HB1369 - Family and juvenile law matters.

10 Co-Sponsors

Family and juvenile law matters. Amends the definition for "act of rape", only for the purposes of IC 31-35-3.5 (termination of parent-child relationship of an individual who committed an act of rape), to include child molestation and sexual misconduct with a minor. Provides that the department of child services or a court shall consider ensuring the child's safety to be the most important consideration in the determination of a child's best interests under family and juvenile law. Provides that there is a rebuttable presumption that a child is a child in need of services if the state establishes that the child lives in the same household as an adult who was a perpetrator of a child fatality or near fatality that may have been the result of abuse, abandonment, or neglect. Adds sexual misconduct with a minor as an offense that may be alleged in a petition to terminate the parent-child relationship when a child is conceived as a result of the offense. Amends the circumstances under which a court may terminate the parent-child relationship with regard to a child in need of services.