Bill Text: MI HB5849 | 2013-2014 | 97th Legislature | Introduced

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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. TIE BAR WITH: HB 5850'14, HB 5851'14

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 10-6)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-09-24 - Printed Bill Filed 09/24/2014 [HB5849 Detail]

Download: Michigan-2013-HB5849-Introduced.html

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HOUSE BILL No. 5849

 

September 23, 2014, Introduced by Reps. Hovey-Wright, Slavens, Kurtz, Denby, Victory, Kosowski, Brown, Roberts, Potvin, Schmidt, Segal, Heise, Kesto, Poleski, Muxlow and Yonker and referred to the Committee on Families, Children, and Seniors.

 

     A bill to amend 1994 PA 203, entitled

 

"Foster care and adoption services act,"

 

by amending section 3 (MCL 722.953) 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 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,

 

and made available to the public.

 

     (2) The department shall promote the participation of current

 

and former foster children 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 the provisions of the Elliott-Larsen civil

 

rights act, 1976 PA 453, MCL 37.2101 to 37.2804.

 

     (b) Placement with relatives and siblings, when appropriate.

 

     (c) Inventory and security of the foster child's personal

 

belongings.

 

     (d) Transition planning, including financial education, access

 

to personal documents, information regarding post-secondary

 

education, and independent living preparation, as age-appropriate.

 

     (e) Ongoing contact and visits with parents, relatives, and

 

friends, if permitted by the court.

 

     (f) Access to advocacy services for foster children with

 

disabilities.

 

     (g) Timely enrollment in school with consistent placement in

 

the same school, when possible.

 

     (h) Participation in extracurricular activities consistent

 

with the foster child's age and developmental level, as allowed by

 

the supervising agency's resources.

 

     (i) Placement in the least restrictive setting, appropriate to

 

the foster child's needs, free from abuse, physical restraint, and

 

discrimination or harassment.

 

     (j) 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.

 

     (k) Access to and participation in religious activities,

 

cultural activities, or both.

 

     (l) Adequate food, necessities, and shelter, including special

 

dietary needs, school supplies, clothing, and hygiene products.

 

     (m) Information regarding proposed placement, as age-

 

appropriate.

 

     (n) A permanency plan, as required by state and federal law,

 

that is designed to facilitate the permanent placement or return

 

home of a foster child in a timely manner.

 

     (4) The department shall implement the children's assurance of

 

quality foster care policy by no later than July 1, 2015.

 

     Enacting section 1. This amendatory act does not take effect

 

unless all of the following bills of the 97th Legislature are

 

enacted into law:

 

     (a) Senate Bill No.____ or House Bill No. 5850 (request no.

 

04971'14).

 

     (b) Senate Bill No.____ or House Bill No. 5851 (request no.

 

04972'14).