5. Support orders. Whenever the court commits a juvenile to the Department of Human Services, to a Department of Corrections juvenile correctional facility, to a residential special-purpose private school or a similar private facility or to a relative or other person, the court may order either or both parents of the juvenile to pay a reasonable amount of support for the juvenile. The order is enforceable under Title 19-A, section 2603.

Sec. 3. 15 MRSA §3314, sub-§§7 and 8 are enacted to read:

7.__Consideration for placement.__In deciding whether to suspend any dispositional alternative provided in subsection 1 and to require as a condition of probation that the juvenile attend a residential special-purpose private school or similar private facility in accordance with subsection 2, the court shall take the following considerations into account:

A.__Whether the placement is likely to provide more effective rehabilitation than the disposition to be suspended;

B.__Whether the placement will provide such rehabilitation at a cost less than the average per-juvenile cost of committing the juvenile to a state-run facility;

C.__Whether the residential special-purpose private school or similar private facility has an established record for effectively assisting juveniles with behavioral or psychological problems similar to those the court finds the juvenile in fact has;

D.__The best interest of the juvenile and the juvenile's family; and

E.__The best interest of society.

8.__Funding.__Subject to full or partial reimbursement in accordance with subsection 5, the State shall pay the reasonable and customary charges of any residential special- purpose private school or similar private facility that a juvenile is required to attend as a condition of probation established in accordance with subsection 2.__If the charges of the residential special-purpose private school or similar private facility have been approved by the Department of Human Services or by the Department of Education, those charges are deemed reasonable and appropriate.