2017 -- S 0658

========

LC001801

========

     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2017

____________

A N   A C T

RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT - DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN,

YOUTH AND FAMILIES

     Introduced By: Senators DiPalma, Miller, McCaffrey, Conley, and Satchell

     Date Introduced: March 29, 2017

     Referred To: Senate Judiciary

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Sections 42-72-36 and 42-72-36.1 of the General Laws in Chapter 42-72

entitled "Department of Children, Youth and Families" are hereby amended to read as follows:

     42-72-36. Residential placement capacity. Residential placement.

     Effective January 1, 2009, and for any day thereafter, the department's approved capacity

for out-of-home residential placements, excluding foster homes, shall not exceed the total of one

thousand (1,000) out-of-home residential placements. The department is authorized to reinvest

any savings that result from reductions in out-of-home residential placements, into developing

additional community-based services for children and their families. For the purposes of this

section, out-of-home residential placements shall exclude foster and kinship placements.

     (b) The department shall create a process overseen by the director or their designee for

reviewing a determination that out-of-home residential placement is appropriate to meet a

specified treatment need in an effort to ensure that a child is placed in the least restrictive

placement. Said process shall include a level of needs assessment, when available, trauma

screening, when available, a determination that out-of-home residential placement is necessary to

meet treatment needs of the child, and a timeframe in which the department will approve or deny

the out-of-home residential placement.

     (c) Out-of-home residential placements shall be prohibited for children under the age of

thirteen (13) years unless in rare case that the child's specific needs cannot be met in kinship or

foster care and the director approves the placement.

     (d) Nothing in this section shall prohibit the department from utilizing out-of-home

residential placements when:

     (1) An immediate limited-time placement is necessary and no family-based placements

are available, including appropriate kinship or foster homes, so long as approval for the

placement is granted pursuant to the process described in subsection (b) of this section; or

     (2) An out-of-home residential placement is specifically ordered by the court to meet a

specified treatment need not able to be met in a family-based setting.

     (e) The department shall have the affirmative duty to continue to diligently pursue an

appropriate kinship or foster home placement when a child is placed in an out-of-home residential

placement pursuant to subsection (d)(l) of this section.

     (f) The department shall provide quarterly reports to the president of the senate and

speaker of the house detailing the number of children within the care and custody of the

department, the number and percentage of children in foster care, kinship care and out-of-home

residential placements, in-state and out-of-state, by age, race, ethnicity and gender. The

department shall provide additional performance measures, including, but not limited to, length of

stay in out-of-home residential placement; the number of removals of children that result in

setting that matches treatment needs evidenced by assessments, incidents of maltreatment while

in care, rates of achieving permanent homes, reunification and return to state care, and school

attendance, performance and graduation rate.

     42-72-36.1. System reform and rebalancing goal.

     (a) On or before October 1, 2016, the department of children, youth and families shall

begin to implement a strategy to transition from reliance on congregate-care placements to greater

use of foster homes with community-based services for children and families. Said strategy shall

ensure quality outcomes, performance measures, and incentives that promote service excellence

and improve the system's overall stability by reinvesting the benefits that accrue from the more

efficient and effective utilization of congregate care, foster homes, and community-based

services. Attaining systemwide reform of the magnitude set forth herein shall require rebalancing

the system by making significant changes in the organization, financing, and delivery of services

that must be implemented incrementally.

     (b) The department, in consultation with service providers, shall develop an annual plan

for public and private recruitment of foster families that is strategic in targeting the communities

from which children are most frequently removed and in identifying the probable needs of those

children. The department shall develop comprehensive supports and services that are easily

LC001801 - Page 2 of 4

accessible to kinship and foster parents. Supports and services shall include, but are not limited

to, the following: a method to quickly and adequately respond to kinship and foster parent's

questions, issues or concerns; assistance to kinship caregivers throughout licensing process; and

assisting kinship and foster parents in referring and accessing appropriate services and supports

needed by the child.

     (c) The department shall annually report to the president of the senate and the speaker of

the house the number of foster homes who have had a child placement within the last twelve (12)

months, the number of foster homes who have not had a child placement within the last twelve

(12) months; the number and percentage of foster homes who voluntarily ceased to accept

children; a description of recruitment efforts in communities with high removal rates of children

and number of foster homes in that community; a description of recruitment efforts and the

number of foster parents by race and ethnicity; a description of recruitment efforts and the

number of foster parents whose home is appropriate for developmentally or otherwise disabled

children, sexually exploited youth, youth who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or

questioning, minority youth and other special populations; the recruitment efforts and the number

of foster homes that are able to accept sibling groups; and any other relevant information

regarding the recruitment and development of a robust public and private foster family system.

     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

========

LC001801

========

LC001801 - Page 3 of 4

EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT - DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN,

YOUTH AND FAMILIES

***

     This act would create a process within DCYF for reviewing a determination that out-of-

home residential placement is appropriate in an effort to ensure that a child is placed in the least

restrictive placement. This act would also require DCYF to develop a plan for recruiting foster

families.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

========

LC001801

========

LC001801 - Page 4 of 4