republic-os/legislation/us/states/in/2021/sb-239.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Remote provision of child and family services."
description: "Requires the department of child services (department) to establish before October 1, 2021, policies and procedures to allow for child and family services to be provided remotely. Specifies factors that a child and family services provider and the department may consider in making a determination as to whether remote provision of services is appropriate for a child. Provides that a child and family services provider's first meeting with a family, or with a child who lives with the child's family, must be conducted in person unless a declared health emergency makes an in person meeting unsafe. Provides that after a child and family services provider's first meeting with a family or with a child who lives with the child's family, or for purposes of providing services to a child who does not live with the child's family, the provider has the discretion to provide services to the family or child remotely for up to 14 days after the initial request for consultation if providing services remotely is in the best interest of the child and family, unless: (1) a decision is reached on the use of remote services at a child and family team meeting less than 14 days after the request for consultation; or (2) the department communicates to the provider a preliminary determination as to the role of remote services pending the child and family team meeting."
jurisdiction: "us/states/in"
legislature: "Indiana General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "SB 239"
citation: "Indiana SB 239 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["CHILDREN AND MINORS generally", "CHILDREN AND MINORS", "Department of Child Services", "TECHNOLOGY"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Andy Zay", "Dave Heine", "Jon Ford", "Liz Brown"]
version_count: 7
action_count: 30
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2021-01-11"
last_action: "2021-04-29"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/c3b2b6a8-678b-4f05-83fa-ee94422be536"
source_url: "http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2021/bills/senate/239"
source_hash: "cd6bb7235a1ce43e4fc1fe57293cb1a3dd7ce825fcc9c48e63bc8d5d2ac35b1c"
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 239 (2021) — Remote provision of child and family services.

Requires the department of child services (department) to establish before October 1, 2021, policies and procedures to allow for child and family services to be provided remotely. Specifies factors that a child and family services provider and the department may consider in making a determination as to whether remote provision of services is appropriate for a child. Provides that a child and family services provider's first meeting with a family, or with a child who lives with the child's family, must be conducted in person unless a declared health emergency makes an in person meeting unsafe. Provides that after a child and family services provider's first meeting with a family or with a child who lives with the child's family, or for purposes of providing services to a child who does not live with the child's family, the provider has the discretion to provide services to the family or child remotely for up to 14 days after the initial request for consultation if providing services remotely is in the best interest of the child and family, unless: (1) a decision is reached on the use of remote services at a child and family team meeting less than 14 days after the request for consultation; or (2) the department communicates to the provider a preliminary determination as to the role of remote services pending the child and family team meeting.

## Version chain

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

1. **Engrossed Senate Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2021/bills/SB0239/versions/SB0239.06.ENGH)
2. **Engrossed Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2021/bills/SB0239/versions/SB0239.04.ENGS)
3. **Engrossed Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2021/bills/SB0239/versions/SB0239.03.ENGS)
4. **Enrolled Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2021/bills/SB0239/versions/SB0239.07.ENRH)
5. **Introduced Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2021/bills/SB0239/versions/SB0239.01.INTR)
6. **Senate Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2021/bills/SB0239/versions/SB0239.05.COMH)
7. **Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2021/bills/SB0239/versions/SB0239.02.COMS)

## Votes

- SB 239 - Brown L - 3rd Reading — **48–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Andy Zay — primary (person)
- Dave Heine — primary (person)
- Jon Ford — primary (person)
- Liz Brown — primary (person)
- Dale DeVon — cosponsor (person)
- Julie Olthoff — cosponsor (person)
- Lonnie Randolph — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-01-11** Authored by Senator Brown L
- **2021-01-11** First reading: referred to Committee on Family and Children Services `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2021-01-26** Committee report: do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2021-01-26** Senator Zay added as third author
- **2021-01-28** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2021-01-28** Senator Ford Jon added as second author
- **2021-02-01** Placed back on second reading `reading-2`
- **2021-02-04** Senator Randolph added as coauthor
- **2021-02-04** Amendment #1 (Brown L) prevailed; voice vote `amendment-failure, amendment-passage`
- **2021-02-04** Reread second time: amended, ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2021-02-08** House sponsor: Representative Heine
- **2021-02-08** Cosponsor: Representative DeVon
- **2021-02-08** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 67: yeas 48, nays 0 `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-02-09** Referred to the House
- **2021-03-02** First reading: referred to Committee on Family, Children and Human Affairs `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2021-04-01** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2021-04-01** Representative Olthoff added as cosponsor
- **2021-04-06** Amendment #4 (Summers) prevailed; voice vote `amendment-failure, amendment-passage`
- **2021-04-06** Amendment #3 (Jackson) failed; Roll Call 360: yeas 27, nays 64 `amendment-failure`
- **2021-04-06** Amendment #1 (Summers) motion withdrawn `amendment-failure, amendment-withdrawal`
- **2021-04-06** Second reading: amended, ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2021-04-08** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 375: yeas 71, nays 15 `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-04-09** Returned to the Senate with amendments `amendment-failure`
- **2021-04-16** Motion to concur filed
- **2021-04-19** Senate concurred in House amendments; Roll Call 451: yeas 48, nays 0 `amendment-failure`
- **2021-04-23** Signed by the President Pro Tempore
- **2021-04-28** Signed by the Speaker
- **2021-04-28** Signed by the President of the Senate
- **2021-04-29** Public Law 144
- **2021-04-29** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/c3b2b6a8-678b-4f05-83fa-ee94422be536`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Indiana legislature records).