1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to foster care; requiring disclosure of an 
  1.3             individual's communicable disease to a foster care 
  1.4             provider; modifying provisions relating to child 
  1.5             custody; amending Minnesota Statutes 2001 Supplement, 
  1.6             sections 260C.212, subdivision 1; 260C.317, 
  1.7             subdivision 3; proposing coding for new law in 
  1.8             Minnesota Statutes, chapter 245A. 
  1.9   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.10     Section 1.  [245A.156] [DISCLOSURE OF COMMUNICABLE DISEASE 
  1.11  TO LICENSED FOSTER CARE PROVIDERS.] 
  1.12     Subdivision 1.  [LICENSED FOSTER CARE.] This section 
  1.13  applies to county agencies, private child-placing agencies, and 
  1.14  individuals who place children or adults who have a known 
  1.15  communicable disease, as defined in section 144.4172, 
  1.16  subdivision 2, in foster care settings licensed under this 
  1.17  chapter. 
  1.18     Subd. 2.  [PLACING AGENCY'S OR INDIVIDUAL'S 
  1.19  DUTIES.] Notwithstanding section 144.335, before a county or 
  1.20  private child-placing agency or individual places a child or 
  1.21  adult with a known communicable disease with a licensed foster 
  1.22  care provider, the agency or individual must: 
  1.23     (1) disclose to the foster care license holder the 
  1.24  individual's communicable disease; and 
  1.25     (2) determine that the foster care provider has the ability 
  1.26  to provide care to the individual. 
  1.27     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2001 Supplement, section 
  2.1   260C.212, subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  2.2      Subdivision 1.  [OUT-OF-HOME PLACEMENT; PLAN.] (a) An 
  2.3   out-of-home placement plan shall be prepared within 30 days 
  2.4   after any child is placed in a residential facility by court 
  2.5   order or by the voluntary release of the child by the parent or 
  2.6   parents.  
  2.7      For purposes of this section, a residential facility means 
  2.8   any group home, family foster home or other publicly supported 
  2.9   out-of-home residential facility, including any out-of-home 
  2.10  residential facility under contract with the state, county or 
  2.11  other political subdivision, or any agency thereof, to provide 
  2.12  those services or foster care as defined in section 260C.007, 
  2.13  subdivision 18. 
  2.14     (b) An out-of-home placement plan means a written document 
  2.15  which is prepared by the responsible social services agency 
  2.16  jointly with the parent or parents or guardian of the child and 
  2.17  in consultation with the child's guardian ad litem, the child's 
  2.18  tribe, if the child is an Indian child, the child's foster 
  2.19  parent or representative of the residential facility, and, where 
  2.20  appropriate, the child.  As appropriate, the plan shall be: 
  2.21     (1) submitted to the court for approval under section 
  2.22  260C.178, subdivision 7; 
  2.23     (2) ordered by the court, either as presented or modified 
  2.24  after hearing, under section 260C.178, subdivision 7, or 
  2.25  260C.201, subdivision 6; and 
  2.26     (3) signed by the parent or parents or guardian of the 
  2.27  child, the child's guardian ad litem, a representative of the 
  2.28  child's tribe, the responsible social services agency, and, if 
  2.29  possible, the child.  
  2.30     (c) The out-of-home placement plan shall be explained to 
  2.31  all persons involved in its implementation, including the child 
  2.32  who has signed the plan, and shall set forth: 
  2.33     (1) a description of the residential facility including how 
  2.34  the out-of-home placement plan is designed to achieve a safe 
  2.35  placement for the child in the least restrictive, most 
  2.36  family-like, setting available which is in close proximity to 
  3.1   the home of the parent or parents or guardian of the child when 
  3.2   the case plan goal is reunification, and how the placement is 
  3.3   consistent with the best interests and special needs of the 
  3.4   child according to the factors under subdivision 2, paragraph 
  3.5   (b); 
  3.6      (2) the specific reasons for the placement of the child in 
  3.7   a residential facility, and when reunification is the plan, a 
  3.8   description of the problems or conditions in the home of the 
  3.9   parent or parents which necessitated removal of the child from 
  3.10  home and the changes the parent or parents must make in order 
  3.11  for the child to safely return home; 
  3.12     (3) a description of the services offered and provided to 
  3.13  prevent removal of the child from the home and to reunify the 
  3.14  family including: 
  3.15     (i) the specific actions to be taken by the parent or 
  3.16  parents of the child to eliminate or correct the problems or 
  3.17  conditions identified in clause (2), and the time period during 
  3.18  which the actions are to be taken; and 
  3.19     (ii) the reasonable efforts, or in the case of an Indian 
  3.20  child, active efforts to be made to achieve a safe and stable 
  3.21  home for the child including social and other supportive 
  3.22  services to be provided or offered to the parent or parents or 
  3.23  guardian of the child, the child, and the residential facility 
  3.24  during the period the child is in the residential facility; 
  3.25     (4) a description of any services or resources that were 
  3.26  requested by the child or the child's parent, guardian, foster 
  3.27  parent, or custodian since the date of the child's placement in 
  3.28  the residential facility, and whether those services or 
  3.29  resources were provided and if not, the basis for the denial of 
  3.30  the services or resources; 
  3.31     (5) the visitation plan for the parent or parents or 
  3.32  guardian, other relatives as defined in section 260C.007, 
  3.33  subdivision 27, and siblings of the child if the siblings are 
  3.34  not placed together in the residential facility, and whether 
  3.35  visitation is consistent with the best interest of the child, 
  3.36  during the period the child is in the residential facility; 
  4.1      (6) documentation of steps to finalize the adoption or 
  4.2   legal guardianship of the child if the court has issued an order 
  4.3   terminating the rights of both parents of the child or of the 
  4.4   only known, living parent of the child, and a copy of this 
  4.5   documentation shall be provided to the court in the review 
  4.6   required under section 260C.317, subdivision 3, paragraph (b); 
  4.7      (7) to the extent available and accessible, the health and 
  4.8   educational records of the child including: 
  4.9      (i) the names and addresses of the child's health and 
  4.10  educational providers; 
  4.11     (ii) the child's grade level performance; 
  4.12     (iii) the child's school record; 
  4.13     (iv) assurances that the child's placement in foster care 
  4.14  takes into account proximity to the school in which the child is 
  4.15  enrolled at the time of placement; 
  4.16     (v) a record of the child's immunizations; 
  4.17     (vi) the child's known medical problems, including any 
  4.18  known communicable diseases, as defined in section 144.4172, 
  4.19  subdivision 2; 
  4.20     (vii) the child's medications; and 
  4.21     (viii) any other relevant health and education information; 
  4.22  and 
  4.23     (8) an independent living plan for a child age 16 or older 
  4.24  who is in placement as a result of a permanency disposition.  
  4.25  The plan should include, but not be limited to, the following 
  4.26  objectives: 
  4.27     (i) educational, vocational, or employment planning; 
  4.28     (ii) health care planning and medical coverage; 
  4.29     (iii) transportation including, where appropriate, 
  4.30  assisting the child in obtaining a driver's license; 
  4.31     (iv) money management; 
  4.32     (v) planning for housing; 
  4.33     (vi) social and recreational skills; and 
  4.34     (vii) establishing and maintaining connections with the 
  4.35  child's family and community. 
  4.36     (d) The parent or parents or guardian and the child each 
  5.1   shall have the right to legal counsel in the preparation of the 
  5.2   case plan and shall be informed of the right at the time of 
  5.3   placement of the child.  The child shall also have the right to 
  5.4   a guardian ad litem.  If unable to employ counsel from their own 
  5.5   resources, the court shall appoint counsel upon the request of 
  5.6   the parent or parents or the child or the child's legal 
  5.7   guardian.  The parent or parents may also receive assistance 
  5.8   from any person or social services agency in preparation of the 
  5.9   case plan. 
  5.10     After the plan has been agreed upon by the parties involved 
  5.11  or approved or ordered by the court, the foster parents shall be 
  5.12  fully informed of the provisions of the case plan and shall be 
  5.13  provided a copy of the plan. 
  5.14     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 2001 Supplement, section 
  5.15  260C.317, subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
  5.16     Subd. 3.  [ORDER; RETENTION OF JURISDICTION.] (a) A 
  5.17  certified copy of the findings and the order terminating 
  5.18  parental rights, and a summary of the court's information 
  5.19  concerning the child shall be furnished by the court to the 
  5.20  commissioner or the agency to which guardianship is 
  5.21  transferred.  The orders shall be on a document separate from 
  5.22  the findings.  The court shall furnish the individual to whom 
  5.23  guardianship is transferred a copy of the order terminating 
  5.24  parental rights. 
  5.25     (b) The court shall retain jurisdiction in a case where 
  5.26  adoption is the intended permanent placement disposition until 
  5.27  the child's adoption is finalized, the child is 18 years of age, 
  5.28  or the child is otherwise ordered discharged from the 
  5.29  jurisdiction of the court.  The guardian ad litem and counsel 
  5.30  for the child shall continue on the case until an adoption 
  5.31  decree is entered.  A hearing must be held every 90 days 
  5.32  following termination of parental rights for the court to review 
  5.33  progress toward an adoptive placement and the specific 
  5.34  recruitment efforts the agency has taken to find an adoptive 
  5.35  family or other placement living arrangement for the child and 
  5.36  to finalize the adoption or other permanency plan.  
  6.1      (c) When adoption is not the intended disposition, and if 
  6.2   the child continues in out-of-home placed for 12 months after 
  6.3   the court has issued the order terminating parental rights and 
  6.4   at least every 12 months thereafter as long as the child 
  6.5   continues in out-of-home placement, the court shall conduct a 
  6.6   permanency review hearing to determine the future status of the 
  6.7   child, including, but not limited to, whether the child should 
  6.8   be continued in out-of-home placement, should be placed for 
  6.9   adoption, or should, because of the child's special needs and 
  6.10  for compelling reasons, be ordered into long-term out-of-home 
  6.11  placement. 
  6.12     (d) The court shall retain jurisdiction in a case where 
  6.13  long-term foster care is the permanent disposition whether under 
  6.14  paragraph (c) or section 260C.201, subdivision 11.  All of the 
  6.15  review requirements under section 260C.201, subdivision 11, 
  6.16  paragraph (g), apply.