Louisiana Children’s Code 1627 – Placement evaluation
Terms Used In Louisiana Children's Code 1627
- Approved placement: means the public child placing agency in the receiving state has determined that the placement is both safe and suitable for the child. See Louisiana Children's Code 1624
- Assessment: is a pplicable only to a placement by a public child placing agency. See Louisiana Children's Code 1624
- Child: means an individual who has not attained the age of eighteen. See Louisiana Children's Code 1624
- Home study: means an evaluation of a home environment conducted in accordance with the applicable requirements of the state in which the home is located, and documenting the preparation and the suitability of the placement resource for placement of a child in accordance with the laws and requirements of the state in which the home is located. See Louisiana Children's Code 1624
- Placement: means the act by a public or private child placing agency intended to arrange for the care or custody of a child in another state. See Louisiana Children's Code 1624
- Private child placing agency: means any private corporation, agency, foundation, institution, or charitable organization, or any private person or attorney that facilitates, causes, or is involved in the placement of a child from one state to another and that is not an instrumentality of the state or acting under state law. See Louisiana Children's Code 1624
- Provisional placement: means a determination made by the public child placing agency in the receiving state that the proposed placement is safe and suitable, and, to the extent allowable, the receiving state has temporarily waived its standards or requirements otherwise applicable to prospective foster or adoptive parents so as to not delay the placement. See Louisiana Children's Code 1624
- Public child placing agency: means any government child welfare agency or child protection agency or a private entity under contract with such an agency, regardless of whether they act on behalf of a state, county, municipality or other governmental unit and which facilitates, causes, or is involved in the placement of a child from one state to another. See Louisiana Children's Code 1624
- Receiving state: means the state to which a child is sent, brought, or caused to be sent or brought. See Louisiana Children's Code 1624
- Relative: means someone who is related to the child as a parent, stepparent, sibling by half or whole blood or by adoption, grandparent, aunt, uncle, or first cousin or a nonrelative with such significant ties to the child that they may be regarded as relatives as determined by the court in the sending state. See Louisiana Children's Code 1624
- Sending state: means the state from which the placement of a child is initiated. See Louisiana Children's Code 1624
- State: means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Marianas Islands, and any other territory of the United States. See Louisiana Children's Code 1624
NOTE: Art. 1627 enacted by Acts 2010, No. 893, §1, eff. when the 35th state enacts the Interstate Compact for the Placement of Children.
A. Prior to sending, bringing, or causing a child to be sent or brought into a receiving state, the public child placing agency shall provide a written request for assessment to the receiving state.
B. For placements by a private child placing agency, a child may be sent or brought, or caused to be sent or brought, into a receiving state, upon receipt and immediate review of the required content in a request for approval of a placement in both the sending and receiving state public child placing agency. The required content to accompany a request for approval shall include all of the following:
(1) A request for approval identifying the child, birth parents, the prospective adoptive parent, and the supervising agency, signed by the person requesting approval.
(2) The appropriate consents or relinquishments signed by the birth parents in accordance with the laws of the sending state or, where permitted, the laws of the state where the adoption will be finalized.
(3) Certification by a licensed attorney or authorized agent of a private adoption agency that the consent or relinquishment is in compliance with the applicable laws of the sending state or, where permitted, the laws of the state where finalization of the adoption will occur.
(4) A home study.
(5) An acknowledgment of legal risk signed by the prospective adoptive parents.
C. The sending state and the receiving state may request additional information or documents prior to finalization of an approved placement, but they may not delay travel by the prospective adoptive parents with the child if the required content for approval has been submitted, received, and reviewed by the public child placing agency in both the sending state and the receiving state.
D. Approval from the public child placing agency in the receiving state for a provisional or approved placement is required as provided for in the rules of the Interstate Commission.
E. The procedures for making and the request for an assessment shall contain all information and be in such form as provided for in the rules of the Interstate Commission.
F. Upon receipt of a request from the public child welfare agency of the sending state, the receiving state shall initiate an assessment of the proposed placement to determine its safety and suitability. If the proposed placement is a placement with a relative, the public child placing agency of the sending state may request a determination for a provisional placement.
G. The public child placing agency in the receiving state may request from the public child placing agency or the private child placing agency in the sending state, and shall be entitled to receive, supporting or additional information necessary to complete the assessment or approve the placement.
H. The public child placing agency in the receiving state shall approve a provisional placement and complete or arrange for the completion of the assessment within the timeframes established by the rules of the Interstate Commission.
I. For a placement by a private child placing agency, the sending state shall not impose any additional requirements to complete the home study that are not required by the receiving state, unless the adoption is finalized in the sending state.
J. The Interstate Commission may develop uniform standards for the assessment of the safety and suitability of interstate placements.
Acts 2010, No. 893, §1.