Iowa § 237.15 - 237.15 Definitions.

§ 237.15. 237.15 Definitions.

For the purposes of this subchapter unless otherwise defined: 1. “Case permanency plan” means the same as defined in section 232.2, subsection 6, except the plan shall also include the following: a. The efforts to place the child with a relative or fictive kin. b. The rationale for an out-of-state placement, and the efforts to prevent such placement, if the child has been placed out-of-state. c. Time frames to meet the stated permanency goal and short-term objectives. 2. “Child receiving foster care” means a child who is described by any of the following circumstances: a. The child’s foster care placement is the financial responsibility of the state pursuant to section 234.35. b. The child is under the guardianship of the department. c. The child has been involuntarily hospitalized for mental illness pursuant to chapter 229. d. The child is at-risk of being placed outside the child’s home, the department or court is providing or planning to provide services to the child, and the department or court has requested the involvement of the state or local board. 3. “Court appointed special advocate” means the same as defined in section 232.2. 4. “Family” means the social unit consisting of the child and the biological or adoptive parent, stepparent, brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister, and grandparent of the child. 5. “Local board” means a local citizen foster care review board created pursuant to section 237.19. 6. “Person or court responsible for the child” means the department, including but not limited to the department of health and human services, the agency, or the individual who is the guardian of a child by court order issued by the juvenile or district court and has the responsibility of the care of the child, or the court having jurisdiction over the child. 7. “State board” means the child advocacy board created pursuant to section 237.16. 84 Acts, ch 1279, §26; 88 Acts, ch 1233, §1, 2; 89 Acts, ch 296, §22; 90 Acts, ch 1270, §46; 91 Acts, ch 232, §11; 92 Acts, ch 1141, §5; 92 Acts, ch 1231, §40; 94 Acts, ch 1046, §6; 95 Acts, ch 182, §18, 19; 2000 Acts, ch 1067, §13; 2002 Acts, ch 1162, §20, 21; 2016 Acts, ch 1011, §121; 2022 Acts, ch 1055, §2; 2022 Acts, ch 1096, §5; 2023 Acts, ch 19, §734; 2025 Acts, ch 135, §26, 27 Referred to in §232.97, 234.39 Subsection 1, paragraph a amended Subsection 5 stricken and former subsections 6 – 8 renumbered as 5 – 7 Thu Dec 11 19:12:20 2025 Iowa Code 2026, Section 237.15 (29, 3)