Reference is to Printer's Date 2/8/17-H.
Amend the bill, as and if amended, by striking SECTION 3 and inserting:
/ SECTION 3. Section 63-7-2320(C) and (D)(4) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(C) When a child
has been removed from his home and is in the care, custody, or
guardianship of the department, the department shall attempt to
identify a relative who would be appropriate for placement of
the child in accordance with the preliminary investigation
requirements of Subarticle 3, Article 3 and in accordance with
Section 63-7-1680(B)(6)(E)(1). If the
department determines that it is in the best interest of a child
requiring out-of-home placement that the child be placed with a
relative for foster care, or if a relative advises the
department that the relative is interested in providing
placement for a child requiring foster care, and the relative is
not already licensed to provide foster care, the department
shall inform the relative of the procedures for being licensed
as a kinship foster parent, assist the foster parent with the
licensing process, and inform the relative of availability of
payments and other services to kinship foster parents. If the
relative is licensed by the department to provide kinship foster
care services, in accordance with rules and regulations adopted
by the department regarding kinship foster care, and a placement
with the relative is made, the relative may receive payment for
the full foster care rate for the care of the child and any
other benefits that might be available to foster parents,
whether in money or in services.
(4)
Notwithstanding the requirement that a relative
licensed as a kinship foster parent must be licensed in
accordance with the same requirements as nonrelative applicants,
the department may waive, on a case-by-case basis, for relative
applicants nonsafety elements as the department deems
appropriate. Safety elements, such as criminal and child abuse
and neglect background checks required by Title IV-E of the
Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. Section 671(a)(20)(A), may not be
waived. The department may not license a relative as a kinship
foster parent or place the child with the relative if the
placement would violate any provision of Section 63-7-2350. The
department shall note on the standard license if there was a
waiver of a nonsafety element and identify the element being
waived.
(5)
The department shall determine, after a thorough
review of information obtained in the kinship foster care
licensing process, whether the person is able to care
effectively for the foster child. The review must take into
consideration the parental preference and the preference for
placement with a relative who is known to the child and who has
a constructive and caring relationship with the child, as
provided in Section 63-7-1680(E)(1). The review also must take
into consideration the preference for the placement with a
relative who, but for the removal of the child at birth, would
have had a constructive and caring relationship with the child,
based on the relative's fitness and ability to care for the
child." /
Amend the bill further, as and if amended, by striking SECTION 6 and inserting:
/ SECTION 6. Section 43-1-210 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 281 of 2014, is further amended to read:
"Section 43-1-210.
(A) The director shall prepare
and submit to the Governor and the General Assembly a full and
detailed report of its activities and expenditures annually,
including a statement of its personnel and the salaries paid,
and shall likewise make such recommendations and suggestions as
it shall deem advisable in the execution of its duties to the
General Assembly. In addition, this report must include, but is
not limited to, the following information:
(1)
the monthly total number of cases assigned, as of the last
business day of every month, to each case worker in the
Department of Social Services Child Protective Services
Division;
(2)
the monthly total number of children assigned, as of the
last business day of every month, to each case worker in the
Department of Social Services Child Protective Services
Division;
(3)
the monthly total number of children seen by the
Department of Social Services within twenty-four hours of a
report of abuse or neglect that were accepted for intake;
(4)
the monthly total number of children that were not seen by
the Department of Social Services within twenty-four hours of a
report of abuse or neglect;
(5)
the total number of children in foster care that were seen
by the Department of Social Services each month;
and
(6)
the total number of children in foster care that were not
seen by the Department of Social Services each month;
(7)
the number of children placed with a relative or
other person pursuant to a safety plan;
(8)
the number of children placed with a relative
licensed as a kinship foster parent;
(9)
the number of children placed with a relative
not licensed as a kinship foster parent;
(10)
for each case in which a relative requests to be
licensed as a kinship foster parent, the number of days before a
license is granted; and
(11)
the number of relatives who apply to be licensed
as a kinship foster parent and request a waiver of nonsafety
licensing requirements who are subsequently granted a license
with the waiver.
(B) The
Department of Social Services shall prepare and submit this
report no later than March first of each year."
/
Amend the bill further, as and if amended, by adding an appropriately numbered SECTION to read:
/ SECTION _. Section 63-7-20(6) of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 238 of 2016, is further amended to read:
"(6) 'Child abuse
or neglect' or 'harm' occurs when:
(a)
the parent, guardian, or other person responsible
for the child's welfare:
(a)(i)
inflicts or allows to be inflicted upon the child physical
or mental injury or engages in acts or omissions which present a
substantial risk of physical or mental injury to the child,
including injuries sustained as a result of excessive corporal
punishment, but excluding corporal punishment or physical
discipline which:
(i)(A) is
administered by a parent or person in loco parentis;
(ii)(B) is
perpetrated for the sole purpose of restraining or correcting
the child;
(iii)(C) is
reasonable in manner and moderate in degree;
(iv)(D) has
not brought about permanent or lasting damage to the child;
and
(v)(E) is not
reckless or grossly negligent behavior by the
parents.;
(b)(ii)
commits or allows to be committed against the child a
sexual offense as defined by the laws of this State or engages
in acts or omissions that present a substantial risk that a
sexual offense as defined in the laws of this State would be
committed against the child;
(c)(iii) fails
to supply the child with adequate food, clothing, shelter, or
education as required under Article 1 of Chapter 65 of Title 59,
supervision appropriate to the child's age and development, or
health care though financially able to do so or offered
financial or other reasonable means to do so and the failure to
do so has caused or presents a substantial risk of causing
physical or mental injury. However, a child's absences from
school may not be considered abuse or neglect unless the school
has made efforts to bring about the child's attendance, and
those efforts were unsuccessful because of the parents' refusal
to cooperate. For the purpose of this chapter "adequate
health care" includes any medical or nonmedical remedial
health care permitted or authorized under state law;
(d)(iv)
abandons the child;
(e)(v)
encourages, condones, or approves the commission of
delinquent acts by the child including, but not limited to,
sexual trafficking or exploitation, and the commission of the
acts are shown to be the result of the encouragement,
condonation, or approval; or
(f)(vi) has
committed abuse or neglect as described in
subsectionssubsubitems
(a)(i) through
(e)(v) such that a child who
subsequently becomes part of the person's household is at
substantial risk of one of those forms of abuse or
neglect.; or
(b)
a child is a victim of trafficking in persons as
defined in Section 16-3-2010, including sex trafficking,
regardless of whether the perpetrator is a parent, guardian, or
other person responsible for the child's welfare."
/
Renumber sections to conform.
Amend title to conform.