SB 309

Introduction

Recently, Congress enacted the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening

Families Act, which makes certain changes to Title IV-E of the Social Security Act

regarding: 1) use of the reasonable and prudent parent standard for making

decisions concerning the participation of a child placed in out-of-home care in age

or developmentally appropriate activities; and 2) permanency planning for children

14 years of age or over placed in out-of-home care. A permanency plan is a plan

designed to ensure that a child who is placed outside the home is reunified with his

or her family whenever appropriate or that the child quickly attains a placement or

home providing long-term stability. This bill incorporates those changes into the

Children's Code and the Juvenile Justice Code.

Reasonable and prudent parent standard

The bill incorporates the reasonable and prudent parent standard into the

Children's Code and the Juvenile Justice Code by doing all of the following:

1. Requiring a foster parent, guardian, relative other than a parent, or

nonrelative in whose home a child is placed; the operator of a group home, residential

care center for children and youth, or shelter care facility in which a child is placed;

and, in the case of a child placed in a group home, residential care center for children

and youth, or shelter care facility, a staff member employed on the site of that home,

center, or facility who has been designated by the operator of that home, center, or

facility as an out-of-home care provider for purposes of making decisions concerning

the child's participation in age or developmentally appropriate activities

(out-of-home care provider) to use the reasonable and prudent parent standard in

making decisions concerning a child's participation in age or developmentally

appropriate extracurricular, enrichment, cultural, and social activities. The bill

defines "reasonable and prudent parent standard" as a standard for an out-of-home

care provider to use in making decisions concerning a child's participation in those

activities that is characterized by careful and sensible parental decisions that

maintain the health, safety, best interests, and cultural, religious, and tribal values

of the child while at the same time encouraging the emotional and developmental

growth of the child.

2. Requiring the agency that places, or that arranges the placement of, a child

with an out-of-home care provider or the agency assigned primary responsibility for

providing services to the child, at the time of placement, to: a) provide to the

out-of-home care provider information that is specific to the child for the

out-of-home care provider to consider in making reasonable and prudent parenting

decisions concerning the child's participation in age or developmentally appropriate

extracurricular, enrichment, cultural, and social activities; and b) explain to the

out-of-home care provider the parameters of those considerations. The bill requires

that information to be prepared in consultation with the child and, if reasonably