In the Interest of J.B. and R.R., Minor Children

── In the Interest of J.B. and R.R., Minor Children ── Court: Supreme Court of Iowa Date: May 08, 2026 Category: General In the Iowa Supreme Court No. 25–1802 Submitted April 15, 2026—Filed May 8, 2026 In the interest of J.B. and R.R., minor children. State of Iowa, Appellant. On review from the Iowa Court of Appeals. Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Lynn Poschner, district associate judge. The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services seeks further review of a court of appeals decision affirming the juvenile court’s order placing guardianship of the minor children with the foster parents. Decision of Court of Appeals Vacated; Juvenile Court Judgment Reversed and Case Remanded. Christensen, C.J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which all justices joined. Brenna Bird, Attorney General, and Mackenzie L. Moran, Assistant Attorney General, for appellant. Jami J. Hagemeier and Nicole Garbis Nolan of Youth Law Center, Des Moines, attorneys and guardians ad litem for minor children.  2 Christensen, Chief Justice. After terminating the parental rights of the children’s parents, the juvenile court declined to transfer guardianship and custody of the children under Iowa Code section 232.117(3) (2025) to the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) based on its disapproval of HHS’s plan for the children’s great- aunt in Tennessee to adopt them. It also declined to transfer guardianship and custody to the great-aunt, opting instead to declare the children’s foster parents “fictive kin” and appoint them as the children’s guardians. The State appealed, arguing Iowa Code section 232.117(3) requires the juvenile court in this situation to transfer guardianship and custody of the children to HHS unless HHS waives that right. We transferred the case to the court of appeals, which affirmed in a split decision. On further review, we vacate the decision of the court of appeals, reverse the judgment of the juvenile court, and remand the case for entry of an order transferring guardianship and custody of the children to HHS. There is nothing discretionary about the statute’s directive to transfer guardianship and custody of the children to HHS “if [HHS] had custody of the child[ren] at the time of the filing of the petition for termination of parental rights . . . unless [HHS] waives its priority.” Id. § 232.117(3)(a). We also reiterate our recent ruling in In re L.P., 32 N.W.3d 804, 815–18 (Iowa 2026), in which we held that only those individuals who maintained an emotionally positive significant relationship with the children or their family before the children’s removal qualify as fictive kin under chapter 232. I. Background Facts and Proceedings. Jacob and Rachel (pseudonyms) came to HHS’s attention when Rachel tested positive for methamphetamine at birth, and they were removed from their  3 parents’ custody shortly thereafter on December 4, 2024. At the time, Jacob had just turned one, and Mom admitted to HHS that both parents lacked stable housing and had used methamphetamine in his presence. Upon removal, the children briefly lived with a suitable other placement until that placement was deemed unsafe for the children on January 9, 2025. Since then, they have remained in the care of their foster parents, the Millers (pseudonym). As part of its concurrent planning, HHS located the children’s maternal great-aunt, Joan (pseudonym), in Tennessee as a potential adoptive home. On March 10, the juvenile court ordered an evaluation of her home under the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC), which subsequently approved Joan as a suitable home for the children in less than two months. Based on the parents’ lack of progress, HHS’s June permanency report recommended c