Idaho Legislature: Ask Legislators to VOTE YES on H0159 - Child protection, removal (posted 02/10/25)

• Bill: legislature.idaho.gov/s…

• Contact Legislators:

(Check the linked page or use My Bill Tracker for the bill’s current status.)

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Order to Prevent Removal: Defined as “an order to allow a child to remain in the child's present surroundings when there is reasonable cause to believe the child is safe in the sole care of a parent, legal guardian, or legal custodian and when there is alleged neglect or abuse by another parent, legal guardian, or legal custodian.” – from H0159 statement of purpose

In Idaho, kids have been taken from loving parents by police and Child and Family Services (aka, “CPS”) when they should have been allowed to remain in their safe homes. The experience was traumatic, expensive, and caused great suffering for the parents, their children, and the community in which they lived. Such removal happens more commonly in good families who have kids with unusual medical conditions or whose views differ from the mainstream. Children and parents need better protection. This bill can help in all cases where a child’s safety is questioned.

Idaho's Child Protective Act currently contains several ineffective and unworkable provisions regarding orders to prevent removal. H0159 strikes these references and creates a straightforward process for a court to enter an order to prevent removal. Key provisions:

• A prosecutor or the attorney general may seek an order to prevent removal by filing a motion that is accompanied by a sworn affidavit from a law enforcement officer or the department.

• The court may then issue an order to prevent removal if there is reasonable cause to believe the child would be safe in his/her present surroundings.

• The order will exclude the alleged offender from the child's residence, prohibit the alleged offender from communicating with the child, and restrain the alleged offender from coming within a certain distance of the child.

• A hearing on whether to continue the order may be held and the court may continue the order upon certain findings.

• Failure to abide by an order to prevent removal is punishable as misdemeanor criminal contempt.