, and the lack of such45 shelter or other living facilities poses a threat to the health, safety or46 well-being of the child.47 (27) "Idaho network of children's advocacy centers" means an organiza-48 tion that provides education and technical assistance to child advocacy cen-49

4 ters and to interagency multidisciplinary teams developed pursuant to sec-1 tion 16-1617, Idaho Code.2 (28) "Law enforcement agency" means a city police department, the pros-3 ecuting attorney of any county, state law enforcement officers, or the of-4 fice of a sheriff of any county.5 (29) "Legal custody" means a relationship created by court order, which6 vests in a custodian the following rights and responsibilities:7 (a) To have physical custody and control of the child, and to determine8 where and with whom the child shall live.9 (b) To supply the child with food, clothing, shelter and incidental ne-10 cessities.11 (c) To provide the child with care, education and discipline.12 (d) To authorize ordinary medical, dental, psychiatric, psychologi-13 cal, or other remedial care and treatment for the child, including care14 and treatment in a facility with a program of services for children, and15 to authorize surgery if the surgery is deemed by two (2) physicians li-16 censed to practice in this state to be necessary for the child.17 (e) Where the parents share legal custody, the custodian may be vested18 with the custody previously held by either or both parents.19 (30) "Mental injury" means a substantial impairment in the intellectual20 or psychological ability of a child to function within a normal range of per-21 formance and/or behavior, for short or long terms.22 (31) "Neglected" means a child:23 (a) Who is without proper parental care and control, or subsistence,24 medical or other care or control necessary for his well-being because of25 the conduct or omission of his parents, guardian or other custodian or26 their neglect or refusal to provide them; however, no child whose parent27 or guardian chooses for such child treatment by prayers through spiri-28 tual means alone in lieu of medical treatment shall be deemed for that29 reason alone to be neglected or lack parental care necessary for his30 health and well-being, but this subsection shall not prevent the court31 from acting pursuant to section 16-1627, Idaho Code; or32 (b) Whose parent, guardian or other custodian is unable to discharge33 the responsibilities to and for the child and, as a result of such in-34 ability, the child lacks the parental care necessary for his health,35 safety or well-being; or36 (c) Who has been placed for care or adoption in violation of law; or37 (d) Who is without proper education because of the failure to comply38 with section 33-202, Idaho Code.39 (32) "Order to prevent removal," as described in section 16-1611(5),40 Idaho Code, means an order to allow a child to remain in the child's present41 surroundings when there is reasonable cause to believe the child is safe in42 the sole care of one (1) parent, legal guardian, or legal custodian and when43 there is alleged neglect or abuse by another parent, legal guardian, or legal44 custodian.45 (33) "Permanency hearing" means a hearing to review, approve, reject or46 modify the permanency plan of the department and to review reasonable ef-47 forts in accomplishing the permanency plan.48 (34) "Permanency plan" means a plan for a continuous residence and main-49 tenance of nurturing relationships during the child's minority.50

5 (35) "Protective supervision" is a legal status created by court order1 in a child protective case whereby the child is in the legal custody of his or2 her parent(s), guardian(s) or other legal custodian(s), subject to supervi-3 sion by the department.4 (36) "Psychotropic medication" means a drug prescribed to affect psy-5 chological functioning, perception, behavior or mood. Psychotropic medi-6 cations include, but are not limited to, antidepressants, mood stabilizers,7 antipsychotics, antianxiety medications, sedatives and stimulants.8 (37) "Qualified individual" means a trained professional or licensed9 clinician who is not connected to or affiliated with any placement setting10 in which children are placed by the department and who is not an employee of11 child and family services, unless a waiver has been approved by the autho-12 rized agency.13 (38) "Qualified residential treatment program" means a program that has14 a trauma-informed treatment model designed to address the needs of children15 with serious emotional or behavioral disorders or disturbances, is able to16 implement the treatment identified for the child by the assessment of the17 child required under section 16-1619A(2), Idaho Code, and is licensed and18 accredited in accordance with state and federal law.19 (39) "Reasonable and prudent parent standard" means the standard of20 care characterized by careful and sensible parental decisions that main-21 tain the health, safety and best interests of a child while simultaneously22 encouraging the emotional and developmental growth of the child that a care-23 giver shall use when determining whether to allow a child in foster care24 under the responsibility of the state to participate in extracurricular,25 enrichment, cultural or social activities.26 (40) "Relative" means a child's grandparent, great grandparent, aunt,27 great aunt, uncle, great uncle, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, first28 cousin, sibling and half-sibling.29 (41) "Residual parental rights and responsibilities" means those30 rights and responsibilities remaining with the parents after the transfer of31 legal custody including, but not necessarily limited to, the right of visi-32 tation, the right to consent to adoption, the right to determine religious33 affiliation, the right to family counseling when beneficial, and the respon-34 sibility for support.35 (42) "Shelter care" means places designated by the department for tem-36 porary care of children pending court disposition or placement.37 (43) "Supportive services," as used in this chapter, shall mean ser-38 vices that assist parents with a disability to compensate for those aspects39 of their disability that affect their ability to care for their child and40 that will enable them to discharge their parental responsibilities. The41 term includes specialized or adapted training, evaluations or assistance42 with effectively using adaptive equipment and accommodations that allow43 parents with a disability to benefit from other services including, but not44 limited to, Braille texts or sign language interpreters.45 (44)(a) "Visitation" means contact between a child and the child's par-46 ent, guardian, custodian, or siblings. Visitation includes in-person47 visitation, video communication, telephonic contact, and written com-48 munication.49

6 (b) When the department has a substantiated claim of sexual abuse or1 physical abuse against the parent, guardian, or custodian, in-person2 visitation shall not be permitted unless the court finds that in-per-3 son visitation is in the best interest of the child. The court shall4 set forth written conditions for such in-person visitation that ensures5 the visitation is safe and does not harm the child's physical or mental6 health. Unless the court finds good cause to deviate, the written con-7 ditions shall include:8 (i) The parent, guardian, or custodian shall not be left alone9 with the child for any reason, including restroom breaks;10 (ii) The parent, guardian, or custodian shall not allow the child11 to sit on the person's, guardian's, or custodian's lap when there12 is substantiated sexual abuse; and13 (iii) The parent, guardian, or custodian shall not be allowed to14 engage in secret conversations or other communication that cannot15 be monitored in real time.16 (c) For the purposes of this subsection:17 (i) "Physical abuse" is as defined in subsection (1)(a) of this18 section, where the abuse caused life-threatening, disabling, or19 disfiguring injury or damage, or required medical treatment as20 recommended by a medical provider.21 (ii) "Sexual abuse" is as defined in subsection (1)(b) of this22 section and includes "sexual exploitation" as described in sec-23 tions 18-1507 and 18-1507A, Idaho Code.24 (iii) "Substantiated claim" means:25 1. Abuse was witnessed by an employee of the department;26 2. A court determines in an adjudicatory hearing that an27 abused child comes within the jurisdiction of this chapter;28 3. An alleged offender confessed;29 4. Abuse was corroborated by physical or medical evidence;30 or31 5. Abuse has been established by a preponderance of the evi-32 dence.33

SECTION 2. That Section 16-2005, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby34 amended to read as follows:35 16-2005. CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH TERMINATION MAY BE GRANTED.36 (1)(a) The court may grant an order terminating the relationship where37 it finds that termination of parental rights is in the best interests of38 the child and that one (1) or more of the following conditions exist:39 (i) The parent has abandoned the child;40 (ii) The parent has neglected or abused the child;41 (iii) The presumptive parent is not the biological parent of the42 child;43 (iv) The parent is unable to discharge parental responsibilities44 and such inability will continue for a prolonged indeterminate pe-45 riod and will be injurious to the health, morals or well-being of46 the child; or47

7 (v) The parent has been incarcerated and is likely to remain in-1 carcerated for a substantial period of time during the child's mi-2 nority.; or3 (vi) The parent is incarcerated at the time of the termination4 hearing and has been or likely will remain incarcerated for a sub-5 stantial portion of the child's minority, and termination is ini-6 tiated by the department for such child who is in the legal custody7 of the department.8 (b) For terminations arising from a case filed pursuant to chapter 16,9 title 16, Idaho Code, additional factors that inform what is in the best10 interest of the child, beyond those otherwise identified by the courts,11 include:12 (i) The parent's efforts to improve the parent's capacity to13 safely reunify with the child;14 (ii) The parent's demonstrated ability to live a law-abiding15 life, excepting infraction violations; and16 (iii) When the child has formed a strong and positive bond with the17 child's substitute caretaker, the strong and positive bond has ex-18 isted for a substantial portion of the child's life, the removal of19 the child from the substitute caretaker would likely cause serious20 psychological harm to the child, and the parent lacks the capacity21 to meet the needs of the child upon removal.22 (2) The court may grant an order terminating the relationship and may23 rebuttably presume that such termination of parental rights is in the best24 interests of the child where:25 (a) The parent caused the child to be conceived as a result of rape,26 incest, lewd conduct with a minor child under the age of sixteen (16)27 years, or sexual abuse of a child under the age of sixteen (16) years, as28 defined in sections 18-6101, 18-1508, 18-1506, and 18-6601, Idaho Code;29 (b) The following circumstances are present:30 (i) Abandonment, chronic abuse or chronic neglect of the child.31 Chronic neglect or chronic abuse of a child shall consist of abuse32 or neglect that is so extreme or repetitious as to indicate con-33 tinuing the relationship would result in unacceptable risk to the34 health and welfare of the child;35 (ii) Sexual abuse against a child of the parent. Sexual abuse, for36 the purposes of this section, includes any conduct described in37 section 18-1506, 18-1506A, 18-1507, 18-1508, 18-1508A, 18-6101,38 or 18-6604, Idaho Code;39 (iii) Torture of a child; any conduct described in the code sec-40 tions listed in section 18-8303(1), Idaho Code; battery or an41 injury to a child that results in serious or great bodily in-42 jury to a child; voluntary manslaughter of a child, or aiding or43 abetting such voluntary manslaughter, soliciting such voluntary44 manslaughter or attempting or conspiring to commit such voluntary45 manslaughter;46 (iv) The parent has committed murder, aided or abetted a murder,47 solicited a murder or attempted or conspired to commit murder; or48

8 (c) The court determines the child to be an abandoned infant, except in1 a parental termination action brought by one (1) parent against another2 parent.3 (3) The court shall not grant an order terminating the relationship4 based on the child's immunization status.5 (4) The court may grant an order terminating the relationship if termi-6 nation is found to be in the best interest of the parent and child.7 (5) The court may grant an order terminating the relationship where a8 consent to termination in the manner and form prescribed by this chapter has9 been filed by the parent or parents of the child in conjunction with a peti-10 tion for adoption initiated by the person or persons proposing to adopt the11 child, where the consent to termination has been filed by a licensed adop-12 tion agency, or where the termination is initiated by the department per-13 taining to a child who is in the legal custody of the department, and no sub-14 sequent hearing on the merits of the petition shall be held. Consents re-15 quired by this chapter must be witnessed by a district judge or magistrate of16 a district court, or equivalent judicial officer of the state, where a person17 consenting resides or is present, whether within or without the county, and18 shall be substantially in the following form:19 IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE.... JUDICIAL DISTRICT OF THE STATE OF IDAHO, IN20 AND FOR THE COUNTY OF....21 In the matter of the termination )22 of the parental rights of )23 ................... )24 ................... )25 I (we), the undersigned, being the.... of...., do hereby give my (our)26 full and free consent to the complete and absolute termination of my (our)27 parental right(s), to the said...., who was born....,...., unto...., hereby28 relinquishing completely and forever, all legal rights, privileges, du-29 ties and obligations, including all rights of inheritance to and from the30 said...., and I (we) do hereby expressly waive my (our) right(s) to hear-31 ing on the petition to terminate my (our) parental relationship with the32 said...., and respectfully request the petition be granted.33 DATED:...., 20..34 ................35 STATE OF IDAHO )36 ) ss.37 COUNTY OF.... )38 On this.... day of...., 20.., before me, the undersigned....,....39 (Judge or Magistrate) of the District Court of the.... Judicial District of40 the state of Idaho, in and for the county of...., personally appeared....,41 known to me (or proved to me on the oath of....) to be the person(s) whose42 name(s) is (are) subscribed to the within instrument, and acknowledged to me43 that he (she, they) executed the same.44 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my official45 seal the day and year in this certificate first above written.46 ...................... (District Judge or Magistrate)47

9 (6) The court shall accept a consent or a surrender and release executed1 in another state if:2 (a) It is witnessed by a magistrate or district judge of the state where3 signed; or4 (b) The court receives an affidavit or a certificate from a court of5 comparable jurisdiction stating that the consent or the surrender and6 release was executed in accordance with the laws of the state in which it7 was executed, or the court is satisfied by other showing that the con-8 sent or surrender and release was executed in accordance with the laws9 of the state in which it was executed.10 (7) The court shall accept a termination or relinquishment from a sis-11 ter state that has been ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction under12 like proceedings or in any other manner authorized by the laws of a sister13 state. In a state where the father has failed to file notice of claim to pa-14 ternity and willingness to assume responsibility as provided for pursuant to15 the laws of such state, and where such failure constitutes an abandonment of16 such child and constitutes a termination or relinquishment of the rights of17 the putative father, the court shall accept such failure as a termination in18 this state without further hearing on the merits if the court is satisfied19 that such failure constitutes a termination or relinquishment of parental20 rights pursuant to the laws of that state.21 (8) The court shall hold a hearing unless:22 (a) A consent to termination signed by the parent or parents of the23 child has been filed by an adoption agency licensed in the state of24 Idaho;25 (b) A consent to termination was filed in conjunction with a petition26 for adoption of the child; or27 (c) A consent to termination signed by the parent or parents of the28 child has been filed and the termination is initiated by the department29 pertaining to a child who is in legal custody of the department.30 (9) If the parent has a disability, as defined in this chapter, the par-31 ent shall have the right to provide evidence to the court regarding the man-32 ner in which the use of adaptive equipment or supportive services will enable33 the parent to carry out the responsibilities of parenting the child. Nothing34 in this section shall be construed to create any new or additional obligation35 on state or local governments to purchase or provide adaptive equipment or36 supportive services for parents with disabilities.37

SECTION 3. An emergency existing therefor, which emergency is hereby38 declared to exist, this act shall be in full force and effect on and after39 July 1, 2026.40