(a) Requirements for another planned permanent living arrangement

In the case of any child for whom another planned permanent living arrangement is the permanency plan determined for the child under section 675(5)(C) of this title, the following requirements shall apply for purposes of approving the case plan for the child and the case system review procedure for the child:

(1) Documentation of intensive, ongoing, unsuccessful efforts for family placement

At each permanency hearing held with respect to the child, the State agency documents the intensive, ongoing, and, as of the date of the hearing, unsuccessful efforts made by the State agency to return the child home or secure a placement for the child with a fit and willing relative (including adult siblings), a legal guardian, or an adoptive parent, including through efforts that utilize search technology (including social media) to find biological family members for the children.

(2) Redetermination of appropriateness of placement at each permanency hearing

The State agency shall implement procedures to ensure that, at each permanency hearing held with respect to the child, the court or administrative body appointed or approved by the court conducting the hearing on the permanency plan for the child does the following:

(A) Ask the child about the desired permanency outcome for the child.

(B) Make a judicial determination explaining why, as of the date of the hearing, another planned permanent living arrangement is the best permanency plan for the child and provide compelling reasons why it continues to not be in the best interests of the child to—

(i) return home;

(ii) be placed for adoption;

(iii) be placed with a legal guardian; or

(iv) be placed with a fit and willing relative.

(3) Demonstration of support for engaging in age or developmentally-appropriate activities and social events

At each permanency hearing held with respect to the child, the State agency shall document the steps the State agency is taking to ensure that—

(A) the child’s foster family home or child care institution is following the reasonable and prudent parent standard; and

(B) the child has regular, ongoing opportunities to engage in age or developmentally appropriate activities (including by consulting with the child in an age-appropriate manner about the opportunities of the child to participate in the activities).

(b) List of rights

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The case plan for any child in foster care under the responsibility of the State who has attained 14 years of age shall include—

(1) a document that describes the rights of the child with respect to education, health, visitation, and court participation, the right to be provided with the documents specified in section 675(5)(I) of this title in accordance with that section, and the right to stay safe and avoid exploitation; and

(2) a signed acknowledgment by the child that the child has been provided with a copy of the document and that the rights contained in the document have been explained to the child in an age-appropriate way.

(c) Assessment, documentation, and judicial determination requirements for placement in a qualified residential treatment program

In the case of any child who is placed in a qualified residential treatment program (as defined in section 672(k)(4) of this title), the following requirements shall apply for purposes of approving the case plan for the child and the case system review procedure for the child:

(1)(A) Within 30 days of the start of each placement in such a setting, a qualified individual (as defined in subparagraph (D)) shall—

(i) assess the strengths and needs of the child using an age-appropriate, evidence-based, validated, functional assessment tool approved by the Secretary;

(ii) determine whether the needs of the child can be met with family members or through placement in a foster family home or, if not, which setting from among the settings specified in section 672(k)(2) of this title would provide the most effective and appropriate level of care for the child in the least restrictive environment and be consistent with the short- and long-term goals for the child, as specified in the permanency plan for the child; and

(iii) develop a list of child-specific short- and long-term mental and behavioral health goals.

(B)(i) The State shall assemble a family and permanency team for the child in accordance with the requirements of clauses (ii) and (iii). The qualified individual conducting the assessment required under subparagraph (A) shall work in conjunction with the family of, and permanency team for, the child while conducting and making the assessment.

(ii) The family and permanency team shall consist of all appropriate biological family members, relative, and fictive kin of the child, as well as, as appropriate, professionals who are a resource to the family of the child, such as teachers, medical or mental health providers who have treated the child, or clergy. In the case of a child who has attained age 14, the family and permanency team shall include the members of the permanency planning team for the child that are selected by the child in accordance with section 675(5)(C)(iv) of this title.

(iii) The State shall document in the child’s case plan—

(I) the reasonable and good faith effort of the State to identify and include all the individuals described in clause (ii) on the child’s family and permanency team;

(II) all contact information for members of the family and permanency team, as well as contact information for other family members and fictive kin who are not part of the family and permanency team;

(III) evidence that meetings of the family and permanency team, including meetings relating to the assessment required under subparagraph (A), are held at a time and place convenient for family;

(IV) if reunification is the goal, evidence demonstrating that the parent from whom the child was removed provided input on the members of the family and permanency team;

(V) evidence that the assessment required under subparagraph (A) is determined in conjunction with the family and permanency team;

(VI) the placement preferences of the family and permanency team relative to the assessment that recognizes children should be placed with their siblings unless there is a finding by the court that such placement is contrary to their best interest; and

(VII) if the placement preferences of the family and permanency team and child are not the placement setting recommended by the qualified individual conducting the assessment under subparagraph (A), the reasons why the preferences of the team and of the child were not recommended.

(C) In the case of a child who the qualified individual conducting the assessment under subparagraph (A) determines should not be placed in a foster family home, the qualified individual shall specify in writing the reasons why the needs of the child cannot be met by the family of the child or in a foster family home. A shortage or lack of foster family homes shall not be an acceptable reason for determining that the needs of the child cannot be met in a foster family home. The qualified individual also shall specify in writing why the recommended placement in a qualified residential treatment program is the setting that will provide the child with the most effective and appropriate level of care in the least restrictive environment and how that placement is consistent with the short- and long-term goals for the child, as specified in the permanency plan for the child.

(D)(i) Subject to clause (ii), in this subsection, the term “qualified individual” means a trained professional or licensed clinician who is not an employee of the State agency and who is not connected to, or affiliated with, any placement setting in which children are placed by the State.

(ii) The Secretary may approve a request of a State to waive any requirement in clause (i) upon a submission by the State, in accordance with criteria established by the Secretary, that certifies that the trained professionals or licensed clinicians with responsibility for performing the assessments described in subparagraph (A) shall maintain objectivity with respect to determining the most effective and appropriate placement for a child.

(2) Within 60 days of the start of each placement in a qualified residential treatment program, a family or juvenile court or another court (including a tribal court) of competent jurisdiction, or an administrative body appointed or approved by the court, independently, shall—

(A) consider the assessment, determination, and documentation made by the qualified individual conducting the assessment under paragraph (1);

(B) determine whether the needs of the child can be met through placement in a foster family home or, if not, whether placement of the child in a qualified residential treatment program provides the most effective and appropriate level of care for the child in the least restrictive environment and whether that placement is consistent with the short- and long-term goals for the child, as specified in the permanency plan for the child; and

(C) approve or disapprove the placement.

(3) The written documentation made under paragraph (1)(C) and documentation of the determination and approval or disapproval of the placement in a qualified residential treatment program by a court or administrative body under paragraph (2) shall be included in and made part of the case plan for the child.

(4) As long as a child remains placed in a qualified residential treatment program, the State agency shall submit evidence at each status review and each permanency hearing held with respect to the child—

(A) demonstrating that ongoing assessment of the strengths and needs of the child continues to support the determination that the needs of the child cannot be met through placement in a foster family home, that the placement in a qualified residential treatment program provides the most effective and appropriate level of care for the child in the least restrictive environment, and that the placement is consistent with the short- and long-term goals for the child, as specified in the permanency plan for the child;

(B) documenting the specific treatment or service needs that will be met for the child in the placement and the length of time the child is expected to need the treatment or services; and

(C) documenting the efforts made by the State agency to prepare the child to return home or to be placed with a fit and willing relative, a legal guardian, or an adoptive parent, or in a foster family home.

(5) In the case of any child who is placed in a qualified residential treatment program for more than 12 consecutive months or 18 nonconsecutive months (or, in the case of a child who has not attained age 13, for more than 6 consecutive or nonconsecutive months), the State agency shall submit to the Secretary—

(A) the most recent versions of the evidence and documentation specified in paragraph (4); and

(B) the signed approval of the head of the State agency for the continued placement of the child in that setting.