CHC 675 - Case plan purpose; contents
Art. 675. Case plan purpose; contents
A. The case plan shall be designed to achieve placement in the least restrictive, most family-like, and most appropriate setting available, and in close proximity to the parents' homes, consistent with the best interest and special needs of the child. The health and safety of the child shall be the paramount concern in the development of the case plan.
B. The case plan shall include at least the following:
(1) A description of the type of home or institution in which the child is placed, including a discussion of the child's health and safety, the appropriateness of the placement, and the reasons why the placement, if a substantial distance from the home of the parents or in a different state, is in the best interests of the child.
(2) A plan for assuring that the child receives safe and proper care and that services are provided to the parents, child, and foster parents in order to improve the conditions in the parents' home, facilitate the safe return of the child to his own home or other permanent placement of the child, or both, and address the needs of the child while in foster care, including a plan for visitation and a discussion of the appropriateness of the services that have been provided to the child under the plan. If the child has been committed to the custody of a person other than the parents, the plan shall recommend an amount the parents are obligated to contribute for the cost of care and treatment of their child in accordance with Article 685. When appropriate for a child age sixteen or older, the plan shall include a written description of the programs and services which will help the child prepare for the transition from foster care to independent living.
(3) Documentation of the efforts the agency is making to safely return the child home or to finalize the child's placement in an alternative safe and permanent home in accordance with the child's permanent plan. For children whose permanent plan is adoption or placement in another permanent home, this documentation shall include child-specific recruitment efforts such as the use of state, regional, and national adoption exchanges, including electronic exchange systems to facilitate orderly and timely in-state and interstate placements.
(4) Assessment of the child's relationships with his parents, grandparents, and siblings, including a plan for assuring that continuing contact with any relative by blood, adoption, or affinity with whom the child has an established and significant relationship is preserved while the child is in foster care. The preservation of such relationships shall be considered when the child's permanent plan is adoption.
(5) Documentation of the compelling reasons for determining that filing a petition for termination of parental rights would not be in the best interest of the child, when appropriate.
Acts 1991, No. 235, §6, eff. Jan. 1, 1992; Acts 1997, No. 612, §1; Acts 1999, No. 449, §1, eff. July 1, 1999; Acts 2001, No. 568, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2002; Acts 2003, No. 567, §1; Acts 2007, No. 334, §1; Acts 2008, No. 392, §1.