A bill for an act authorizing the waiver of preplacement investigations and reports in certain adoption proceedings.

This bill (SF 154) expands when Iowa courts can waive preplacement investigations for adoptions. It allows courts to skip these background checks for legal guardians who have cared for a child for 36 consecutive months and met all guardianship duties, beyond the current rule that only waives checks for relatives within the fourth degree of kinship. The bill requires guardians to disclose any serious criminal convictions or child abuse reports before the final adoption hearing, and courts must rule on whether to waive the investigation. It directly affects legal guardians seeking to adopt children they’ve cared for long-term, streamlining the process for these specific cases.