Monday, April 16, 2007
Governor Culver Signs Sibling Visitation Bill Into Law
Bill gives siblings a chance to reunite
(Des Moines) Governor Chet Culver signed Senate File 480, the sibling visitation bill into law. This bill provides for situations in which a juvenile court termination order or other order prevents blood siblings from having contact with one another. The bill allows the court to consider whether such visitation is appropriate, and then make an order.
Governor Culver
praised Drake University President Dr. David Maxwell; David Walker, Dean of the Drake
University Law School; Susan Levitt, a Drake law professor and director of the Drake Legal Clinic and
Drake law students who worked tirelessly to get this legislation passed. “Kids who are placed in homes
separate from their blood siblings will have the chance to continue contact through visits with those
siblings,” said Governor Culver. “For many of these children it is the only family bond they will maintain.”
Foster children separated from their siblings also spoke at today’s bill signing, thanking Governor Culver and lawmakers for passing this important bill. Kayla Pettit, 17-years-old, said she hadn’t seen her 13-year-old brother, Marcus, in eight years. “This bill will help families, particularly brothers and sisters, stay in touch. It’s so hard when you can’t see each other.”
In addition to the Drake University community, foster parents, advocates for Children and Families of Iowa and the United Way of Central Iowa, along with other supporters were on hand for today’s bill signing. Members of "Elevate," a group of youth either currently or previously part of Iowa's child-welfare system also celebrated the new legislation.