324.6.
(a) The State Department of Social Services shall establish a pilot project for the purpose of addressing racial disparities in the child welfare system in up to ____ counties that elect to participate.(b) (1) A program that receives funding pursuant to this section shall utilize a blind removal strategy when deciding whether a child should be removed from their parents’ home.
(2) A program that receives funding pursuant to this section may include, but shall not be limited to, a program whereby at any meeting of the county child welfare agency during which the removal of a child from the child’s home is discussed, all of the following information shall be
redacted from the case file and may not be referenced:
(A) The name of the child and the child’s parents.
(B) The gender of the child and the child’s parents.
(C) The race or ethnicity of the child and the child’s parents.
(D) The sexual orientation of the child and the child’s parents.
(E) The address of the child and the child’s parents.
(F) The birth order of the child and the number of children of the parents.
(G) The religious affiliation or beliefs of the child and the child’s parents.
(H) The political affiliation or beliefs of the child and the child’s parents.
(I) The marital status of the child’s parents.
(J) The income of the child’s parents.
(K) The education level of the child’s parents.
(L) Any prior investigation of the child’s parents for child abuse or neglect that resulted in an unsubstantiated finding.
(c) A county that elects to participate in the pilot project and establishes a program pursuant to this section shall conduct at least one evaluation of the program’s impact and effectiveness. The evaluation shall include, but not be limited to, monitoring the program’s effect on the rate of Black children who were removed from their parents’
home.
(d) Implementation of this section shall be subject to an appropriation of funds in the annual Budget Act for the purposes of this section.
(e) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2024, and as of that date is repealed.