ENROLLED
2015 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 125
BY REPRESENTATIVE HOFFMANN
A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
To urge and request the Children's Code Committee of the Louisiana State Law Institute to
study laws and policies relative to continuing contact by parents and other relatives
with children who are subjects of child in need of care proceedings, and to report to
the legislature findings and recommendations for protecting and promoting the well-
being and best interests of such children.
WHEREAS, Title VI of the Louisiana Children's Code provides for actions known
as child in need of care proceedings, referred to hereafter as "CINC proceedings", which are
brought by the state to protect children who are abused, neglected, abandoned, or
endangered, and can result in a termination of parental rights and a complete and permanent
separation of the parent from the child; and
WHEREAS, allegations that a child is in need of care must assert one or more of
several grounds, including abuse of the child perpetrated, aided, or tolerated by the parent
or caretaker, or by a person who maintains a dating relationship with the parent or caretaker;
deprivation of the child of necessary food, clothing, shelter, or medical care; conviction of
a parent of a crime against the child; and other grounds provided for in Children's Code
Article 606; and
WHEREAS, if a child is adjudicated to be in need of care, the disposition order may
leave the child in a parent's custody or give custody to some other individual, a private
agency, or the state; and
WHEREAS, courts have the responsibility of determining the best interest of a child
in need of care with respect to custody of the child; and
Page 1 of 3 HCR NO. 125 ENROLLED
WHEREAS, as the state agency tasked with ensuring the safety of children, the
Department of Children and Family Services, referred to hereafter as "DCFS", makes
recommendations and decisions for child placement and custody based on the immediate and
ongoing needs of the child for safety and permanency in order to secure the well-being of
the child; and
WHEREAS, DCFS and the courts of this state make dedicated efforts to balance the
safety, permanency, and well-being of children with the constitutionally protected rights of
family privacy and parental decisionmaking; and
WHEREAS, the process of making child placement and permanency decisions is
often extremely challenging for family members and other persons who are involved in the
life of the child; and
WHEREAS, DCFS provides foster care services to over eight thousand children
annually; and
WHEREAS, within the past three years, DCFS, through its Faith in Families
Initiative, has exceeded national standards by improving the rate of children being reunified
with their families within twelve months of entry into foster care from seventy-two percent
to seventy-six and six-tenths percent, and also improving the rate of adoption of children
within twenty-four months of entry into foster care from twenty-eight percent to forty-two
percent; and
WHEREAS, while DCFS has demonstrated significant improvements in achieving
permanency for children in foster care expeditiously, ongoing quality improvement is
essential for the state to make further progress in achieving safe and permanent family
placements for children in foster care; and
WHEREAS, in order to support continued improvement of the Louisiana child
welfare system, it is prudent for the legislature to periodically call for a review of applicable
laws and policies concerning child welfare to ensure that the state is as responsive as
possible to the needs and best interests of our state's children; and
WHEREAS, R.S. 24:204 provides that among the purposes of the Louisiana State
Law Institute are securing the better administration of justice, conducting scholarly legal
research and scientific legal work, and promotion of better adaptation of Louisiana law to
present social needs.
Page 2 of 3 HCR NO. 125 ENROLLED
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
urge and request the Children's Code Committee of the Louisiana State Law Institute to
study laws and policies relative to continuing contact by parents and other relatives with
children who are subjects of child in need of care proceedings.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Children's Code Committee shall include in
its study an examination of potential changes to laws and policies which could expedite
permanency for children in foster care.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Children's Code Committee shall report
findings of its study and recommendations for any changes to laws and policies which would
promote the safety and well-being of children to the House Committee on Health and
Welfare, the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare, the House Committee on the
Administration of Criminal Justice, and the Senate Committee on Judiciary A no later than
sixty days prior to the convening of the 2016 Regular Session of the Legislature of
Louisiana.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
director of the Louisiana State Law Institute and the secretary of the Department of Children
and Family Services.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
Page 3 of 3