Description: The Tribal Court–State Court Forum and the Family and Juvenile Law Advisory Committee recommend that the Judicial Council amend rules 5.9, 5.482, and 5.531 of the California Rules of Court, effective January 1, 2021, to permit an Indian child’s tribe to participate by telephone or other computerized remote means in any hearing in a proceeding governed by the Indian Child Welfare Act, as required by section 224.2(k) of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
Category: Family and Juvenile
Item Number: SPR20-31
Deadline: June 9, 2020
File: spr20-31.pdf
Description: The Family and Juvenile Law Advisory Committee recommends amending nine rules of court addressing juvenile court proceedings to appoint, terminate, modify, or oversee guardianships and revising two forms used for court orders in those proceedings. The amendments and revisions are required to conform to recent statutory amendments, resolve inconsistencies with existing statutes and rules of court, and make technical corrections.
Category: Family and Juvenile
Item Number: SPR20-24
Deadline: June 9, 2020
File: spr20-24.pdf
Description: The Family and Juvenile Law Advisory Committee proposes adopting one new rule of court, revising two existing forms, and approving three new optional forms to assist courts with the implementation of recently enacted statutory provisions concerning the sealing of juvenile records and access to those records by prosecuting attorneys. The proposal would ensure that all forms accurately reflect the current state of the law on fees for sealing petitions, and would create procedures and forms for courts to consider requests for access to sealed records under recently enacted laws concerning prosecutorial duties to disclose favorable information to defendants.
Category: Family and Juvenile
Item Number: SPR20-23
Deadline: June 9, 2020
File: spr20-23.pdf
Description: To implement recent legislation creating a new disposition hearing for nonminors, the Family and Juvenile Law Advisory Committee proposes the Judicial Council adopt a new rule to the California Rules of Court, amend two rules, and adopt three new Judicial Council forms. The statutory amendments created a process to address a class of youth who were found to be within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court due to abuse or neglect as a child but reached the age of majority before a disposition hearing could be held, and thus ensure their eligibility for extended foster care. This proposal would create a uniform procedure for these nonminor disposition hearings through a new rule of court, two forms for the court’s findings and orders, and a form for the youth to provide the required informed consent to proceed with the nonminor disposition hearing.
Category: Family and Juvenile
Item Number: SPR20-22
Deadline: June 9, 2020
File: spr20-22.pdf
Description: The Family and Juvenile Law Advisory Committee recommends amending three California Rules of Court, adopting three forms, and revising one form to conform to Assembly Bill 718’s statutory mandate that child welfare agencies begin the process of providing key information, documents, and services to youth in foster care beginning at age 16, rather than at the end of juvenile court jurisdiction. (Eggman; Stats. 2019, ch. 438).
Category: Family and Juvenile
Item Number: SPR20-21
Deadline: June 9, 2020
File: spr20-21.pdf
Description: The Family and Juvenile Law Advisory Committee proposes amending one rule of court and adopting a new mandatory form to comply with recent statutory changes to Family Code section 3118. The recent amendments enacted by Assembly Bill 1179 (Rubio; Stats. 2019, ch. 127) create new requirements for the confidential written report that is filed with the court and served on the parties following a child custody evaluation, assessment, or investigation in which the court has determined that there is a serious allegation of child sexual abuse or an allegation of child abuse in any other circumstance.
Category: Family and Juvenile
Item Number: SPR20-20
Deadline: June 10, 2020
File: spr20-20.pdf
Description: The Family and Juvenile Law Advisory Committee proposes revising two optional forms (FL-157, FL-343) and approving one new optional form (FL-349) relating to spousal support, as well as revising one optional form (FL-345) relating to property division in family law cases. Form FL-157 would be revised to reflect the changes made to Family Code section 4320 by Assembly Bill 929 (Rubio; Stats. 2018, ch. 938). The proposed changes to form FL-343 respond to suggestions made specifically about this form by the court in In re the Marriage of Craig and Cynthia Martin. Proposed new form FL-349 responds to the needs of judicial officers who are required to make findings under Family Code section 4320 when issuing or modifying a judgment for spousal or partner support. Proposed revisions to form FL-345 respond to requests made by judicial officers to simplify a specific item relating to the assignment of debts in a judgment.
Category: Family and Juvenile
Item Number: SPR20-19
Deadline: June 10, 2020
File: spr20-19.pdf
Description: The Family and Juvenile Law Advisory Committee proposes changes to one standard of judicial administration and one form relating to supervised visitation providers to comply with the statutory changes to Family Code section 3200.5, enacted by Assembly Bill 1165 (Bauer-Kahan; Stats. 2019, ch. 823).
Category: Family and Juvenile
Item Number: SPR20-18
Deadline: June 10, 2020
File: spr20-18.pdf
Description: The Family and Juvenile Law Advisory Committee proposes the adoption of a new rule of court and revisions to a chapter title in title 5 of the California Rules of Court, in addition to amendments to adoption forms, to implement Assembly Bill 677 (Choi; Stats. 2019, ch. 805) regarding intercountry adoptions. The committee also proposes amendments to adoption forms and the approval of a new, optional form to implement Assembly Bill 1373 (Patterson; Stats. 2019, ch. 192) regarding stepparent adoptions in cases of gestational surrogacy. Both bills became effective January 1, 2020.
Category: Family and Juvenile
Item Number: SPR20-17
Deadline: June 9, 2020
File: spr20-17.pdf
Description: To coincide with the effective date of a pending budget trailer bill, the Family and Juvenile Law Advisory Committee proposes that the Judicial Council adopt a new rule of the California Rules of Court, amend a rule, adopt five new Judicial Council forms, and revise five Judicial Council forms, effective October 1, 2021. If enacted, the trailer bill would implement part IV of the federal Family First Prevention Services Act, with an expected effective date of October 1, 2021. The trailer bill would create a new court hearing in which the juvenile court will be required to approve or deny any new placement of a child or nonminor dependent in a short-term residential therapeutic program (STRTP) after receiving a report that includes an assessment from a statutorily defined “qualified individual.” While this bill makes its way through the budget process, the committee is concurrently circulating this rules and forms proposal to have implementing rules and forms available if this language is in the enacted budget trailer bill.
Category: Family and Juvenile
Item Number: SPR21-12
Deadline: May 27, 2021
File: spr21-12.pdf