(Doc Name H:\LEGWORK\HOUSE\AMEND\H-WM\010\DSS FOSTER PLACEMENT.DOCX):
EXPLANATION: Direct the department to follow guidelines currently in statute and implement adoption policies regarding the termination of parental rights
Amend the bill, as and if amended, Part IB, Section 38,
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES, page 374, after line 6, by adding
an appropriately numbered paragraph to read:
/ (DSS: Foster Care Child Placements) With funds
appropriated and authorized to the Department of Social Services
for fiscal year 2018-2019, the department shall ensure that the
following provisions are implemented related to child
placements. The department shall promulgate any necessary rules
or regulations to implement these provisions:
(A) If a child in foster care has
been placed within the same foster home for at least 9
consecutive months and if the foster parents are willing to
provide permanency through adoption for the child, the
department must obtain an attachment assessment of the child and
current foster parents before selecting a different adoptive
placement or other alternative setting. The attachment
assessment must be conducted by a qualified attachment expert.
Qualified attachment experts may include individuals who can
demonstrate training and or education in attachment theory,
developmental psychology, and measures of attachment in
additional to a minimum of ten completed attachment
assessments.
(B) If a child's permanency plan
includes reunification with a parent or caregiver, the
department shall develop a transition plan for the child, with
input from the Guardian ad Litem and a child-focused mental
health professional. The department's proposed transition plan
must include sufficient visitation with the permanent guardian
to promote a successful and emotionally healthy transition for
the child, facilitate a positive relationship between caregiver
and child, and lessen trauma that may result from the move. If
the department pursues placement with a natural parent,
relative, or other adult with whom the child has never lived, as
determined to be in the child's best interest, the department's
proposed transition plan must be progressive and include
increased overnight visitation with ongoing assessment of the
plan and the child's adjustment by the Guardian ad Litem and
child focused mental health professional. Modifications to the
plan must be driven by the child's adjustment to the
transition.
(C) In accordance with Section
63-7-1710, the department must file a Termination of Parental
Rights petition if a child has been in foster care for 15 of the
last 22 months unless there are extenuating circumstances as
follows:
(1) When the
child is over the age of 16 and the department has identified
another planned permanent living arrangement.
(2) The
department asserts to the court that the child may be safely
returned to the parent because the parent has remedied the
conditions that caused the removal, with or without supervision
by the department for up to 12 months.
(3) The
department's proposed treatment plan can be extended up to 18
months but only if: (a) the department presents compelling and
persuasive evidence of how the parent has demonstrated due
diligence in completing the plan; (b) the department can
articulate for the court specific reasons to believe the parent
will timely remedy the conditions which led to the removal; (c)
the department affirms that the return of child to the parent
would not cause unreasonable risk of harm; (d) the department
has compelling reasons to assert that a Termination of Parental
Rights is not in the best interests of the child; (5) the
department has compelling reasons to assert the best interests
of the child will be served by the extension.
(4) If the
department assesses the viability of adoption and determines
that adoption is not a viable option and has compelling reasons
to assert that Termination of Parental Rights is not in the best
interests of the child, then the department may pursue a
permanent plan of custody or legal guardianship to relative or
other person.
(D) In accordance with Sections
63-7-1640(G) and 1700(E), the department must file the petition
for a Termination of Parental Rights within sixty day of the
family court order designating the child's permanent plan or
concurrent plan as Termination of Parental Rights and
adoption. /
Renumber sections to conform.
Amend totals and titles to conform.