210.565. 1. Whenever a child is placed in a foster home and the court has determined pursuant to subsection 3 of this section that foster home placement with relatives is not contrary to the best interest of the child, the children's division shall give foster home placement to relatives of the child. Notwithstanding any rule of the division to the contrary, grandparents who request consideration shall be given preference and first consideration for foster home placement.
2. As used in this section, the term "relative" means a person related to another by blood or affinity within the third degree. The status of a grandparent shall not be affected by the death or the dissolution of the marriage of a son or daughter.
3. The preference for placement with relatives created by this section shall only apply where the court finds that placement with such relatives is not contrary to the best interest of the child considering all circumstances. If the court finds that it is contrary to the best interest of a child to be placed with relatives, the court shall make specific findings on the record detailing the reasons why the best interests of the child necessitate placement of the child with persons other than relatives.
4. The age of the child's relative shall not be the only factor that the children's division takes into consideration when it makes placement decisions and recommendations to the court about placing the child with such relative.
5. For any Native American child placed in protective custody, the children's division shall comply with the placement requirements set forth in 25 U.S.C. Section 1915.
(L. 1990 H.B. 1370, et al., A.L. 1994 H.B. 1547 & 961, A.L. 2004 H.B. 1453 merged with S.B. 762)
Missouri General Assembly