republic-os/legislation/us/states/in/2023/hb-1169.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Separation of siblings in child placement."
description: "Provides that if a child is placed in a temporary out-of-home placement in a location in which a sibling of the child resides, the department of child services shall, before changing the placement of the child, consider whether separating the child from the child's sibling is in the child's best interest. Provides that if a child is placed under a dispositional decree in an out-of-home placement in a location in which a sibling of the child resides, a court shall, in considering a motion requesting a change in the child's placement, consider whether separating the child from the child's sibling is in the child's best interest. Requires a court, in determining whether reunification of a child with a parent, guardian, or custodian from whom the child has been removed is in the child's best interest, to consider whether reunifying the child with the parent, guardian, or custodian will result in separation of the child from a sibling of the child, and if so, whether separating the child from the child's sibling is in the child's best interest."
jurisdiction: "us/states/in"
legislature: "Indiana General Assembly"
session: "2023"
identifier: "HB 1169"
citation: "Indiana HB 1169 (2023)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["CHILDREN AND MINORS", "Child Support", "Custody", "and Visitation", "CHILDREN AND MINORS", "Department of Child Services", "CHILDREN AND MINORS", "Juvenile Courts and Proceedings"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Donna Schaibley", "Greg Walker", "Kyle Walker"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 24
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2023-01-10"
last_action: "2023-04-20"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/11b5d900-a41c-44f3-9762-d0262b586738"
source_url: "http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2023/bills/house/1169"
source_hash: "226db2de91430d7b83dc7b29ef40220719d7a829dfba1721d91b6e813249aa16"
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 HB 1169 (2023) — Separation of siblings in child placement.

Provides that if a child is placed in a temporary out-of-home placement in a location in which a sibling of the child resides, the department of child services shall, before changing the placement of the child, consider whether separating the child from the child's sibling is in the child's best interest. Provides that if a child is placed under a dispositional decree in an out-of-home placement in a location in which a sibling of the child resides, a court shall, in considering a motion requesting a change in the child's placement, consider whether separating the child from the child's sibling is in the child's best interest. Requires a court, in determining whether reunification of a child with a parent, guardian, or custodian from whom the child has been removed is in the child's best interest, to consider whether reunifying the child with the parent, guardian, or custodian will result in separation of the child from a sibling of the child, and if so, whether separating the child from the child's sibling is in the child's best interest.

## Version chain

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

1. **Enrolled House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2023/bills/HB1169/versions/HB1169.04.ENRS)
2. **House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2023/bills/HB1169/versions/HB1169.02.COMH)
3. **House Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2023/bills/HB1169/versions/HB1169.03.COMS)
4. **Introduced House Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2023/bills/HB1169/versions/HB1169.01.INTR)

## Votes

- HB 1169 - Walker K - 3rd Reading — **49–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Donna Schaibley — primary (person)
- Greg Walker — primary (person)
- Kyle Walker — primary (person)
- Carolyn Jackson — coauthor (person)
- Jon Ford — cosponsor (person)
- Julie Olthoff — coauthor (person)
- Ryan Lauer — coauthor (person)
- Tyler Johnson — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2023-01-10** Authored by Representative Schaibley
- **2023-01-10** First reading: referred to Committee on Judiciary `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2023-01-30** Representatives Lauer and Olthoff added as coauthors
- **2023-01-30** Representative Jackson added as coauthor
- **2023-02-02** Committee report: do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2023-02-06** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2023-02-07** Senate sponsor: Senator Walker K
- **2023-02-07** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 87: yeas 93, nays 0 `passage, reading-3, reading-3`
- **2023-02-08** Referred to the Senate `referral`
- **2023-02-27** First reading: referred to Committee on Family and Children Services `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2023-02-28** Senator Walker G added as second sponsor
- **2023-03-09** Senator Ford Jon added as cosponsor
- **2023-03-13** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2023-03-16** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2023-03-20** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 229: yeas 49, nays 0 `passage, reading-3, reading-3`
- **2023-03-20** Senator Johnson added as cosponsor
- **2023-03-21** Returned to the House with amendments `receipt`
- **2023-03-27** Motion to concur filed `filing`
- **2023-03-28** House concurred in Senate amendments; Roll Call 320: yeas 95, nays 0
- **2023-04-03** Signed by the Speaker `passage`
- **2023-04-04** Signed by the President Pro Tempore `passage`
- **2023-04-17** Signed by the President of the Senate `passage`
- **2023-04-20** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`
- **2023-04-20** Public Law 65 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/11b5d900-a41c-44f3-9762-d0262b586738`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Indiana legislature records).