---
type: "Bill"
title: "Reunification plan for a child in need of services."
description: "Amends the circumstances under which reasonable efforts to reunify a child with the child's parent, guardian, or custodian or preserve a child's family are not required."
jurisdiction: "us/states/in"
legislature: "Indiana General Assembly"
session: "2024"
identifier: "SB 171"
citation: "Indiana SB 171 (2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["CHILDREN AND MINORS; Children in Need of Services (CHINS)", "CHILDREN AND MINORS; Crimes Against Children", "CHILDREN AND MINORS; Generally", "MARRIAGE AND FAMILY LAW; Generally"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Greg Walker", "Ryan Lauer", "Stacey Donato", "Tyler Johnson"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 24
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2024-01-08"
last_action: "2024-03-11"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/bc871f4e-ecc3-42eb-86cc-c12913b41a62"
source_url: "https://api.iga.in.gov/2024/bills/sb0171"
source_hash: "a8ec5794984023d3a0a8fd534e27b64912f4b105ce0726ccad71840d690d3a07"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-in"]
---

# Indiana SB 171 (2024) — Reunification plan for a child in need of services.

Amends the circumstances under which reasonable efforts to reunify a child with the child's parent, guardian, or custodian or preserve a child's family are not required.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Enrolled Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/123/2024/senate/bills/SB0171/SB0171.04.ENRH.pdf)
2. **Introduced Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/123/2024/senate/bills/SB0171/SB0171.01.INTR.pdf)
3. **Senate Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/123/2024/senate/bills/SB0171/SB0171.02.COMS.pdf)
4. **Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/123/2024/senate/bills/SB0171/SB0171.03.COMH.pdf)

## Votes

- SB 171 - Walker G - 3rd Reading — **49–0** (pass) · upper
- SB 171 - Lauer - 3rd Reading — **91–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Greg Walker — primary (person)
- Ryan Lauer — primary (person)
- Stacey Donato — primary (person)
- Tyler Johnson — primary (person)
- Cindy Ledbetter — cosponsor (person)
- Julie Olthoff — cosponsor (person)
- Lindsay Patterson — cosponsor (person)
- Lonnie Randolph — coauthor (person)
- Vanessa Summers — cosponsor (person)
- Vaneta Becker — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2024-01-08** Authored by Senator Walker G
- **2024-01-08** First reading: referred to Committee on Family and Children Services `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2024-01-22** Committee report: do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2024-01-30** Senator Randolph added as coauthor
- **2024-01-30** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2024-02-01** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 86: yeas 49, nays 0 `passage, reading-3, reading-3`
- **2024-02-01** Cosponsors: Representatives Ledbetter, Patterson, Olthoff
- **2024-02-01** Senator Donato added as second author
- **2024-02-01** Senator Johnson T added as third author
- **2024-02-01** Senator Becker added as coauthor
- **2024-02-01** House sponsor: Representative Lauer
- **2024-02-02** Referred to the House `referral`
- **2024-02-12** First reading: referred to Committee on Family, Children and Human Affairs `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2024-02-15** Committee report: do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2024-02-19** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2024-02-20** Representative Summers added as cosponsor
- **2024-02-21** Returned to the Senate without amendments `receipt`
- **2024-02-20** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 172: yeas 91, nays 0 `passage, reading-3, reading-3`
- **2024-02-20** Rule 105.1 suspended
- **2024-03-04** Signed by the President Pro Tempore `passage`
- **2024-03-07** Signed by the Speaker `passage`
- **2024-03-08** Signed by the President of the Senate `passage`
- **2024-03-11** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`
- **2024-03-11** Public Law 19 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/bc871f4e-ecc3-42eb-86cc-c12913b41a62`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Indiana legislature records).