Section 31-40-1-3 - Payment by parent or guardian for cost of services provided by or through department of child services; presumption of indigency(a) Subject to subsection (f), a parent or guardian of the estate of a child adjudicated a delinquent child or a child in need of services is financially responsible as provided in this chapter (or IC 31-6-4-18(e) before its repeal) for any services provided by or through the department.(b) Each person described in subsection (a) shall, before a hearing under subsection (c) concerning payment or reimbursement of costs, furnish the court and the department with an accurately completed and current child support obligation worksheet on the same form that is prescribed by the Indiana supreme court for child support orders.(c) At: (2) a hearing that is held after the payment of costs by the department under section 2 of this chapter (or IC 31-6-4-18(b) before its repeal);(3) the dispositional hearing; or(4) any other hearing to consider modification of a dispositional decree; the juvenile court may not order the child's parents or the guardian of the child's estate to pay for, or reimburse the department for the cost of services provided to the child or the parent or guardian unless the court makes a specific finding that the parent or guardian is able to pay.
(d) Any parental reimbursement obligation under this section shall be paid directly to the department and not to the local court clerk so long as the child in need of services case or juvenile delinquency case is open. The department shall keep track of all payments made by each parent and shall provide a receipt for each payment received. At the end of the child in need of services or juvenile delinquency action, the department shall provide an accounting of payments received, and the court may consider additional evidence of payment activity and determine the amount of parental reimbursement obligation that remains unpaid. The court shall reduce the unpaid balance to a final judgment that may be enforced in any court having jurisdiction over such matters.(e) After a judgment for unpaid parental reimbursement obligation is rendered, payments made toward satisfaction of the judgment shall be made to the clerk of the court in the county where the enforcement action is filed and shall be promptly forwarded to the department in the same manner as any other judgment payment.(f) A parent is presumed indigent unless a court makes a specific finding that states otherwise.Pre-1997 Recodification Citation: 31-6-4-18(c), (e) part.
Amended by P.L. 151-2023,SEC. 1, eff. 7/1/2023.Amended by P.L. 101-2022,SEC. 30, eff. 7/1/2023.As added by P.L. 1-1997, SEC.23. Amended by P.L. 273-1999, SEC.120; P.L. 146-2008, SEC.667; P.L. 182-2009 (ss), SEC.388.