Can the County Control Where a Child is Placed Before Adoption?
Full Question:
Answer:
If the child is under the custody of the Department of Human Resources, the agency has the power to determine temporary placement before adoption. Placement of a child or youth by the department in any institution or agency not operated by the department or the release of such child or youth from such an institution or agency shall not terminate the control of the department over such child or youth. No child or youth placed in such institution or under such an agency may be released by the institution or agency without the approval of the department.
Please see the following GA statutes to determine applicability:
49-5-281. (a) The General Assembly finds that foster parents providing
care....
(a) The General Assembly finds that foster parents providing care
for children who are in the custody of the Department of Human Resources
play an integral, indispensable, and vital role in the state's effort to
care for dependent children displaced from their homes. The General
Assembly further finds that it is in the best interest of Georgia's
child welfare system to acknowledge foster parents as active and
participating members of this system and to support them through the
following bill of rights for foster parents who care for children in the
custody of the Department of Human Resources through direct approval and
placement by the department:
(1) The right to be treated by the Division of Family and Children
Services of the Department of Human Resources and other partners in the
care of abused children with dignity, respect, and trust as a primary
provider of foster care and a member of the professional team caring for
foster children;
(2) The right not to be discriminated against on the basis of religion,
race, color, creed, gender, marital status, national origin, age, or
physical handicap;
(3) The right to continue with his or her own family values and beliefs,
so long as the values and beliefs of the foster child and the birth
family are not infringed upon and consideration is given to the special
needs of children who have experienced trauma and separation from their
families. This shall include the right to exercise parental authority
within the limits of policies, procedures, and other directions of the
Division of Family and Children Services and within the limits of the
laws of the State of Georgia;
(4) The right to receive both standardized pre-service training,
including training in Division of Family and Children Services policies
and procedures and appropriate ongoing training, by the Division of
Family and Children Services or the placing agency at appropriate
intervals to meet mutually assessed needs of the child and to improve
foster parents' skills and to apprise foster parents of any changes in
policies and procedures of the Division of Family and Children Services
and any changes in applicable law;
(5) The right to be apprised of information, laws, and guidelines on the
obligations, responsibilities, and opportunities of foster parenting and
to be kept informed of any changes in laws, policies, and procedures
regarding foster parenting by the Division of Family and Children
Services in a timely manner and at least annually;
(6) The right to receive timely financial reimbursement according to the
agreement between the foster parents and the Department of Human
Resources from funds appropriated by the General Assembly and to be
notified of any costs or expenses for which the foster parent may be
eligible for reimbursement;
(7) The right to receive information from the Division of Family and
Children Services on how to receive services and reach personnel 24
hours per day, seven days per week;
(8) The right prior to the placement of a child to be notified of any
issues relative to the child that may jeopardize the health and safety
of the foster family or the child or alter the manner in which foster
care should be administered;
(9) The right to discuss information regarding the child prior to
placement. The Division of Family and Children Services will provide
such information as it becomes available as allowable under state and
federal laws;
(10) The right to refuse placement of a child in the foster home or to
request, upon reasonable notice, the removal of a child from the foster
home without fear of reprisal or any adverse effect on being assigned
any future foster or adoptive placements;
(11) The right to receive any information through the Division of Family
and Children Services regarding the number of times a foster child has
been moved and the reasons therefor; and to receive the names and phone
numbers of the previous foster parents if the previous foster parents
have authorized such release and as allowable under state and federal
law;
(12) The right, at any time during which a child is placed with the
foster parent, to receive from the Division of Family and Children
Services any and all additional pertinent information relevant to the
care of the child;
(13) The right to be provided with a written copy of the individual
treatment and service plan concerning the child in the foster parent's
home and to discuss such plan with the case manager, as well as
reasonable notification of any changes to that plan;
(14) The right to participate in the planning of visitation with the
child and the child's biological family with the foster parents
recognizing that visitation with his or her biological family is
important to the child;
(15) The right to participate in the case planning and decision-making
process with the Division of Family and Children Services regarding the
child as provided in Code Section 15-11-58;
(16) The right to provide input concerning the plan of services for the
child and to have that input considered by the department;
(17) The right to communicate for the purpose of participating in the
case of the foster child with other professionals who work with such
child within the context of the professional team, including, but not
limited to, therapists, physicians, and teachers, as allowable under
state and federal law;
(18) The right to be notified in advance, in writing, by the Division of
Family and Children Services or the court of any hearing or review where
the case plan or permanency of the child is an issue, including periodic
reviews held by the court or by the Judicial Citizen Review Panel,
hearings following revocation of the license of an agency which has
permanent custody of a child, permanency hearings, and motions to extend
custody, in accordance with Code Section 15-11-58;
(19) The right to be considered, where appropriate, as a preferential
placement option when a child who was formerly placed with the foster
parents has reentered the foster care system;
(20) The right to be considered, where appropriate, as the first choice
as a permanent parent or parents for a child who, after 12 months of
placement in the foster home, is released for adoption or permanent
foster care;
(21) The right to be provided a fair and timely investigation of
complaints concerning the operation of a foster home;
(22) The right to an explanation of a corrective action plan or policy
violation relating to foster parents; and
(23) The right, to the extent allowed under state and federal law, to
have an advocate present at all portions of investigations of abuse and
neglect at which an accused foster parent is present. Child abuse and
neglect investigations shall be investigated pursuant to Division of
Family and Children Services policies and procedures, and any removal of
a foster child shall be conducted pursuant to those policies and
procedures. The Division of Family and Children Services will permit
volunteers with the Adoptive and Foster Parent Association of Georgia to
be educated concerning the procedures relevant to investigations of
alleged abuse and neglect and the rights of accused foster parents.
After such training, a volunteer will be permitted to serve as an
advocate for an accused foster parent. All communication received by the
advocate in this capacity shall be strictly confidential.
(b) This bill of rights shall be given full consideration when
Division of Family and Children Services policies regarding foster care and
adoptive placement are developed.
(c) Foster parents who care for children in the custody of the
Department of Human Resources through direct approval and placement by
the department shall have the right to file a grievance in response to
any violation of this article, which shall be such foster parents'
exclusive administrative remedy for any violation of this article. The
Division of Family and Children Services and the Office of the Child
Advocate for the Protection of Children, along with an advisory committee
comprised in part of representatives from the Adoptive and Foster Parent
Association of Georgia, who provide private placements will develop a
grievance procedure, including a mediation procedure, to be published in
departmental policy manuals and the Foster Parent Handbook no later than
July 1, 2005.
(d) The General Assembly further finds that it is also in the best
interest of Georgia's child welfare system for the Division of Family
and Children Services of the Department of Human Resources to recognize
the bill of rights, with reasonable modifications made to adapt the
provisions as required to make them applicable to private agencies, by
incorporating them into contracts with private agencies serving children
in the custody of the Department of Human Resources. The Department of
Human Resources shall, by contract, require that providers, with whom it
contracts for the placement of children in its custody, give full
consideration to the rights in subsection (a) of this Code section in
developing their policies, practices, and procedures regarding foster
care and adoptive placement. The department shall provide information
needed by the contractors to meet the requirements of this subsection in
a timely manner.
(e) The Department of Human Resources, in consultation with the
representatives of Georgia Association of Homes and Services for
Children and other appropriate provider associations and the Adoptive
and Foster Parent Association of Georgia, shall develop a grievance
procedure for dealing with any grievances their foster parents have in
response to any violation of this article, no later than July 1, 2007.
The department shall enforce this provision through policies and
procedures and through its contracts with providers.
49-5-8. (a) The Department of Human Resources is authorized and
empowered,....
(a) The Department of Human Resources is authorized and empowered,
through its own programs and the programs of county or district
departments of family and children services, to establish, maintain,
extend, and improve throughout the state, within the limits of funds
appropriated therefor, programs that will provide:
(1) Preventive services as follows:
(A) Collecting and disseminating information about the problems of
children and youths and providing consultative assistance to groups,
public and private, interested in developing programs and services for
the prevention, control, and treatment of dependency, deprivation, and
delinquency among the children of this state; and
(B) Research and demonstration projects designed to add to the store
of information about the social and emotional problems of children and
youths and improve the methods for dealing with these problems;
(2) Child welfare services as follows:
(A) Casework services for children and youths and for mothers bearing
children out of wedlock, whether living in their own homes or elsewhere,
to help overcome problems that result in dependency, deprivation, or
delinquency;
(B) Protective services that will investigate complaints of
deprivation, abuse, or abandonment of children and youths by parents,
guardians, custodians, or persons serving in loco parentis and, on the
basis of the findings of such investigation, offer social services to
such parents, guardians, custodians, or persons serving in loco parentis
in relation to the problem or bring the situation to the attention of a
law enforcement agency, an appropriate court, or another community
agency;
(C) Supervising and providing required services and care involved in
the interstate placement of children;
(D) Homemaker service, or payment of the cost of such service, when
needed due to the absence or incapacity of the mother;
(E) Boarding care, or payment of maintenance costs, in foster family
homes or in group-care facilities for children and youths who cannot
be adequately cared for in their own homes;
(F) Boarding care or payment of maintenance costs for mothers bearing
children out of wedlock prior to, during, and for a reasonable period
after childbirth; and
(G) Day-care services for the care and protection of children whose
parents are absent from the home or unable for other reasons to provide
parental supervision;
(3) Services to courts, upon their request, as follows:
(A) Accepting for casework services and care all children and youths
whose legal custody is vested in the department by the court;
(B) Providing shelter or custodial care for children prior to
examination and study or pending court hearing;
(C) Making social studies and reports to the court with respect to
children and youths as to whom petitions have been filed; and
(D) Providing casework services and care or payment of maintenance
costs for children and youths who have run away from their home
communities within this state, or from their home communities in this
state to another state, or from their home communities in another state
to this state; paying the costs of returning such runaway children and
youths to their home communities; and providing such services, care, or
costs for runaway children and youths as may be required under Chapter 3
of Title 39;
(4) Regional group-care facilities for the purpose of:
(A) Providing local authorities an alternative to placing any child in
a common jail;
(B) Shelter care prior to examination and study or pending a hearing
before juvenile court;
(C) Detention prior to examination and study or pending a hearing
before juvenile court; and
(D) Study and diagnosis pending determination of treatment or a
hearing before juvenile court;
(5) Facilities designed to afford specialized and diversified
programs, such as forestry camps, ranches, and group residences, for the
care, treatment, and training of children and youths of different ages
and different emotional, mental, and physical conditions;
(6) Regulation of child-placing agencies, child-caring institutions,
and maternity homes by:
(A) Establishing rules and regulations for and providing consultation
on such rules and regulations for all such agencies, institutions, and
homes; and
(B) Licensing and inspecting periodically all such agencies,
institutions, and homes to ensure their adherence to established
standards as prescribed by the department;
(7) Adoption services, as follows:
(A) Supervising the work of all child-placing agencies when funds are
made available;
(B) Providing services to parents desiring to surrender children for
adoption as provided for in adoption statutes;
(C) Providing care or payment of maintenance costs for mothers bearing
children out of wedlock and children being considered for adoption;
(D) Inquiring into the character and reputation of persons making
application for the adoption of children;
(E) Placing children for adoption;
(F) Providing financial assistance after the consummation of a legal
adoption to families adopting children who would otherwise remain in
foster care at state expense. Financial assistance may only be granted
for hard-to-place children with physical, mental, or emotional
disabilities or with other problems for whom it is difficult to find a
permanent home. Financial assistance may not exceed 100 percent of the
amount paid for boarding such child and for special services such as
medical care not available through insurance or public facilities. Such
supplements shall only be available to families who could not provide for
the child adequately without continued financial assistance. The
department may review the supplements paid at any time but shall review
them at least annually to determine the need for continued assistance;
(G) Providing payment to a licensed child-placing agency which places a
child with special needs who is under the jurisdiction of the department
for adoption. Payment may not exceed $5,000.00 for each such adoption
arranged by an agency. The board shall define the special needs child.
One-half of such payment shall be made at the time of placement and the
remaining amount shall be paid when the adoption is finalized. If the
adoption disrupts prior to finalization, the state shall be reimbursed by
the child-placing agency in an amount calculated on a prorated basis
based on length of time the child was in the home and the services
provided; and
(H) Providing payment to an agency which recruits, educates, or trains
potential adoptive or foster parents for preparation in anticipation of
adopting or fostering a special needs child. The board shall define the
special needs child and set the payment amount by rule and regulation.
Upon appropriate documentation of these preplacement services in a timely
manner, payments as set by the board shall be made upon enrollment of
each potential adoptive or foster parent for such services;
(8) Staff development and recruitment programs through in-service
training and educational scholarships for personnel as may be necessary
to assure efficient and effective administration of the services and care
for children and youths authorized in this article. The department is
authorized to disburse state funds to match federal funds in order to
provide qualified employees with graduate or postgraduate educational
scholarships in accordance with rules and regulations adopted by the
board pursuant to Article VIII, Section VII, Paragraph I of the
Constitution of Georgia; and
(9) Miscellaneous services, such as providing all medical, hospital,
psychiatric, surgical, or dental services or payment of the costs of such
services as may be considered appropriate and necessary by competent
medical authority to those children subject to the supervision and
control of the department without securing prior consent of parents or
legal guardians.
(b) The department is authorized to perform such other duties as may
be required under related statutes.
(c)(1) As used in paragraph (2) of this subsection, the term "state"
means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth
of the Northern Mariana Islands, or any territory or possession of or
territory or possession administered by the United States.
(2) The Department of Human Resources is authorized to enter into
interstate compacts, on behalf of this state, with other states to
provide for the reciprocal provision of adoption assistance services.
(3) The purpose of paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection is to
comply with the requirements of the Adoption Assistance and Child
Welfare Act of 1980 (PL. 96-272) and Part E of Title IV of the Social
Security Act and to assure that recipients of adoption assistance in
Georgia who change their residences to other states receive adoption
assistance services, other than adoption assistance payments, from
their new states of residence.
