Title IV-E State Plan - State of _____________________________
Federal Statutory/Regulatory References

Section 2
State Citations for Each

45 CFR 1356. 21(d)(2)

2. be developed within a reasonable period, but no later than 60 days from the time the State Agency assumes responsibility for providing services, including placing the child; and 45 CFR 1356. 21(d)(4)

3. after October 1, 1983, include a description of the services offered and the services provided to prevent removal of the child from the home and to reunify the family; and

475(1)(A)

4. include a description of the type of home or institution in which the child is placed; and

5. include a discussion of the safety and appropriateness of the placement and how the responsible agency plans to carry out the judicial determination made with respect to the child in accordance with 472(a)(1) of the Act; and

   Currently in place:_______
   Will be met by:__________

6. include a plan for assuring that the child receives safe and proper care and services are provided to the parent(s) in order to improve the conditions in the parent's (parents') home to facilitate the child's return to his own safe home or the permanent placement of the child; and
   
   Currently in place:_______
   Will be met by:__________

7. include a plan for assuring that services are provided to the child and foster parents in order to address the needs of the child while in foster care; and

8. include a discussion of the appropriateness of the services that have been provided to the child under the plan; and

9. where appropriate, for a child 16 or over, include a written description of the programs and services which will help such child prepare for the transition from foster care to independent living; and

10. in the case of a child with respect to whom the permanency plan is adoption or placement in another permanent home, documentation of the steps the agency is taking to find an adoptive family or other permanent living arrangement for the child, to place the child with an adoptive family, a fit and willing relative, a legal guardian, or in another planned permanent living arrangement, and to finalize the adoption or legal guardianship. At a minimum, such documentation shall include child specific recruitment efforts such as the use of State, regional, and national adoption exchanges including electronic exchange systems; and
    
    Currently in place:_______
    Will be met by:__________

475(5)(A) 45 CFR 1356.21 (d)(3)

11. be designed to achieve placement in a safe setting that is the least restrictive (most family-like) and most appropriate setting available and in close proximity to the parent's (parents') home consistent with the best interest and special needs of the child,
    
    Currently in place:_______
    Will be met by:__________

1. if the child has been placed in a foster family home or child-care institution a substantial distance from the home of the parent(s), or in a different State, sets forth the reasons why such a placement is in the best interests of the child; and

12. if the child has been placed in foster care in a State outside the State in which the child's parent(s) are located, assure that an agency caseworker, of either State, visit the foster home or institution no less frequently than every 12 months and submit a report on the visit to the State agency of the State where the home of the child's parent(s) is located; and

13. assure that the permanency hearings determine whether an out-of-State placement continues to be appropriate and in the best interests of the child; and
    
    Currently in place:_______
    Will be met by:__________

14. to the extent available and accessible, incorporate the health and education records of the child, including:

    1. the names and addresses of the child's health and educational providers;
    2. the child's grade level performance;
    3. the child's school record;
    4. assurances that the child's placement in foster care takes into account the proximity to the school in which the child is enrolled at the time of placement;
    5. a record of the child's immunizations;
    6. the child's known medical problems;
    7. the child's medications; and
    8. any other relevant health and education information concerning the child determined to be appropriate by the State agency.

2. Case Review
   
   The State Agency has a case review system which meets the requirements of 475(5) of the Act and assures that

1. a review of each child's status will be made no less frequently than once every six months either by a court or by administrative review to:

   1. determine the safety of the child, the continuing need for and appropriateness of the placement,
   2. determine the extent of compliance with the case plan,
   3. determine the extent of progress made toward alleviating or mitigating the causes necessitating the placement, and
   4. project a likely date by which the child may be returned and safely maintained at home or placed for adoption or legal guardianship.
      
      Currently in place:_______
      Will be met by:__________

2. If an administrative review is conducted, the following requirements specified in 475(6) of the Act will be met:

   1. the review will be open to the participation of the parents of the child, and
   2. the review will be conducted by a panel of appropriate persons, at least one of whom is not responsible for the case management of, or delivery of services to either the child or the parents who are the subject of the review.

3. A permanency hearing must be held for all children under the responsibility for placement and care of the title IV-E/IV-B State agency, including children for whom the State claims Federal reimbursement for the costs of voluntary foster care maintenance payments. To meet this requirement, the permanency hearing must take place within 12 months of the date the child is considered to have entered foster care (as defined within the meaning of 475(5)(F)and not less frequently than every 12 months thereafter during the continuation of foster care. The only exceptions to this requirement are:
   
   
   1. for those children who are placed in a court sanctioned permanent foster home with a specific caregiver; and;
   2. for those children who are free for adoption and are placed in adoptive homes pending the finalization of the adoption.
      
      For the purposes of this requirement, a permanency hearing shall determine the permanency plan for the child that includes whether, and if applicable when, the child will be returned to the parent, placed for adoption and the State will file a petition for termination of parental rights, or referred to legal guardianship, or (in cases wh ere the State agency has documented to the State court a compelling reasons for determining that it would not be in the best interest of the child to return home, be referred for termination of parental rights, or be placed for adoption, with a fit and willing relative, or with a legal guardian) placed in another planned permanent living arrangement.
      
      Currently in place:_______
      Will be met by:__________
      
      

4. A child's health and education record must be reviewed and updated, and supplied to the foster parent or foster care provider with whom the child is placed, at the time of each placement of the child in foster care.

5. The foster parents (if any) of a child and any preadoptive parent or relative providing care for the child are provided with notice of, and an opportunity to be heard in, any review or hearing to be held with respect to the child, except that this shall not be construed to require that any foster parent, preadoptive parent, or relative providing care for the child be made a party to such a rev iew or hearing solely on the basis of such notice and opportunity to be heard.
   
   Currently in place:_______
   Will be met by:__________

5. MEDICAL AND SOCIAL SERVICES

6. SPECIFIC GOALS IN STATE LAW

1. The State agency will formulate for each fiscal year, commencing with the fiscal year which begins October 1, 1983, a specific goal as to the maximum number of children (in absolute numbers or as a percentage of all children in foster care receiving assistance under a State title IV-E program) who at any given time during the fiscal year will have been in foster care for over 24 months.

2. The State Agency will describe the steps which will be taken to achieve the specific goal established.

3. The specific goal for the first fiscal year will be established by the State in law on or before October 1, 1982.

7. PREVENTIVE AND REUNIFICATION SERVICES

Reasonable efforts as described at section 471(a)(15)(B) shall not be required to be made with respect to a parent of a child if a court of competent jurisdiction has determined that--

1. the parent has subjected the child to aggravated circumstances (as defined in State law, which definition may include but need not be limited to abandonment, torture, chronic abuse, or sexual abuse; and
2. the parent has--
   
   
   1. committed murder (which would have been an offense under section 1111(a) of title 18, United States Code, if the offense had occurred in the special maritime or territorial jurisdiction of the United States) of another child of the parent;
   2. committed voluntary manslaughter (which would have been an offense under section 1112)(a) of title 18, United States Code, if the offense had occurred in the special maritime or territorial jurisdiction of the United States) of another child of the parent;
   3. aided or abetted, attempted, conspired, or solicited to commit such a murder or such a voluntary manslaughter; or
   4. committed a felony assault that results in serious bodily injury to the child or another child of the parent; or
3. the parental rights of the parent to a sibling have been terminated involuntarily;
   
   Currently in place:_______
   Will be met by:__________

1. a permanency hearing (as described in section 475(5)(C)) shall be held for the child within 30 days after the determination; and
2. reasonable efforts shall be made to place the child in a timely manner in accordance with the permanency plan, and to complete whatever steps are necessary to finalize the permanent placement of the child; and reasonable efforts to place a child for adoption or with a legal guardian may be made concurrently with reasonable efforts of the type described at section 471(a)(15)(B).
   
   Currently in place:_______
   Will be met by:__________

8. TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS

The State Agency will, in the case of a child who has been in foster care under the responsibility of the State for 15 of the most recent 22 months, or, if a court of competent jurisdiction has determined a child to be an abandoned infant, or has made a determination that the parent has committed murder of another child of the parent, aided or abetted, attempted, conspired, or solicited to commit such a murder or such a voluntary manslaughter, or committed a felony assault that has resulted in serious bodily injury to the child or to another child of the parent, the State shall file a petition to terminate the parental rights of the child's parents, and concurrently, to identify, recruit, process and approve a qualified family for adoption unless:

1. the child is being cared for by a relative, at State option;
2. a State agency has documented in the case plan a compelling reason for determining that filing such a petition would not be in the best interests of the child; or
3. the State has not provided the family of the child, consistent with the time period in the State case plan, such services as the State deems necessary for the safe return of the child to the child's home.
   
   Currently in place:_______
   Will be met by:__________

A child shall be considered to have entered foster care on the earlier of:

1. the date of the first judicial finding that the child has been subjected to child abuse or neglect; or
2. the date that is 60 days after the date on which the child is removed from the home.
   
   Currently in place:_______
   Will be met by:__________

3. has been determined by the State to be a child with special needs.

2. PAYMENTS - AMOUNTS AND CONDITIONS

1. Payments shall be made for nonrecurring adoption expenses incurred by or on behalf of the adoptive parents in connection with the adoption of a child with special needs, directly through the State Agency or through another public or nonprofit private agency, in amounts determined through an agreement with the adoptive parents, and

2. in any case where the child meets the requirements of 473(a)(2) of the Act, the State may make adoption assistance payments to adoptive parents, directly through the State Agency or through another public or nonprofit private agency, in amounts so determined through an adoption assistance agreement (see section 3C of this plan). The amount of such payment:

1. shall take into consideration the circumstances of the adopting parents and the needs of the child being adopted;
2. may be adjusted periodically with the concurrence of the adoptive parents to reflect changing circumstances; and
3. may not exceed the foster care maintenance payment which would have been paid during the period if the child with respect to whom the adoption assistance payment is made had been in a foster family home.

3. In determining eligibility for adoption assistance payments, there is no income eligibility requirement (means test) for the adoptive parents.

4. Payments are terminated when the State determines that
   
   
   1. the child has attained the age of 18 (or, where the State determined that the child has a mental or physical handicap which warrants the continuation of assistance, the age of 21), or
   2. the parents are no longer legally responsible for the support of the child, or
   3. the child is no longer receiving support from the adoptive parents.

4. MEDICAID AND SOCIAL SERVICES

6. REMOVAL OF BARRIERS TO INTERETHNIC ADOPTION

1. deny to any person the opportunity to become an adoptive or foster parent, on the basis of race, color, or national origin of the person, or of the child involved; or
2. delay or deny the placement of a child for adoption or into foster care, on the basis of race, color, or national origin of the adoptive or foster parent or the child involved.

7. KINSHIP CARE

8. CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECKS

1. in any case in which a record check reveals a felony conviction for child abuse or neglect, for spousal abuse, for a crime against children, or for a crime involving violence, if a State finds that a court of competent jurisdiction has determined that the felony was committed at any time, such final approval shall not be granted; and
2. in any case in which a record check reveals a felony conviction for physical assault, battery, or a drug-related offense, if a State finds that a court of competent jurisdiction has determined that the felony was committed within the past 5 years, such final approval shall not be granted.
   
   Currently in place:_______
   Will be met by:__________

9. INTERJURISDICTIONAL ADOPTION

The State shall not deny or delay the placement of a child for adoption when an approved family is available outside of the jurisdiction with responsibility for handling the case of the child; or

Fail to grant an opportunity for a fair hearing, as described in section 471(a)(12), to an individual whose allegation of a violation of paragraph (1) of this subsection is denied by the State or not acted upon by the State with reasonable promptness.

Currently in place:_______
Will be met by:__________