Montana Child Protection Alliance

Montana’s public policy greatly impacts children and families, yet often policies are developed without fully considering the impact on children and without families’ participation in the process.

Montana Child Protection Alliance seeks to engage all stakeholders, including families, community members, and other service providers, in the process of effective advocacy.  We work closely with legislators to introduce bills that seek to help keep children safely with their families when possible and avoid the traumatic experience of entering foster care. 

Bills Supporting Family Rights that PASSED during the 2021 legislative session: 

HB 499 Revise child abuse and neglect laws regarding reasonable efforts Sponsor: Rep. Jeremy Trebas	Although MCA law is filled with the term “reasonable efforts”, previously there was no definition. Defining it creates a higher bar that judges and the department can refer to in determining if reasonable efforts were in fact made to preserve and/or reunite the family.
HB 90 Create an emergency protective services hearing in CPS removals Sponsor: Rep. Dennis Lenz	This creates a 5 day hearing to determine if there is probably cause to continue a removal beyond 5 business days. This puts parents in front of a judge in 5 days vs. the current 20-day Show Cause hearing (which still remains). Parents must be represented by an attorney at the hearing and have their affidavit regarding circumstances for removal. This will not go into effect until 7/1/2023.
HB 503 Revise laws relating to child protective services hearings Sponsor: Rep. Dennis Lenz	Establishes the option for a 5-day hearing in the interim until HB90 is required statewide (7/1/2023). Parents must be informed of their right to have a 5-day hearing at the time of removal along with their right to have a copy of the affidavit, the right to attend hearings, the contact information for the case worker, supervisor and Public Defenders Office and be informed that they may request a kinship placement as defined by current law. Please note that PARENTS MUST REQUEST THIS 5 DAY HEARING, it is not automatic.
HB 39 Provide for continued interim review of child protective services matters Sponsor: Rep. Dennis Lenz	This allows for ongoing study of CPS issues during the interim in order to assess the pilot projects. These pilot projects aim to determine effective approaches to reducing the number of children in out-of-home placements and ensuring permanency for MT children.
HB 416 Educational requirements for supervisor in the CPS system to create higher standards for supervisors. Sponsor: Rep. Dennis Lenz
HB 459 Provide for certification of CPS workers with direct contact with children. Sponsor: Rep. Dennis Lenz	This bill establishes training standards for certification of CPS specialists (no longer called social workers). The child protection specialist must be certified with a course in child protection which includes ethics, statutes and regulation, law enforcement, crisis intervention, childhood trauma research, family preservation, and ICWA provisions. Current staff must be certified with a passing score on a competency exam. All staff have 1 year to become certified and will be required to complete at least 20 hours of continuing ed.
HB 57 Revise requirements related to CPS placements in congregate care Sponsor: Rep. Dennis Lenz	Presented by the department as a first step in order to implement Family First. Essentially it creates a needs assessment to performed by a qualified individual within 30 days of placement of a child in a therapeutic group home, which determines next steps/best placement.
HB 574 Revise laws related to reporting on out-of-state placement of certain children Sponsor: Rep. Dennis Lenz
HB 60 Clarify terminology used in voluntary CPS placement process Sponsor: Rep. Dennis Lenz
HJ 44 Interim Study on the Foster Care System Sponsor: Rep. Dennis Lenz
HJ 45 Interim study of factors triggering child removals and family reunification Sponsor: Rep. Dennis Lenz
HB 625 Revise laws relating to the child and family ombudsman. Sponsor: Rep. Dennis Lenz	Revised laws on the Ombudsman to report on trends and make recommendations on ways to improve the CPS system along with accountability to respond to recommendations.
HB 398 Allow legislators to review child and family ombudsman records. Sponsor: Rep. Dennis Lenz
HB 426 Revise laws regarding interactions between DPHHS and child and family ombudsman. Sponsor: Rep. Dennis Lenz	Law requiring the department to tighten up responding to reports the ombudsman makes. This creates accountability to a timeline.
SB 400 Restrict governmental entity from interfering with parental rights. Sponsor: Sen. Theresa Manzella	This bill creates a “cause of action” from parents; meaning a parent can sue any government entity that they believe assault their fundamental parental rights and if they win, can seek court costs.

Bills Supporting Family Rights that during FAILED the 2021 legislative session: