Rep. Lori Goss-Reaves

Revises the definition of "bullying". Requires each public school, including a charter school, to track, monitor, and analyze specified aspects of bullying, and provides that a parent of a student or a student, if the student is an emancipated minor, may submit a grievance to the school for a violation of this requirement. Requires each school corporation and charter school to: (1) document and track all acts of bullying and abusive behaviors for analysis; (2) prepare and implement interventions to deter and prevent bullying and abusive behaviors; and (3) compile, prepare, and submit an annual report beginning July 1, 2027, to the department of education, the state board of education, and the legislative council summarizing the information collected. Requires the state board of education to review the report and provide recommendations to certain schools to reduce the frequency of acts of bullying or abusive behaviors. Allows the department of child services to release unredacted reports to a school's designated liaison under certain circumstances.

Provides that an owner, a spectator, and a promoter are immune from civil liability arising from a claim brought by a participant or the participant's personal representative concerning the damage to or the loss of the participant's property or the participant's injury or death that results from the inherent risks of off-road vehicle use.

Establishes the family recovery court fund (fund). Provides that the fund consists of money appropriated by the general assembly from the state unrestricted opioid settlement account as well as donations, gifts, and money received from other sources. Provides that money in the fund is continuously appropriated for the purpose of funding family recovery courts and safe baby courts. Provides that family recovery courts: (1) target cases of abuse or neglect wherein a parent or primary caregiver suffers from a substance use disorder or co-occurring disorders; and (2) are certified as problem solving courts by the office of judicial administration.

Allows, subject to a written agreement concerning the transport of individuals, an emergency medical responder, an emergency medical technician, an advanced emergency medical technician, or a paramedic (emergency medical services personnel) to transport an individual to: (1) a health care facility; (2) a mental health facility; or (3) an urgent care facility; that can provide the individual with appropriate and necessary treatment. Specifies information that must be included in a written agreement. Allows reimbursement for transporting the individual to the facility.

Requires certain entities authorized to participate in the federal 340B Drug Pricing Program to annually report specified data to the Indiana department of health (state department). Requires the state department to submit a report of the aggregated data to the legislative council and post the report on the state department's website.

Requires reporting of certain ownership information by: (1) a hospital to the Indiana department of health (state department); (2) certain health care entities to the secretary of state; and (3) an insurer, a third party administrator, and a pharmacy benefit manager to the department of insurance. Requires the secretary of state and the department of insurance to provide the ownership information to the state department. Requires the state department to annually publish a report concerning the ownership information. Amends the definition of "health care entity" for provisions governing health care entity mergers and acquisitions. Allows the office of the attorney general to investigate the market concentration of a health care entity.

Allows certain individuals to take the examination for licensure as a social worker before having completed the bachelor's degree. Makes the following changes in regard to marriage and family therapists, mental health counselors, addiction counselors, and clinical addiction counselors: (1) Provides that an individual must be licensed as an associate before obtaining the relevant experience hours, except in certain circumstances. (2) Amends provisions concerning experience hours and the expiration of a temporary license or permit. Removes certain provisions regarding first available examinations.

Specifies the persons that may file an action to obtain an injunction against an individual practicing dentistry without a license and the action that is required or allowed to be included in an injunction. Specifies information that a dentist who maintains a dental office must submit to the state board of dentistry. States that language concerning the administration of dental anesthetics may not be construed to prohibit a physician from practicing in a dental office. Allows a dentist to delegate the authority to take x-ray images to a dental assistant working in certain correctional facilities without direct supervision as long as the dentist is available to supervise the dental assistant remotely. Removes certain language regarding the regulation of dentists.

Requires the family and social services administration (FSSA) to provide address information to the department of child services (department) under specified circumstances subject to federal approval of a state plan amendment or waiver allowing FSSA to do so. Provides that it is the policy of the state of Indiana and the purpose of Indiana family and juvenile law to: (1) recognize the responsibility of the state and of the department for the safety of children who are abused or neglected; (2) recognize that a parent's interest in receiving services at the time and expense of the state for purposes of reunification is limited; (3) promote the safety of all children involved in the juvenile justice system; and (4) ensure timely placement of children in foster care into permanent homes. Provides that a procedural deadline in a: (1) child in need of services (CHINS) proceeding; or (2) termination of parent-child relationship (TPR) proceeding; is not subject to waiver by a party to the proceeding, except as permitted in specified circumstances under current law. Provides that an individual with whom a child is placed during CHINS proceedings is entitled to attend, in its entirety, any hearing conducted as part of: (1) the CHINS proceedings; or (2) TPR proceedings resulting from a TPR petition filed with regard to the child during the CHINS proceedings. Provides that a court shall allow an individual who is providing care and supervision of a child as: (1) a foster parent; (2) a long term foster parent; or (3) an unlicensed kinship caregiver; at the time the child is the subject of a CHINS proceeding or TPR proceeding to intervene as a party during any stage of the proceeding if the court makes specified findings. Provides that a court shall allow an individual who is providing care and supervision for a child to intervene in a TPR proceeding concerning the child. Provides that a child is a CHINS if, before the child becomes 18 years of age: (1) the child's physical or mental health is seriously endangered due to failure of the child's parent, guardian, or custodian to protect the child from exposure to the use, possession, sale, or manufacture of illegal drugs; and (2) the child needs care, treatment, or rehabilitation that the child is not receiving and that is unlikely to be provided or accepted without the coercive intervention of the court. Removes a rebuttable presumption in current law that a child's physical or mental health is seriously endangered based on evidence of illegal manufacture of a drug or controlled substance occurring at the child's residence and provides that there is a rebuttable presumption that a child is a CHINS if the court finds that the child's parent, guardian, or custodian willfully or knowingly: (1) exposed the child to the illegal manufacture or distribution of a legend drug or controlled substance; or (2) exposed the child to: (A) methamphetamine; (B) fentanyl; or (C) a fentanyl containing substance; for which the parent, guardian, or custodian did not have a valid prescription. Amends the factors a court must consider when determining whether to detain a child who has been removed from the child's parent, guardian, or custodian to include considerations relating to exposure of the child to a fentanyl containing substance or fentanyl related substance. Provides that the rights of the: (1) child; (2) child's parents, guardian, or custodian; (3) department; and (4) guardian ad litem or court appointed special advocate; as parties to a proceeding regarding the child under Indiana juvenile law include rights of discovery, subpoena, examination of witnesses, and presentation of evidence at any hearing in the proceeding. Provides that the statutory deadline for holding of a factfinding hearing in a CHINS proceeding may be extended if the court finds that the extension is necessitated by: (1) unanticipated, emergent circumstances; (2) the circumstances of the case; or (3) the Indiana Rules of Trial Procedure. Provides that there is a rebuttable presumption that a child is a CHINS if the court finds that the child lives in the same household as an adult who is subject to an order issued in a CHINS proceeding that requires the adult to participate in a program of care, treatment, or rehabilitation. Adds factors that a court must consider in determining appropriate reunification services in which a child's parent, guardian, or custodian will be required to participate under the child's dispositional decree. Provides that: (1) a dispositional decree that: (A) is entered under specified circumstances; and (B) requires a parent, guardian, or custodian to complete reunification services; may not provide for the parent, guardian, or custodian to receive the reunification services for more than a specified length of time, subject to extension for specified causes; and (2) a court reviewing the dispositional decree shall consider the amount of time remaining for the parent, guardian, or custodian to complete the reunification services. Specifies that the requirement that a court reviewing a dispositional decree must determine whether the department has made reasonable efforts to provide family services does not apply if a finding has been made that reasonable efforts for family preservation or reunification are not required. Provides that in determining the extent to which reasonable efforts to reunify or preserve a family are appropriate, the child's welfare (in addition to the child's health and safety, under current law) is of paramount concern. Provides that if the department conducts a criminal history check of: (1) a parent, guardian, or custodian; or (2) a household member of the parent, guardian, or custodian; before reunifying a child with the parent, guardian, or custodian, the department shall (rather than may, under current law) use the results of the criminal history check to decide whether it is safe for the child to return home and shall provide the results of the criminal history check to the court. Requires a court to hold a permanency hearing for a child: (1) who has been removed from the child's parent, guardian, or custodian for at least 12 months; or (2) with regard to whom at least 12 months have expired since a dispositional decree was entered; at the request of any party to the CHINS proceeding that requests a permanency hearing on the basis that continuation of efforts to reunify or preserve the child's family are inconsistent with the best interests of the child. Provides that if a child has, at the time of a permanency hearing, been removed from the child's parent for at least 12 of the most recent 22 months, the permanency plan for the child must include at least one intended permanent or long term care and custody arrangement that would not return the child to the care and custody of the parent, guardian, or custodian from whose care and custody the child has been removed. Provides that if a child is less than 16 years of age, the intended permanent or long term care and custody arrangement for the child may be guardianship or placement with a permanent custodian only if the proposed guardian or custodian appears before the court and testifies as to the individual's willingness to assume custody of the child. Provides that: (1) if a court approves a permanency plan for a child under which adoption is the only intended permanent or long term care and custody arrangement, the department shall publish specified information regarding the child to facilitate adoption of the child; and (2) the information published by the department to facilitate adoption of a child who is: (A) a CHINS; and (B) a hard to place child; may include the child's first name and picture. Requires a court to hold an initial hearing on a TPR petition not later than 30 days after the petition is filed. Provides that under specified circumstances, a TPR petition regarding a child and the child's parent: (1) must be filed by the department; and (2) may be filed by: (A) the child's guardian ad litem or court appointed special advocate; or (B) an individual: (i) with whom the child is placed during the CHINS proceedings; and (ii) who is an intervenor in the CHINS proceedings. Amends the allegations that may be asserted in a TPR petition. Removes a provision requiring a person that files a TPR petition to also file a: (1) copy of the order approving the permanency plan for the child; or (2) permanency plan for the child. Provides that the deadline for holding a hearing regarding a TPR petition may be extended if the court finds that extension of the deadline is necessitated by: (1) unanticipated, emergent circumstances; (2) the circumstances of the case; or (3) the Indiana Rules of Trial Procedure. Provides that a representative of a licensed child placing agency that is providing services to a child during child in need of services (CHINS) proceedings is entitled to attend, in its entirety, any hearing conducted as part of: (1) the CHINS proceedings; or (2) termination of parent-child relationship (TPR) proceedings resulting from a TPR petition filed with regard to the child during the CHINS proceedings. Provides that the requirement that DCS publish specified information regarding a child to facilitate adoption of the child does not apply if the child is already in a pre-adoptive placement in a proposed adoptive home. Makes conforming and technical changes.

Allows the office of the secretary of family and social services (office of the secretary) to study and prepare a report containing recommendations for realigning and consolidating the local area agency on aging (area agency) planning and service areas. Amends the definition of "community and home care services" for purposes of community and home options to institutional care for the elderly and disabled program (CHOICE). Prohibits the division of aging from requiring a CHOICE provider to be certified under the Medicaid program or a Medicaid waiver program. Creates an exception for a provider of certain services. Requires an area agency to prioritize CHOICE funding to identify specified individuals and provide community and home care services to these individuals. Requires the office of the secretary, in negotiating reimbursement rates for CHOICE services, to consider the location and availability of service providers. Authorizes the office of the secretary to establish a Medicaid diversion pilot program to evaluate the effectiveness of home modification and telehealth enhanced chronic care services provided by specified area agencies in reducing Medicaid expenditures. Allows the office of the secretary, a managed care organization that has contracted with the office of Medicaid policy and planning, and a person who has contracted with a certain managed care organization or the office of the secretary to contract with an area agency to provide and receive reimbursement for a level of care assessment for the: (1) health and wellness Medicaid waiver; (2) traumatic brain injury Medicaid waiver; and (3) risk based managed care program for the covered population.