Amends TCA Title 36 and Title 37.

Under present law, whenever a child is removed from the child's home and placed in the department of children service's custody, the department must seek to place the child with a fit and willing relative if such placement provides for the safety and is in the best interest of the child. Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, whenever the return of a child to the child's parent is determined not to be in the best interest of the child, then such relative with whom the child has been placed must be given priority for permanent placement or adoption of the child prior to pursuing adoptive placement with a non-relative.<br /> <br /> This bill adds that at any time before or after a child is placed with a relative by the court, any interested person may file a petition objecting to the child's placement. If, following a hearing, the court finds that the relative is not fit and willing, the placement does not provide for the safety of the child, or the placement is not in the best interest of the child, then the court may order the department to submit a new permanency plan pursuant to present law. <br /> <br /> ON APRIL 8, 2021, THE HOUSE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 874, AS AMENDED.<br /> <br /> AMENDMENT #1 rewrites this bill to require the caseworker for a child who has been placed in foster care to document any objection to the child's placement with a relative that is made by another relative or other interested party. This amendment requires the department of children's services to include the number of such objections in its annual report on foster care in Tennessee.<br />