Bill Text: MI HB5121 | 2017-2018 | 99th Legislature | Engrossed
Bill Title: Children; protection; children's assurance of quality foster care policy; create. Amends sec. 3 of 1994 PA 203 (MCL 722.953) & adds sec. 8b.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2018-12-28 - Presented To The Governor 12/21/2018 @ 3:28 Pm [HB5121 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2017-HB5121-Engrossed.html
HB-5121, As Passed Senate, December 13, 2018
SENATE SUBSTITUTE FOR
HOUSE BILL NO. 5121
A bill to amend 1994 PA 203, entitled
"Foster care and adoption services act,"
by amending section 3 (MCL 722.953), as amended by 2014 PA 524, and
by adding section 8b.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 3. The purposes of this act are all of the following:
(a) To assist foster parents to provide a stable, loving
family environment for children who are placed outside of their
homes on a temporary basis.
(b) To help eliminate barriers to the adoption of children and
to promote the provision of a stable and loving family environment
to children who are without permanent families.
(c) To promote the well-being and safety of all children who
receive foster care or are adopted under the laws of this state.
(d) To protect and assist prospective adoptive families as
they negotiate the adoption process.
(e) To regulate child placing agencies who certify foster
parents and serve adoptees and adoptive families in this state.
(f) To regulate adoption attorneys who facilitate direct
placement adoptions.
(g) To ensure foster parents and prospective adoptive parents
receive all applicable resources as described in section 8a.
(h) To ensure that the department develops and maintains a
specific policy of the provisions described in sections 8b, 8c, and
8d to provide to children placed in foster care. The specific
policy described in sections 8b, 8c, and 8d shall be known as the
children's assurance of quality foster care policy.
Sec. 8b. (1) The department shall ensure that the children's
assurance of quality foster care policy is developed, implemented
by the supervising agency, and made available to the public.
(2) The department shall promote the participation of current
and former children in foster care in developing the children's
assurance of quality foster care policy.
(3) The children's assurance of quality foster care policy
shall ensure that children placed in foster care are provided with
the following:
(a) Fair, equal, and respectful treatment, including treatment
that does not violate state and federal law.
(b) Placement with relatives and siblings, when appropriate,
as provided in section 4a(5).
(c) Transition planning, including housing, workforce
preparation, financial education, access to personal documents,
information regarding secondary education and postsecondary
education, and independent living preparation, as age-appropriate.
(d) Ongoing contact and visits with parents, relatives, and
friends, if permitted by the court.
(e) Access to advocacy services for children in foster care
with disabilities.
(f) Timely enrollment in school with consistent placement in
the same school, when possible.
(g) Participation in extracurricular activities consistent
with the child in foster care's age and developmental level, as
allowed by the supervising agency's resources, taking into
consideration the foster parent's schedule and resources.
(h) Placement in the least restrictive setting, appropriate to
the child in foster care's needs in accordance with R 400.12313 of
the Michigan Administrative Code. If discipline is required, and
physical restraint has been used by a child caring institution as
that term is defined in section 1 of 1973 PA 116, MCL 722.111, the
child caring institution shall provide a detailed report of the
incident to the department.
(i) Access to and receipt of information and services,
including necessary medical, emotional, psychological, psychiatric,
and educational evaluations and treatment, as soon as practicable
after identifying the need for services by the screening and
assessment process.
(j) Access to and participation in religious activities,
cultural activities, or both, taking into consideration the foster
parent's schedule and resources.
(k) Adequate food, necessities, and shelter, including special
dietary needs, school supplies, clothing, and hygiene products.
(l) Information regarding proposed placement, as age-
appropriate.
(m) A permanency plan, as required by state and federal law,
that is designed to facilitate the permanent placement or return
home of a child in foster care in a timely manner.
(4) The department shall maintain a written policy describing
the grievance procedure for a child in foster care to address any
perceived noncompliance with the items listed in the children's
assurance of quality foster care policy. The grievance procedure
shall include information on how and where to file a grievance,
including contact information for the office of the children's
ombudsman and the department's office of family advocate, on a form
approved by the department.
(5) A child in foster care may file a grievance with the
supervising agency regarding the perceived noncompliance with any
of the items listed in the children's assurance of quality foster
care policy as outlined in the supervising agency's grievance
policy described in subsection (4). Within 30 days after receiving
the grievance, the supervising agency shall respond with a written
statement of how the child in foster care's grievance will be
addressed. If the supervising agency does not provide a written
response within 30 days after the grievance is filed with the
supervising agency or if the child in foster care does not agree
with the findings in the written response, the child in foster care
may contact the department's office of family advocate.
(6) If the grievance is not resolved with the assistance of
the department's office of family advocate, the child in foster
care may request that his or her lawyer-guardian ad litem petition
the court for the appropriate relief.
(7) The sole remedy that may be provided under this section is
limited to injunctive relief.
(8) The department shall implement the children's assurance of
quality foster care policy no later than 90 days after the
effective date of the amendatory act that added this section.
Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect 90 days
after the date it is enacted into law.
Enacting section 2. This amendatory act does not take effect
unless all of the following bills of the 99th Legislature are
enacted into law:
(a) House Bill No. 5122.
(b) House Bill No. 5123.
