1. The court shall not make a disposition of the petition until five working days after
a social report has been submitted to the court and counsel for the child and has been
considered by the court. The court may waive the five-day requirement upon agreement
by all the parties. The court may direct either the juvenile court officer or the department
or any other agency licensed by the state to conduct a social investigation and to prepare
a social report which may include any evidence provided by an individual providing foster
care for the child. A report prepared shall include any founded reports of child abuse.
2. The social investigation may be conducted and the social history may be submitted to
the court prior to the adjudication of the child as a child in need of assistance with the consent
of the parties.
3. The social report shall not be disclosed except as provided in this section and except
as otherwise provided in this chapter. At least five days prior to the hearing at which the
disposition is determined, the department shall file a copy of the social report with the court
and the court shall restrict access of the social report to counsel for the child, counsel for the
child’s parent, guardian, or custodian, the department, the court appointed special advocate,
a local board as defined in section 237.15, the county attorney, the state’s counsel, and the
guardian ad litem. The court may in its discretion order counsel not to disclose parts of the
report to the child, or to the parent, guardian, or custodian. If the report indicates the child or
parent has behaved in a manner that threatened the safety of another person, has committed
a violent act causing bodily injury to another person, or has committed sexual abuse, or the
child has been a victim of sexual abuse, unless otherwise ordered by the court, the child’s\n\nTue Dec 09 22:21:33 2025 Iowa Code 2026, Chapter 232 (92, 1)
75 JUVENILE JUSTICE, §232.99\n\nparent, guardian, or foster parent or other person with custody of or providing substantial
care to the child shall be provided with that information.
[C66, 71, 73, 75, 77, §232.14; C79, 81, §232.97]
83 Acts, ch 96, §157, 159; 83 Acts, ch 186, §10055, 10201; 84 Acts, ch 1279, §14; 86 Acts, ch
1186, §9; 2005 Acts, ch 124, §4; 2015 Acts, ch 62, §2; 2022 Acts, ch 1098, §44; 2023 Acts, ch
19, §618
Referred to in §232.147
\n
Notes of Decisions
In the Interest of Long, 313 N.W.2d 473 (Iowa 1981).
· cites it 4× “The purpose of this two-step procedure is to allow time for compliance with section 232.97, which provides that “[t]he court shall not make any disposition of the petition until a social report has been submitted to and considered by the court.”
In the Interest of A.M.H., 516 N.W.2d 867 (Iowa 1994).
· cites it 2× “Iowa Code § 232.97 (1). Here the report contained a founded report of sexual abuse in 1988 naming Robert the offender and Tanya the victim; a founded report of sexual abuse in 1989 naming James the offender and his sister Tanya the victim; two founded physical abuse reports in…”
In the Interest of G.R., 348 N.W.2d 627 (Iowa 1984).
“§ 232.97. A physical and mental examination may also be ordered to aid the court in the dispositional stage.”
In the Interest of J.B., Minor Child (Iowa Ct. App. 2019).
· cites it 12× “” Iowa Code § 232.97 (1). We find such agreement in the transcript of the hearing, as the State and both parents agreed to waive time for the dispositional hearing and agreed with DHS’s recommendations as stated in the social report.”
In the Interest of J.R., D.R., & H.R., Minor Child. (Iowa Ct. App. 2019).
· cites it 10× “On our de novo 6 review, we conclude the district court appropriately transferred guardianship and custody of the children to the relative. B. Dispositional Order The father next asserts the district court “erred when it entered a dispositional order without receiving a social…”
In the Interest of M.B. & N.B., Minor Child. (Iowa Ct. App. 2020).
“If it is the position of the []DHS that those services were critical to successful reunification, such services should have been a part of their dispositional case plan as required by Iowa Code sections 232.97 and 232.99 and should have been ordered by the court at disposition…”
— Iowa Code § 232.97(1) — 2 cases
In the Interest of Long, 313 N.W.2d 473 (Iowa 1981).
“The purpose of this two-step procedure is to allow time for compliance with section 232.97, which provides that “[t]he court shall not make any disposition of the petition until a social report has been submitted to and considered by the court.”
In the Interest of J.B., Minor Child (Iowa Ct. App. 2019).
“” Iowa Code § 232.97 (1). We find such agreement in the transcript of the hearing, as the State and both parents agreed to waive time for the dispositional hearing and agreed with DHS’s recommendations as stated in the social report.”
— Iowa Code § 232.97(2) — 1 case
In the Interest of Long, 313 N.W.2d 473 (Iowa 1981).
“The purpose of this two-step procedure is to allow time for compliance with section 232.97, which provides that “[t]he court shall not make any disposition of the petition until a social report has been submitted to and considered by the court.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.