LB 1032 — Provide for recognition and enforcement of tribal customary adoptions under the Nebraska Indian Child Welfare Act and related laws

LB1032 LB1032 2026 LEGISLATURELEGISLATIVE OFBILL NEBRASKA1032 ONEApproved HUNDREDby NINTHthe LEGISLATUREGovernor SECONDApril SESSION16, LEGISLATIVE2026 BILL 1032 FINAL READING   Introduced by DeBoer, 10;

Read  firstA timeBILL JanuaryFOR 14,AN 2026ACT Committee:relating to adoptions;

Judiciary A BILL FOR AN ACT relating to adoptions;

Be it enacted by the people of the State of Nebraska, -1- LB1032 LB1032 2026 Section 1.

The party shall state in the petition whether such party requests that the proceeding be heard by the county court or, in cases in -2- LB1032 LB1032 2026 which a juvenile court already has jurisdiction over the child to be adopted under the Nebraska Juvenile Code, such juvenile court.

-3- LB1032 LB1032 2026 (4) Consent shall not be required of any parent:

-1- LB1032 LB1032 2026 (a) Who relinquished the child for adoption by a written instrument;

(9)(a) In private adoptions not involving relinquishment of a child to the state or to a licensed child placement agency, a parent or parents who relinquish a child for adoption shall be provided legal counsel of -4- LB1032 LB1032 2026 their choice independent from that of the adoptive parent or parents.

Upon the request being made, the department or other licensed agency shall conduct an investigation -5- LB1032 LB1032 2026 and report its findings to the county judge in writing at least one week prior to the date set for hearing.

The petitioner shall pay the cost of the national criminal history record information check -2- LB1032 LB1032 2026 and the check of the central registry.

(c) (iii) The placement of a child for foster care made by or facilitated by the department or a licensed child placement agency in the -6- LB1032 LB1032 2026 home of a person who later petitions the court to adopt the child shall be exempt from the requirements of a preplacement adoptive home study.

(g) (vii) The preplacement or postplacement adoptive home study shall be performed as prescribed in rules and regulations of the department and shall include at a minimum an examination into the facts relating to the petitioner or petitioners as may be relevant to the -7- LB1032 LB1032 2026 propriety of such adoption.

(2) Upon the filing of a petition for adoption, the judge shall require that a complete medical history be provided on the child, except that in the adoption of a child by a stepparent, biological grandparent, or step-grandparentstep- grandparent who is married to the biological grandparent at the time of the adoption if both are adopting the child, the provision of a medical history shall be discretionary.

(3) After the filing of a petition for adoption and before the entry of a decree of adoption for a child who is committed to the Department of Health and Human Services, the person or persons petitioning to adopt the -8- LB1032 LB1032 2026 child shall be given the opportunity to read the case file on the child maintained by the department or its duly authorized agent.

43-108 (1) The minor child to be adopted, unless such child is over fourteen years of age, and the person or persons desiring to adopt the child must appear in person before the judge at the time of hearing, except that when the petitioners are married and one of them is present in court, the court, in its discretion, may accept the affidavit of an absent spouse who is in the armed forces of the United States and it appears to the court the absent spouse will not be able to be present in court for more than a year because of his or her military assignment, which affidavit sets forth that the absent spouse -3- LB1032 LB1032 2026 favors the adoption.

43-109 (1)43-109 (1) Except as otherwise provided in the Nebraska Indian Child Welfare Act, if If, upon the hearing, the court finds that such adoption -9- LB1032 LB1032 2026 is for the best interests of such minor child or such adult child, a decree of adoption shall be entered.

43-110 Except as otherwise provided in the Nebraska Indian Child Welfare Act, after After a decree of adoption is entered, the usual relation of parent and child and all the rights, duties and other legal consequences of the natural relation of child and parent shall thereafter -10- LB1032 LB1032 2026 exist between such adopted child and the person or persons adopting such child and his, her or their kindred.

Payments for maintenance and medical care shall -11- LB1032 LB1032 2026 terminate on or before the child's twentieth birthday.

43-117.02 The Department of Health and Human Services may make a payment of up to two thousand dollars on behalf of a child with special needs after the -4- LB1032 LB1032 2026 legal completion of the child's adoption, including a tribal customary adoption as defined in section 43-1503.

-12- LB1032 LB1032 2026 (2) Sections 43-119 to 43-142 shall remain in effect for a relinquishment or consent for an adoption which is given prior to September 1, 1988.

and (ii) Any juvenile who was fourteen years of age or older at the time the alleged offense was committed and the offense falls under subdivision -13- LB1032 LB1032 2026 (2) of section 43-247 except offenses enumerated in subdivision (1)(a)(1)(a)(ii) (ii) of section 29-1816.

(4) The juvenile court shall have the authority to grant temporary concurrent jurisdiction to the tribal court of an Indian child's tribe for the sole purpose of finalizing a tribal customary adoption as provided in sections 23 to 26 of this act.

(3) The parents, being financially able, have willfully neglected to -14- LB1032 LB1032 2026 provide the juvenile with the necessary subsistence, education, or other care necessary for his or her health, morals, or welfare or have neglected to pay for such subsistence, education, or other care when legal custody of the juvenile is lodged with others and such payment ordered by the court;

(6) Following a determination that the juvenile is one as described in subdivision (3)(a) of section 43-247, reasonable efforts to preserve and -5- LB1032 LB1032 2026 reunify the family if required under section 43-283.01, under the direction of the court, have failed to correct the conditions leading to the determination;

(10) The parent has (a) committed murder of another child of the parent, (b) committed voluntary manslaughter of another child of the parent, (c) aided or abetted, attempted, conspired, or solicited to commit murder, or aided or abetted voluntary manslaughter of the juvenile or another child of the parent, or (d) committed a felony assault that resulted in serious bodily injury to the juvenile or another minor child -15- LB1032 LB1032 2026 of the parent;

(2) A petition shall not be filed on behalf of the state to terminate the parental rights of the juvenile's parents or, if such a petition has been filed by another party, the state shall not join as a party to the petition if the sole factual basis for the petition is that (a) the parent or parents of the juvenile are financially unable to provide health care for the juvenile or (b) the parent or parents of the -16- LB1032 LB1032 2026 juvenile are incarcerated.

-17- LB1032 LB1032 2026 Sec.

-6- LB1032 LB1032 2026 (d) The person or persons who are directly responsible for the implementation of such plan;

If the child is removed from his or her home, the department shall make reasonable efforts to accomplish joint-sibling placement or sibling visitation or ongoing interaction between the siblings as provided in section -18- LB1032 LB1032 2026 43-1311.02.

(a) The permanency plan shall include the identification of significant, supportive connections with identified adults willing to be consistently involved in the child’s life as the child transitions to -19- LB1032 LB1032 2026 adulthood;

(c) The child consents to the guardianship, if the child is ten -20- LB1032 LB1032 2026 years of age or older;

(iii) Has made a commitment to prepare the child for adulthood and -7- LB1032 LB1032 2026 independence;

-21- LB1032 LB1032 2026 (4) The child shall remain in the custody of the guardian unless the order creating the guardianship is modified by the court.

43-1314 (1) Except as otherwise provided in the Nebraska Indian -22- LB1032 LB1032 2026 Child Welfare Act, notice of the court review or hearing and the right of participation in all court reviews and hearings pertaining to a child in a foster care placement shall be provided by the court having jurisdiction over such child for the purposes of foster care placement.

The department or contract agency shall each have one telephone number by which any court seeking to provide notice may obtain up-to-date contact information of all persons listed in subdivisions (2)(a)(2) (a) through (h) of this section.

All contact information shall be up-to-date within seventy-seventy-two two hours of any placement change.

(3) The court shall inquire into the well-being of the foster child by asking questions, if present at the hearing, of any willing foster -23- LB1032 LB1032 2026 parent, preadoptive parent, or relative providing care for the child.

-8- LB1032 LB1032 2026 43-1501 Sections 43-1501 to 43-1517 and sections 20 and 23 to 29 of this act shall be known and may be cited as the Nebraska Indian Child Welfare Act.

(e) Identification of and attempts to engage tribally designated -24- LB1032 LB1032 2026 Nebraska Indian Child Welfare Act representatives;

(a) Foster care placement which shall mean any action removing an Indian child from his or her parent or Indian custodian for temporary or -25- LB1032 LB1032 2026 emergency placement in a foster home or institution or the home of a guardian or conservator where the parent or Indian custodian cannot have the child returned upon demand, but where parental rights have not been terminated;