A still-alive MS Bill seeks to tweak the Youth Court timeline when a child has been adjudicated neglected and abused for a permanency hearing.

The current law requires that the youth court shall conduct a permanency hearing within one hundred twenty (120) days or every sixty (60) days for children under three (3) years of age after the earlier of:

(i) An adjudication that the child has been abused or neglected; or

(ii) The date of the child’s removal from the allegedly abusive or neglectful custodian/parent.

The proposed changes requires;

the youth court shall conduct a permanency hearing within * * * three (3) months * * * after the earlier of the following and every three (3) months thereafter:

(i) An adjudication that the child has been abused or neglected; or
(ii) The date of the child’s removal from the allegedly abusive or neglectful custodian/parent.

This change is not that significant and likely will not effect you.

Matthew Thompson is a child welfare attorney and noticed this when review pending legislation and needed a filler blog for the week of Spring Break.