43-1314. Court review or hearing; right to participate; notice.

(1) Except as otherwise provided in the Nebraska Indian Child Welfare Act, notice of the court review or hearing and the right of participation in all court reviews and hearings pertaining to a child in a foster care placement shall be provided by the court having jurisdiction over such child for the purposes of foster care placement. The Department of Health and Human Services or contract agency shall have the contact information for all child placements available for all courts to comply with the notification requirements found in this section. The department or contract agency shall each have one telephone number by which any court seeking to provide notice may obtain up-to-date contact information of all persons listed in subdivisions (2)(a) through (h) of this section. All contact information shall be up-to-date within seventy-two hours of any placement change.

(2) Notice shall be provided to all of the following parties that are applicable to the case: (a) The person charged with the care of such child; (b) the child's parents or guardian unless the parental rights of the parents have been terminated by court action as provided in section 43-292 or 43-297; (c) the foster child if age fourteen or over; (d) the foster parent or parents of the foster child; (e) the guardian ad litem of the foster child; (f) the office and designated local board; (g) the preadoptive parent; and (h) the relative providing care for the child. Notice of all court reviews and hearings shall be mailed or personally delivered to the counsel or party, if the party is not represented by counsel, five full days prior to the review or hearing. The use of ordinary mail shall constitute sufficient compliance. Notice to the foster parent, preadoptive parent, or relative providing care shall not be construed to require that such foster parent, preadoptive parent, or relative is a necessary party to the review or hearing.

(3) The court shall inquire into the well-being of the foster child by asking questions, if present at the hearing, of any willing foster parent, preadoptive parent, or relative providing care for the child.

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Annotations

Under this section, a preadoptive parent in a dependency proceeding is a foster parent whom a juvenile court has approved for a future adoption because a child's parent has surrendered his or her parental rights, a court-approved permanency plan does not call for the child's reunification with his or her parent, or the parents' parental rights have been or will be terminated. In re Interest of Nizigiyimana R., 295 Neb. 324, 889 N.W.2d 362 (2016).

A foster parent has the right to participate under this section whether or not the foster parent is a party in the juvenile case. In re Interest of Enyce J. & Eternity M., 291 Neb. 965, 870 N.W.2d 413 (2015).

A foster parent's right to participate under this section does not extend to discovery, questioning, cross-examining, or calling witnesses beyond what is personally applicable to the foster parent's own qualifications. In re Interest of Enyce J. & Eternity M., 291 Neb. 965, 870 N.W.2d 413 (2015).

A foster parent does not have an interest in the placement of an adjudicated child sufficient to warrant intervention in juvenile proceedings as a matter of right, but is entitled to notice and an opportunity to participate in all court reviews pertaining to a child in foster care placement. In re Interest of Destiny S., 263 Neb. 255, 639 N.W.2d 400 (2002).

Under this section and section 43-285, foster parents have standing to participate in foster care placement review hearings. In re Interest of Jorius G. & Cheralee G., 249 Neb. 892, 546 N.W.2d 796 (1996).