Montana § 41-3-307 - Availability Of Prehearing Conferences

§ 41-3-307. Availability Of Prehearing Conferences

Availability of prehearing conferences. (1) A prehearing conference must be held within 5 working days of a child's removal and before an emergency protective services hearing held by the court pursuant to 41-3-306 . (2) A prehearing conference must include the following parties: (a) the parents, parent, guardian, or other person having physical or legal custody of the child, if the parents, parent, guardian, or other person chooses to participate; (b) the legal counsel of the participant provided for in subsection (2)(a); (c) the child's legal counsel; (d) the county attorney's office; (e) the child protection investigator; and (f) the child reunification specialist. (3) To the greatest degree possible using available funding, the meetings must be conducted by an independent and trained facilitator. (4) At a minimum, the meetings must involve discussion of: (a) the child's current placement and options for continued placement if the child remains out of the home; (b) whether other options exist for an in-home safety plan or resource that may allow the child to remain in the home; (c) parenting time schedules; and (d) treatment services for the family.