232.103 Termination, modification, vacation and substitution of dispositional order.

1. At any time prior to expiration of a dispositional order and upon the motion of an authorized party or upon its own motion as provided in this section, the court may terminate the order and discharge the child, modify the order, or vacate the order and make a new order.

2. The following persons shall be authorized to file a motion to terminate, modify or vacate and substitute a dispositional order:

a. The child.

b. The child’s parent, guardian or custodian, except that such motion may be filed by that person not more often than once every six months except with leave of court for good cause shown.

c. The child’s guardian ad litem.

d. A person supervising the child pursuant to a dispositional order.

e. An agency, facility, institution or person to whom legal custody has been transferred pursuant to a dispositional order.

f. The county attorney.

3. A change in the level of care for a child who is subject to a dispositional order for out-of-home placement requires modification of the dispositional order. A hearing shall be held on a motion to terminate or modify a dispositional order except that a hearing on a motion to terminate or modify an order may be waived upon agreement by all parties. Reasonable notice of the hearing shall be given to the parties. The hearing shall be conducted in accordance with the procedure established for dispositional hearings under section 232.50, subsection 3.

4. The court may modify a dispositional order, vacate and substitute a dispositional order, or terminate a dispositional order and release the child if the court finds that any of the following circumstances exist:

a. The purposes of the order have been accomplished and the child is no longer in need of supervision, care, or treatment.

b. The purposes of the order cannot reasonably be accomplished.

c. The efforts made to effect the purposes of the order have been unsuccessful and other options to effect the purposes of the order are not available.

d. The purposes of the order have been sufficiently accomplished and the continuation of supervision, care, or treatment is unjustified or unwarranted.

5. The court may modify or vacate an order for good cause shown provided that where the request to modify or vacate is based on the child’s alleged failure to comply with the conditions or terms of the order, the court may modify or vacate the order only if it finds that there is clear and convincing evidence that the child violated a material and reasonable condition or term of the order.

6. If the court vacates the order it may make any other order in accordance with and subject to the provisions of sections 232.100 to 232.102.

7. With respect to a temporary transfer order made pursuant to section 232.102, subsection 5, if the court finds that removal of a child from the Iowa juvenile home is necessary to safeguard the child’s physical or emotional health and is in the best interests of the child, the court shall grant the director’s motion for a new dispositional order to place the child in a facility which has been designated to be an alternative placement site for the juvenile home.

[C79, 81, §232.103]

90 Acts, ch 1239, §12; 2001 Acts, ch 135, §20; 2003 Acts, ch 117, §6; 2004 Acts, ch 1154, §1, 2; 2012 Acts, ch 1021, §51; 2017 Acts, ch 54, §72

Referred to in §232.2, 232.99, 232.102, 232.104