Public Laws of 2001 as Passed at 2nd Regular Sess. of 120th Legislature

PUBLIC LAWS OF MAINE
Second Regular Session of the 120th

CHAPTER 559
PART CC

Sec. CC-1. 22 MRSA §4004, sub-§2, as amended by PL 1991, c. 824, Pt. A, §45, is further amended to read:

2. Duties. The department shall act to protect abused and neglected children and children in circumstances ~~which~~ that present a substantial risk of abuse and neglect, to prevent further abuse and neglect, to enhance the welfare of these children and their families and to preserve family life wherever possible. The department shall:

A. Receive reports of abuse and neglect;
B. Promptly investigate all abuse and neglect cases coming to its attention or in the case of out-of-home abuse and neglect investigations, the department shall act in accordance with subchapter XI-A;
C. Determine the degree of harm or threatened harm to each child in each case; ~~and~~
~~D. Take appropriate action to further the purposes of this chapter.~~
E. If, after investigation, the department does not file a petition under section 4032 but does open a case to provide services to the family to alleviate child abuse and neglect in the home, assign a caseworker, who shall:

(1) Provide information about rehabilitation and other services that may be available to assist the family; and
(2) Develop with the family a written child and family plan.
The child and family plan must identify the problems in the family and the services needed to address those problems; must describe responsibilities for completing the services, including, but not limited to, payment for services, transportation and child care services and responsibilities for seeking out and participating in services; and must state the names, addresses and telephone numbers of any relatives or family friends known to the department or parent to be available as resources to the family.
The child and family plan must be reviewed every 6 months, or sooner if requested by the family or the department; and

F. File a petition under section 4032 if, after investigation, the department determines that a child is in immediate risk of serious harm or in jeopardy as defined in this chapter.

Sec. CC-2. 22 MRSA §4038, sub-§3-A is enacted to read:

3-A. Prehearing conference. The court may convene a prehearing conference to clarify the disputed issues and review the possibility of settlement.

Sec. CC-3. 22 MRSA §4038, sub-§7-A, ¶B, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 715, Pt. B, §10, is amended to read:

B. The permanency plan for the child must contain determinations on the following issues.

(1) The permanency plan must determine whether and when, if applicable, the child will be:

(a) Returned to the parent. Before the court may enter an order returning the custody of the child to a parent, the parent must show that the parent has carried out the responsibilities set forth in section 4041, subsection 1 1-A, paragraph B; that to the court's satisfaction the parent has rectified and resolved the problems that caused the removal of the child from home and any subsequent problems that would interfere with the parent's ability to care for and protect the child from jeopardy; and that the parent can protect the child from jeopardy;
(b) Placed for adoption, in which case the department shall file a petition for termination of parental rights;
(c) Referred for legal guardianship; or
(d) Placed in another planned permanent living arrangement when the department has documented to the court a compelling reason for determining that it would not be in the best interests of the child to be returned home, be referred for termination of parental rights or be placed for adoption, be placed with a fit and willing relative, or be placed with a legal guardian.

(2) In the case of a child placed in foster care outside the state in which the parents of the child live, the permanency plan must determine whether the out-of-state placement continues to be appropriate and in the best interests of the child.
(3) In the case of a child who is 16 years of age or older, the permanency plan must determine the services needed to assist the child to make the transition from foster care to independent living.

Sec. CC-4. 22 MRSA §4041, sub-§1, as amended by PL 1997, c. 715, Pt. B, §11, is repealed.

Sec. CC-5. 22 MRSA §4041, sub-§1-A is enacted to read:

1-A. Rehabilitation and reunification. A child is considered to have entered foster care on the date of the first judicial finding that the child has been subjected to child abuse or neglect or on the 60th day after the child is removed from the home, whichever occurs first. When a child is considered to have entered foster care, the responsibility for reunification and rehabilitation of the family must be shared as follows.

A. The department shall:

(1) Develop a rehabilitation and reunification plan as provided in this subparagraph.

(a) In developing the rehabilitation and reunification plan, the department shall make good faith efforts to seek the participation of the parent. Information that must be included in developing the plan includes the problems that present a risk of harm to the child, the services needed to address those problems, provisions to ensure the safety of the child while the parent engages in services, a means to measure the extent to which progress has been made, and visitation that protects the child's physical and emotional well-being. With this information, the department shall prepare a written rehabilitation and reunification plan.
(b) The department shall circulate the plan to the parties at least 10 days before a scheduled court hearing and shall present the plan to the court for filing at that hearing.
(c) The rehabilitation and reunification plan must include the following:

(i) The reasons for the removal of the child from home;
(ii) The changes that are necessary to eliminate jeopardy to the child while in the care of a parent;
(iii) Rehabilitation services that will be provided and must be completed satisfactorily prior to the child's returning home;
(iv) Services that must be provided or made available to assist the parent in rehabilitating and reunifying with the child, as appropriate to the child and family, including, but not limited to, reasonable transportation for the parent for visits and services, child care, housing assistance, assistance with transportation to and from required services and other services that support reunification;
(v) A schedule of and conditions for visits between the child and the parent designed to provide the parent and child time together in settings that provide as positive a parent-child interaction as can practicably be achieved while ensuring the emotional and physical well-being of the child when visits are not detrimental to the child's best interests;
(vi) Any use of kinship support, including, but not limited to, placement, supervision of visitation, in-home support or respite care;
(vii) A reasonable time schedule for proposed reunification, reasonably calculated to meet the child's needs; and
(viii) A statement of the financial responsibilities of the parent and the department during the reunification process;

(2) Provide the parent with prompt written notice of the following, unless that notice would be detrimental to the best interests of the child:

(a) The child's residence and, when practicable, at least 7 days' advance written notice of a planned change of residence; and
(b) Any serious injuries, major medical care received or hospitalization of the child;

(3) Make good faith efforts to cooperate with the parent in the pursuit of the plan;
(4) Periodically review with the parent the progress of the plan and make any appropriate changes in that plan. If the parties disagree about the proposed changes in the plan, any party may seek an informal conference with all other parties in an effort to resolve the disagreement, prior to initiating court action. If the parties are unable to agree after an informal conference, the parties may have access to the court's case management system. This subparagraph may not be construed to limit the court's authority to manage and control any cases within the court;
(5) Petition for judicial review and return of custody of the child to the parent at the earliest appropriate time; and
(6) Petition for termination of parental rights at the earliest possible time that it is determined that family reunification efforts will be discontinued pursuant to subsection 2 and that termination is in the best interests of the child.

B. The responsibilities of the parent include, as appropriate to the child and family, that the parent:

(1) Rectify and resolve problems that prevent the return of the child to the home;
(2) Cooperate with the department in the development of the plan, as described in paragraph A;
(3) Take part in a reasonable rehabilitation and reunification plan. Use of rehabilitation and other services by a parent may not be used to constitute an admission by the parent;
(4) Maintain meaningful contact with the child pursuant to the plan. When a parent has moved from the area where the child has been placed, the parent shall make arrangements to visit the child at or near the child's placement. If a significant practical barrier to parental contact with the child arises, any party aware of the barrier shall notify the other parties and all parties shall make efforts to overcome the barrier to contact;
(5) Seek and utilize appropriate services to assist in rehabilitating and reunifying with the child;
(6) Pay reasonable sums toward the support of the child within the limits of the parent's ability to pay;
(7) Maintain contact with the department, including prompt written notification to the department of any change of address; and
(8) Make good faith efforts to cooperate with the department in developing and pursuing the plan.

C. Unless excused for good cause shown, at any hearing held under section 4034, subsection 4 or within 10 days of the filing of the petition if a hearing under section 4034, subsection 4 is not held, the department shall present to the court for review a preliminary rehabilitation and reunification plan, a plan to avoid removal of the child from home or decision not to commence reunification.

(1) A preliminary plan must be developed with the custodial parent and the department caseworker if the parent is willing to engage in the development of the plan.
(2) The preliminary plan must include the following: a statement of the problems causing risk to the child identified by the department and by the parent; preliminary identification by the parent and by the department of services needed; a description of the visitation plan or explanation of why visits are not scheduled; the names, addresses and telephone numbers of any relatives or family friends known to the department and parent to be available as resources for rehabilitation and reunification; and the department's preliminary assessment of any kinship placements.
(3) Prior to review by the court, the department shall provide a copy of the preliminary plan to counsel for the parents, or to the parents if they do not have counsel, and to the guardian ad litem.
(4) The court may review the preliminary plan in a hearing that does not allow testimonial evidence with all parties and counsel present or may hold a summary hearing at which the court may limit testimony to the testimony of the caseworker, parent, guardian ad litem, person to whom trial placement was given, foster parents, preadoptive parents or relatives providing care and may admit evidence, including reports and records, that would otherwise be inadmissible as hearsay evidence.
(5) The preliminary plan remains in effect until the court enters a jeopardy order under section 4035. A party may file an amended plan at any time before the jeopardy order is entered with the written agreement of all parties.

D. The department may make reasonable efforts to place a child for adoption or with a legal guardian concurrently with reunification efforts if potential adoptive parents have expressed a willingness to support the rehabilitation and reunification plan.

Sec. CC-6. Goals and performance measures; quality indicator reports. The Department of Human Services shall adopt goals and performance measures and shall provide quality indicator reports to reflect the additional efforts made possible through appropriations and allocations in this Part.

1. Goals and performance measures. The Department of Human Services shall adopt goals and performance measures for child welfare services that measure the following: compliance with safety and well-being reviews; compliance with Bureau of Child and Family Services licensing and relicensing functions; the number of children in custody; the number of children in custody placed with relatives; the number of 2nd-level reviews of substantiation decisions; the increase in the number of families offered needed substance abuse services; and the decrease in the number of families unable to access needed substance abuse services for systemic reasons.

In consideration of the appropriations and allocations of this Part, the department shall make good faith efforts to decrease the number of children in custody on October 1, 2003 by 5% from the number in custody on October 1, 2002; and increase the number of children placed with relatives on October 1, 2003 by 25% from the number placed with relatives on October 1, 2002. Future budget projections must reflect decreases in foster care expenditures that result from the decreased numbers of children in foster care.
By January 1, 2003, July 1, 2003 and January 1, 2004, the department shall report to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over health and human services matters on the progress of the department in meeting the goals and performance measures under this provision and the change since October 1, 2002 in the number of children in custody and the number placed with relatives.

2. Quality indicator reports. The department shall provide semiannual quality indicator reports that measure compliance with the federal Indian Child Welfare Act, 25 United States Code, Chapter 21; compliance with federal and state law child welfare time frames; the frequency of kinship placements; contact with family members; placement in foster and other residential care; involvement in case plan development and review of family members and interested professionals; the frequency of reviews of decisions of substantiation of abuse and neglect; waiver applications under the federal Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997, Public Law 105-89; terminations of parental rights in which no services are accessed by the parents; placement of children in homes outside their school districts; average caseload size; compliance with standards for home visiting in foster homes; frequency of families accessing services; numbers of children entering and leaving state custody; expenditures on substance abuse services; and frequency of clients being unable to access needed substance abuse and domestic violence prevention services.

Sec. CC-7. Automatic hiring suspension. The following provisions regarding an automatic suspension of hiring apply to the 28 Caseworker positions for which appropriations and allocations are made in this Part.

1. Periodic reporting on caseworker caseload sizes. The Department of Human Services shall report twice per year on average caseload sizes for caseworkers. The department shall provide a comparison of those figures to the benchmark established by the Bureau of Child and Family Services in April 2002. When the disparity between staff need and available staff narrows and sustains itself at 4%, the position count for caseworker positions must be recorded and hiring for more positions than that number must be automatically suspended. From that time forward, only vacant caseworker positions up to the recorded number may be filled. If average caseworker caseload sizes increase so that the disparity between staff need and available staff increases and is anticipated to remain above 4%, the department may hire up to the number of persons necessary to achieve the benchmark figure from April 2002 but may not exceed the total number of positions authorized by the Legislature in any fiscal year.

2. Reporting when an automatic hiring suspension is in effect. If an automatic suspension of hiring is in effect under this section, the department shall report every 6 months on the suspension and on caseworker caseload sizes to the joint standing committees of the Legislature having jurisdiction over appropriations and financial affairs and health and human services matters.

Sec. CC-8. Supplemental appropriations and allocations. The following appropriations and allocations are made.

BEHAVIORAL AND DEVELOPMENTAL SERVICES,
DEPARTMENT OF
Office of Substance Abuse 0679

Initiative: Effective October 1, 2002, provides funds to support a collaborative project between the Office of Substance Abuse and the Maine State Housing Authority to provide safe and sober homes for families where substance abuse threatens family dissolution and for families working towards reunification.
General Fund 2001-02 2002-03
All Other $0 $166,667

BEHAVIORAL AND DEVELOPMENTAL SERVICES,
DEPARTMENT OF
DEPARTMENT TOTALS 2001-02 2002-03

GENERAL FUND 0 166,667

____________ ____________

DEPARTMENT TOTAL -
ALL FUNDS 0 166,667

HUMAN SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF 10
Bureau of Child and Family Services - Regional 0452

Initiative: Effective October 1, 2002, provides funds for the establishment of 28 Human Services Caseworker positions and 5 Human Services Caseworker Supervisor positions and All Other to ensure the safety and provision of quality services in order to maintain children in their homes or move children to permanency by returning them to their homes, adoption or other permanency plan. This request is expected to increase General Fund undedicated revenue by $50,911 in fiscal year 2002-03 due to an increase in targeted case management revenue.
General Fund 2001-02 2002-03
Positions - Legislative Count (0.000) (33.000)
Personal Services 0 1,175,200
All Other 0 266,196

____________ ____________

Total 0 1,441,396

Bureau of Child and Family Services - Regional 0452

Initiative: Effective October 1, 2002, provides funds for the establishment of 5 Human Services Case Aide III positions and All Other to support Human Services Caseworker functions.
General Fund 2001-02 2002-03
Positions - Legislative Count (0.000) (5.000)
Personal Services 0 122,156
All Other 0 25,498

____________ ____________

Total 0 147,654

Bureau of Child and Family Services - Central 0307

Initiative: Effective October 1, 2002, provides funds for the establishment of one Social Services Program Specialist II position, 1/2 Hearings Examiner position, 1/2 Legal Secretary position and one Clerk-typist III position and All Other to fulfill the State's obligation to afford an increased level of due process to individuals who have been found to have committed child abuse or neglect and have appealed that decision.
General Fund 2001-02 2002-03
Positions - Legislative Count (0.000) (3.000)
Personal Services 0 102,170
All Other 0 25,296

____________ ____________

Total 0 127,466

Foster Care 0137

Initiative: Effective October 1, 2002, provides for the allocation of funds earned in Title IV-E Foster Care to cover the transfer of expanded child welfare costs.
Other Special Revenue Funds 2001-02 2002-03
All Other 0 685,000