S.F. No. 342 prohibits the Commissioner of Human Services from disqualifying individuals subject to a background study for a direct contact services position based on the expunged conviction or any underlying fact or element from an expunged record of an arrest, criminal charge, or conviction, where the expungement order is directed to the Commissioner of Human Services. It also amends the Family Reunification Act to adjust the criteria for filing and granting petitions for the reestablishment of the parent and child relationship.

Section 1 amends the direct contact service worker disqualification statute by prohibiting the Commissioner of Human Services from disqualifying an individual based on an expunged conviction, or any underlying fact or element from an expunged record of an arrest, criminal charge, or conviction, when the expungement order is specifically directed to the Commissioner of Human Services.

Sections 2 to 5 make conforming changes.

Section 6 amends the Family Reunification Act by permitting parents whose parental rights have been terminated to file petitions for reunification, removing the requirement that the responsible social services agency and the county attorney must agree that reestablishment is in the child’s best interests, and removing the child age limitation.

Section 7 amends the service requirements for a petition for reunification by removing the requirement to serve the parent whose rights have been terminated and adding requirements that the county attorney and responsible social services agency must be served with the petition.

Section 8 amends the factual findings that a court must make to grant a petition for reunification by removing the requirement that the child at issue be 15 years of age or older, and by reducing the minimum amount of time that the child must be in foster care following termination of parental rights to 24 months.

Section 9 repeals Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 260C.329, subdivision 5, which prohibited appeals of a county attorney’s decision not to file a petition for reunification.