2016 -- S 2768

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LC005072

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2016

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO DELINQUENT AND DEPENDENT CHILDREN -- PROCEEDINGS IN

FAMILY COURT

     

     Introduced By: Senators Crowley, and Sosnowski

     Date Introduced: March 10, 2016

     Referred To: Senate Judiciary

     (Children & Families)

It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

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     SECTION 1. Section 14-1-60 of the General Laws in Chapter 14-1 entitled "Proceedings

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in Family Court" is hereby repealed.

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     14-1-60. Costs incurred by children's friend and service. -- All costs and expenses

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attending the making of any complaint by any agent of the children's friend and service and the

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proceedings on the complaint under the provisions of this chapter shall be paid by the state.

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     SECTION 2. Chapter 14-4 of the General Laws entitled "O'Rourke Children's Center" is

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hereby repealed in its entirety.

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CHAPTER 14-4

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O'Rourke Children's Center

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     14-4-1. Responsibility for control and maintenance of center. -- The control and

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maintenance of the state home and school for dependent and neglected children shall be vested in

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the department of children, youth, and families. The school shall be known as the Doctor Patrick

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I. O'Rourke children's center of Rhode Island. The department shall establish a system of

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government for the children's center and shall make all necessary rules and regulations for

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imparting instruction for the proper training of the children.

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     14-4-2. Receipt and care of children -- Release or return to other custodial

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authority. -- The department of children, youth, and families shall receive, in accordance with

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the rules established by it, any children that may be declared vagrant, truant, neglected, or

 

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dependent on the public for support, pursuant to this chapter, who are under eighteen (18) years

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of age, and who are in a suitable condition of mind to be instructed, and may release or discharge

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any child from its care and custody to the child's relatives or others whenever the director of the

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department is satisfied that the object of the commitment has been accomplished and conditions

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appertaining to the child are deemed to justify the release or discharge. Any child who shall be

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found by the director to be of unsound mind, or who may be considered by the director an

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improper inmate of the institution, shall be immediately returned by the department to the

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custodial authority from whom the child was received, who are hereby required to receive the

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child.

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     14-4-3. Purposes of chapter -- Placement of children in institutions or homes --

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Guardianship and control. -- (a) It is declared to be the object of this chapter to provide for

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neglected and dependent children, not recognized as vicious or criminal, any influences that will

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lead toward an honest, intelligent, and self-supporting manhood and womanhood, the state, so far

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as possible, holding to them the parental relation. But if at any time, in the discretion of the

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director of children, youth, and families, this object can be better attained by placing a child in a

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good family of the same religious belief as the parents of the child, the director shall have the

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power to do so on condition that the child's education shall be provided for by that family in the

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public schools of the town or city where they may reside, or in some other suitable public school

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or private school; and whenever that course is desirable or necessary, the department of children,

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youth, and families may pay any amount that may be agreed upon for the care and support of the

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child.

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      (b) The director may in his or her discretion place any child requiring special treatment,

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training, or oversight in any institution, controlled by persons of the same religious belief as the

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parents of the child, providing that special treatment, training, or oversight, and may pay any

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amount that may be agreed upon for the care and support of the child.

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      (c) The director is the legal guardian of all children entrusted to his or her control and

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charged with the duty of following any children that may be placed in families or institutions with

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watchful care, and of taking those children back to his or her immediate supervision at any time

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when in his or her judgment the welfare of the children requires that action. In case any child

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shall leave without permission or is taken by any unauthorized person from the children's center

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or from any family or any institution where it shall have been placed by the director, then the

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director is authorized to take and restore the child to the children's center or to the family or to the

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institution.

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      (d) In case of any medical emergency arising with respect to any child entrusted to the

 

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control and custody of the director, he or she shall have the power to authorize medical treatment

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for the child, provided notice is given to him or her by any duly-licensed physician or dentist that

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a medical emergency exists and treatment is immediately necessary for the health of the child

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involved. In the event the parents of the child are immediately available and legally competent to

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give consent to any treatment, the director shall take all reasonable means to seek their approval

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for medical treatment to be rendered.

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     14-4-3.1. Transfer of children -- Hearing. -- (a) Prior to transferring a child from a

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foster family home in which the child has resided for a period of at least two (2) years, to a

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facility other than the home of the parent, the department of children, youth, and families shall

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notify the foster family, in writing, ten (10) days prior to the proposed transfer, that if it disagrees

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with the transfer, it is entitled to an administrative hearing in accordance with chapter 35 of title

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42. If the foster family desires a hearing, it must notify the department within ten (10) days. After

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the notification, the department shall hold a hearing within twenty (20) days of the request.

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      (b) Nothing contained in this chapter shall prevent the department from exercising all

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rights and powers provided by chapter 11 of title 40.

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      (c) This section shall apply retroactively to those foster placements existing on and after

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January 1, 1981. Otherwise it shall apply prospectively.

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     14-4-4. Registration of children under care of department. -- The department of

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children, youth, and families shall provide a book in which shall be registered: (1) the names,

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ages, and places of birth of the children under its care; (2) the residence of the parents or

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guardians as nearly as can be ascertained; (3) the date when each child is received and from what

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city or town, and when he or she leaves the center; and (4) whenever a child is placed in a family,

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the name, residence, and occupation of the family. That book shall be open at all times for the

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inspection of the probate clerks and the directors of public welfare of the several cities and towns

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of the state.

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     14-4-5. Annual reports. -- (a) The director of children, youth and families or his or her

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agent shall submit to the family court a written report once per year on each child entrusted to his

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or her care and control pursuant to an order or decree of the family court. The report shall contain

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information concerning: (1) the physical placement of the child; (2) the care and nurturing the

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child is receiving; (3) the involvement and support of the parents or other person previously

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having custody; and (4) the efforts made by the parent(s) and/or the department in reuniting the

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child and parents. In addition, the report shall set forth the permanent plan for the well-being of

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the child.

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      (b) As a result of a review of the report, a justice of the family court may order an

 

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immediate hearing and summon before the court representatives of the department and the

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parents or other person previously having custody of the child in order to determine that an

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appropriate plan for the child is undertaken. An appropriate plan may include: (1) a return of the

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child to the parents; (2) the child remaining in foster care on a planned basis; or (3) a petition

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being instituted for the termination of the parental rights of the parents pursuant to § 15-7-7 if the

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court finds reasonable cause to believe that grounds exist for it. In an order of disposition entered

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pursuant to this section, the best interest of the child shall be paramount.

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     SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO DELINQUENT AND DEPENDENT CHILDREN -- PROCEEDINGS IN

FAMILY COURT

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     This act would repeal §14-1-61 regarding the placement for costs and expenses for

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certain complaints filed in family court, and chapter 4 of title 14, which establishes the O'Rourke

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Children's Center.

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     This act would take effect upon passage.

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