RELATES TO:
KRS
2.015,
194A.005(1),
199.011(3), (4),
(9),
199.462,
199.467,
199.555,
199.557,
199.801,
387.025,
527.100,
527.110,
600.020,
610.110,
610.125,
610.127,
620.020(1),
(11),
620.060,
620.090,
620.140,
620.180,
625.040,
625.090,
45 C.F.R. 1355-1357,
25 U.S.C.
1901-1963,
42
U.S.C. 621-629m,
670-679c,
1996,
1996b
NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY:
KRS
194A.050(1) requires the
Secretary of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to promulgate,
administer, and enforce those administrative regulations necessary to implement
programs mandated by federal law or to qualify for the receipt of federal funds
and necessary to cooperate with other state and federal agencies for the proper
administration of the cabinet and its programs.
KRS
199.467 requires the Secretary of the Cabinet
for Health and Family Services to promulgate administrative regulations
establishing specific goals for the cabinet, for each fiscal year, regarding
the maximum number of children who will remain in foster care longer than
twenty-four (24) months, and describing the steps to be taken to achieve the
goals.
KRS
620.180(2) requires the
cabinet to promulgate administrative regulations for status review, ongoing
case work, and supportive services to children in placement. This
administrative regulation establishes the maximum number of children remaining
in foster care longer than twenty-four (24) months, and establishes permanency
services available to children in placement.
Section
1. Definitions.
(1) "Absent
parent search" means cabinet initiated efforts to locate a biological or legal
parent, or a relative.
(2) "Age or
developmentally appropriate" is defined by
KRS
600.020(2).
(3) "Cabinet" is defined by
KRS
194A.005(1),
199.011(3)
and
600.020(7).
(4) "Case permanency plan" is defined by
KRS
620.020(1).
(5) "Child" means:
(a) A child defined by
KRS
199.011(4) and
600.020(9);
(b) A person age eighteen (18) or older whose
commitment to the cabinet has been extended or reinstated by a court in
accordance with
KRS
610.110(6) or
620.140(1)(e);
or
(c) A person under age
twenty-one (21) who meets the exceptions to the age of majority in accordance
with
KRS
2.015.
(6) "Concurrent planning" means the cabinet
simultaneously plans for:
(a) The return of a
child in the custody of the cabinet to the child's parent; and
(b) Another permanency goal for the child if
return to parent is not achieved within fifteen (15) of the last twenty two
(22) months, in accordance with
42
U.S.C.
675(5)(E).
(7) "Fictive kin" is defined by
KRS
199.011(9) and
600.020(28).
(8) "Parent" is defined by
42
U.S.C.
675(2).
(9) "Reasonable efforts" is defined by
KRS
620.020(11).
(10) "Relative" means an individual related
to a child by blood, marriage, or adoption.
(11) "Sufficient progress" means compliance
with case permanency plan objectives that support the safe return of the child
to the child's parent.
Section
2. Children in Care. Unless the secretary of the cabinet or
designee approves an exception based on overall trends in the foster care
population, the maximum number of children who receive foster care in excess of
twenty-four (24) months shall be 3,000 during a state fiscal year.
Section 3. Permanency Planning.
(1) In a court permanency hearing held
pursuant to
KRS
610.125, the cabinet shall demonstrate that
reasonable efforts to return the child to the child's parent:
(a) Have been unsuccessful; or
(b) Are not required under the provisions of
KRS
610.127.
(2) In the provision of permanency services,
the cabinet shall meet the requirements of the:
(a) Indian Child Welfare Act in accordance
with
25 U.S.C.
1901-
1963,
42 U.S.C.
671(a)(32), and
42
U.S.C.
1996; or
(b) Multiethnic Placement Act as amended by
the Interethnic Adoption Provisions of 1996 in accordance with
42 U.S.C.
622(b)(7),
671(a)(18),
and
1996b.
(3) If a child entering the
custody of the cabinet has an absent parent, an absent parent search shall:
(a) Be conducted within thirty (30) days of a
child entering the custody of the cabinet;
(b) Be conducted to gather as much
information as possible related to the person and the person's location, which
may include:
1. Date of birth;
2. Social Security number;
3. Present or previous employers;
4. Present or most recent address;
and
(c) Include a
written record of all search attempts, written correspondence, and telephone
contacts with any person to assist in locating a parent or relative.
(4) The cabinet shall not be
obligated to search for or seek fictive kin as a placement for a
child.
(5) When a case conference
is held in compliance with
KRS
620.180(2)(a) 1 for a child
placed in the custody of the cabinet, the cabinet shall develop and document a
case permanency plan, using the DPP-1281, Family Case Plan.
(6) The case permanency plan shall identify
the permanency goal described in Section 4(2) of this administrative
regulation.
(7) Concurrent planning
shall be considered:
(a) During development of
the case permanency plan; and
(b)
At the six (6) month case review.
Section 4. Permanency Goals.
(1) A permanency goal for a child who has
been removed from the child's home of origin by a court shall be established
according to the particular needs and best interest of the child.
(2) A permanency goal shall include one (1)
of the following:
(a) Return to
parent;
(b) Adoption;
(c) Permanent relative placement;
(d) Legal guardianship; or
(e) Another planned permanent living
arrangement.
Section
5. Return to Parent.
(1) The
cabinet shall recommend to the court that a child who has been removed from the
child's home of origin by the court is returned to the parent if the cabinet
determines:
(a) A family has made sufficient
progress toward completing the case permanency plan; and
(b) Return to the parent is in the best
interest of the child.
(2) If the cabinet determines that a family
has not made sufficient progress towards achieving the objectives specified in
the case permanency plan, the cabinet shall seek a court order for:
(a) A change in the permanency
goal;
(b) Termination of parental
rights; or
(c) A civil action in
support of the child's permanency goal.
(3) If the court determines that a
circumstance occurs that negates the requirement to make reasonable efforts to
reunify the child and family, as described in
KRS
610.127, the cabinet shall select a
permanency goal other than return to parent.
Section 6. Adoption.
(1) The permanency goal for a child in the
custody of the cabinet shall be adoption if:
(a) The parent pursues voluntary termination
of parental rights pursuant to
KRS 625.040;
or
(b) The cabinet pursues
involuntary termination of parental rights:
1.
Pursuant to
KRS
620.180(2)(c) 3 or 625.090;
or
2. If the child has been in
foster care for fifteen (15) of the most recent twenty-two (22) months pursuant
to 42 U.S.C.
675(5)(E).
(2) The cabinet shall
request an exception for proceeding with involuntary termination of parental
rights pursuant to subsection (1)(b) of this section, if:
(a) A relative or fictive kin placement has
been secured;
(b) Termination is
not in the best interest of the child, for a compelling reason:
1. Documented in the case permanency plan;
and
2. Monitored on a continual
basis; or
(c) A service
necessary for return to parent has not been provided within the time period
specified in the case permanency plan.
(3) Cabinet staff shall consider involuntary
termination of parental rights at each permanency hearing held pursuant to
KRS
610.125(1) or a case review
in accordance with
KRS
620.180(2)(c) 1 and
2.
Section 7. Permanent
Relative Placement. The permanency goal for a child who has been removed from
the child's home of origin by a court shall be permanent custody if:
(1) Return to the parent is not in the
child's best interest; and
(2) The
cabinet determines that a relative or fictive kin who does not pursue adoption
or legal guardianship is able to provide a permanent home for the
child.
Section 8. Legal
Guardianship.
(1) The permanency goal for a
child who has been removed from the child's home of origin by a court shall be
legal guardianship if the cabinet determines that:
(a) Return to the parent or adoption is not
in the child's best interest;
(b)
There is an identified adult, including fictive kin, willing to seek legal
guardianship of the child; and
(c)
Legal guardianship by the adult identified in paragraph (b) of this subsection
is in the child's best interest.
(2) Legal guardianship shall be requested
pursuant to
KRS
387.025.
Section 9. Another Planned Permanent Living
Arrangement.
(1) The permanency goal for a
child in the custody of the cabinet who is sixteen (16) years of age or older
shall be another planned permanent living arrangement if:
(a) An unsuccessful effort has been made to
place the child for adoption or with a relative or fictive kin, and the child
has been placed on a national adoption register;
(b) Other permanency goal options have been
exhausted and are no longer appropriate due to the specific circumstances of
the child;
(c) The cabinet has
reviewed documentation that a goal of another planned permanent living
arrangement is in the best interest of the child;
(d) The court has determined that another
planned permanent living arrangement is in the best interest of the child to be
placed; and
(e) The child has
formed psychological ties with those with whom the child lives, and adoption
and guardianship have been discussed with the care provider and are not viable
alternatives.
(2)
Approval shall be obtained from the commissioner or designee prior to the
establishment of another planned permanent living arrangement as a permanency
goal for a child placed with a private child-caring agency.
Section 10. Permanency Services.
(1) The cabinet shall provide services for a
child who has been removed from the child's home of origin by a court so that
permanency is achieved.
(2)
Permanency services may include:
(a) Ongoing
case work and monitoring of the family to:
1.
Maintain the child safely in the child's home; and
2. Ensure safe return of the child if the
goal is return to the parent;
(b) Independent living services and
programming for the child in accordance with
42
U.S.C.
677;
(c) Adoption assistance pursuant to 922 KAR
1:050 or 922 KAR
1:060;
(d)
Post-finalization adoption assistance if adoption assistance has not been
previously approved pursuant to
KRS
199.555 and
199.557;
(e) Post-adoption placement stabilization
services as described in 922 KAR
1:530; or
(f) Referral to other cabinet and community
resources necessary for the achievement or maintenance of the child's
permanency goal.
(3)
Cabinet resources for a prospective or existing permanent relative or fictive
kin placement shall be established in 922 KAR
1:565.
Section 11. Funerals and Burials.
(1) The biological or legal parent of a child
deceased while in temporary custody or committed to the cabinet, shall be
responsible for funeral arrangements, unless the:
(a) Parental rights have been
terminated;
(b) Parent cannot be
located; or
(c) Parent is unable to
make funeral arrangements.
(2) Personal and family resources, including
the deceased child's trust fund and insurance in the deceased child's name,
shall be exhausted prior to the approval of cabinet funds for funeral and
burial expenses.
Section
12. Incorporation by Reference.
(1) "DPP-1281, Family Case Plan", 11/16, is
incorporated by reference.
(2) This
material may be inspected, copied, or obtained, subject to applicable copyright
law, at the Department for Community Based Services, 275 East Main Street,
Frankfort, Kentucky 40621, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.