UtahS.B. 1412026 General SessionSenate

Child Welfare Amendments

Sponsored By: Wayne A. Harper (Republican)

Signed by Governor

Health InsuranceAdoptionFoster CareHealth and Human ServicesDivision of Child and Family ServicesChild WelfareDepartment of Health and Human Services

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

7 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 0 costs, 4 mixed.

Families get clearer child welfare disclosures

Beginning May 6, 2026, the child welfare agency must notify every party when it files a covered report or family plan. Parties generally must share information they plan to present at least five days before dispositional hearings and other proceedings. Lawyers and parents without lawyers get access to relevant agency records. Access has exceptions to protect safety, reporter identity, and records controlled by other agencies.

Foster parents get earlier removal review

Beginning May 6, 2026, foster parents can request court review before removal after 12 months of placement, down from two years. The assigned juvenile court judge handles the review, or another juvenile court judge when the assigned judge is unavailable. The agency must give personal and written explanations, allow foster parents to present information and request review, and pause license actions. These steps have exceptions for returns to parents or guardians, approved adoptive homes, qualifying relative placements, and placements under Indian child welfare law. Reviews are expedited when removal rests solely on the child's statement; emergency foster care is available pending review when danger exists. Relative foster parents cannot lose placement solely because of age or health, and the law sets evidence standards for removal decisions.

Safe parents get temporary custody priority

Beginning May 6, 2026, courts must favor temporary placement with another parent who wants custody, unless placement is unsafe or harmful. This applies when that parent was not living with the child when the events leading to court involvement occurred. The court must record findings about the parent's fitness and placement safety. It must order a home visit, required criminal-background checks, and a search of child welfare records. For further court-ordered investigations, the agency must submit written findings within 14 days; temporary agency custody is allowed during the investigation.

More families can set adoption contact

Beginning May 6, 2026, adoptive parents and birth parents or relatives can make contact agreements beyond children in agency custody. For enforcement, the court must approve the agreement before adoption and find it serves the child's best interest. Everyone claiming rights or duties must sign, and children age 12 or older must approve. Agreements cover visits, supervision, information sharing, and grounds for refusing visits or stopping information sharing. After adoption, courts presume adoptive parents' judgment is sound, but evidence can overcome that presumption. Courts can change or end agreements and order mediation; violations do not undo adoption or automatically create monetary liability.

More relatives considered for child placement

Beginning May 6, 2026, Utah counts more people as relatives when placing children, including first, second, and third cousins. Relatives include parents, siblings, grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, great-aunts, and great-uncles by blood, marriage, or adoption. Certain permanent guardians and parents of a child's sibling also qualify; agency rules can expand the list. Courts favor suitable relatives or friends, and Indian children's placements follow federal Indian Child Welfare Act rules. The child welfare agency must promptly assess caregivers' abuse history, the child's comfort, safety, stability, and commitment to care. Required background checks can disqualify caregivers; the agency must then take custody and give written notice within three days. Nonparent placements require supervision, reasonable parent visits unless against the child's best interest, reviews at least every six months, and a permanency hearing within 12 months of removal. Placement cannot discriminate based on religion, though religious matching is allowed. Parties can challenge placements as against the child's best interest; courts must decide parent-placement objections within 15 days after filing and relative-or-friend objections within 30 days.

Parents get hearings but face limits

Beginning May 6, 2026, courts must hold shelter hearings within 72 hours of covered removals or emergency custody events, excluding weekends and holidays. Personal notice is due within one business day after removal or filing. Notice must explain the hearing, child involved, removal allegations and legal grounds, counsel rights, and possible costs. Parents or guardians may owe child support and appointed-lawyer costs based on ability to pay; indigent parents have appointed-counsel rights. Continued removal requires evidence showing the danger or other legal grounds are more likely than not, plus recorded findings about reasonable efforts and return-home services. In an unsafe emergency, courts must record that missing preventive efforts were appropriate. Agencies and courts need not provide reunification services or reasonable efforts in sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, abandonment, severe abuse, or severe neglect cases. Educational neglect or truancy alone cannot justify continued removal, but child-protection orders can stand despite procedural defects.

Child welfare records reach more investigators

Beginning May 6, 2026, professional licensing investigators can receive protected child welfare records for reported abuse- or neglect-related licensing violations. Authorized sharing also covers education licensing, Indian tribes, certain substance-abuse treatment, adoption agencies, preplacement evaluators, and researchers with safeguards. Report subjects, parents, guardians, and designated legal representatives can receive records for specified purposes. The law protects reporter identity, permits limited redactions, and strengthens penalties for unlawful disclosure or screening of possible perpetrators. Private divorce or custody cases can use only objective, verified facts from these records. Courts must find good cause and allow a response before admitting them; recipients must follow disclosure limits.

Sponsors & Cosponsors

Sponsor

Wayne A. Harper
Republican • Senate

Cosponsors

Christine F. Watkins
Republican • House

Roll Call Votes

All Roll Calls

Yes: 135 • No: 1

House vote • 2/19/2026

House/ passed 3rd reading

Yes: 70 • No: 0

House vote • 2/13/2026

House Comm - Favorable Recommendation

Yes: 6 • No: 0

Senate vote • 2/10/2026

Senate/ passed 3rd reading

Yes: 24 • No: 0

Senate vote • 2/9/2026

Senate/ passed 2nd reading

Yes: 25 • No: 0

Senate vote • 1/26/2026

Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation

Yes: 5 • No: 1