Par.1.	Material Transmitted and Purpose – Transmitted with this Manual Letter are changes to Service Chapter 624-05, Foster Care Services - Permanency Planning manual.  Note that new language has been red underlined and old language which is deleted has been struck through.  PI-08-20, PI-08-18, and PI-08-06 have been superseded

A correction was made to #9, Permanency hearing.  Language was added to 9(e).

624-05-15-05.   Permanency Planning Definitions

9.	“Permanency hearing” means a (judicial or Division of Juvenile Services [DJS] administrative hearing pursuant to N.D.C.C. 27-21 20) hearing, conducted with respect to a child who is in foster care, to determine the permanency plan for the child which includes:

e.	In the case of a child who has been placed in foster care outside the state in which the home of the parents is located, or if the parents maintain separate homes, outside the state in which the home of the parent who was the child’s primary caregiver is located, whether the out-of-state placement have been considered.  If the child is currently in an out-of-state placement, the court shall determine whether the placement continues to be appropriate and in the child’s best interests; and

Language was added to paragraph 2.  

624-05-15-20-10.  Initial permanency Planning Committee/Foster Care Child & Family Team Meetings

The signed signature sheet from the Permanency Planning committee initial report or the Permanency Planning Periodic Review (CCWIPS generated), or the Single Plan of Care (SPOC) must be maintained as a hard copy in the child’s foster care case file.  Any Single Plan of Care (SPOC) documents generated must also be maintained as a hard copy in the child’s foster care case file.

Deleted the last paragraph regarding Federal Parent Locator Service

624-05-15-40.  Determination of Type of Placement

Federal Parent Locator Service
The North Dakota Department of Human Services or designee, in its provision of services under Title IV-E/IV-B of the Social Security Act, may have access to certain child Support Enforcement Federal parent Locator service (FPLS) information for defined purposes. Information may only be accessed for the purpose of locating or facilitating the discovery of an individual who has or may have parental rights in order to make more informed and timely decisions about a child’s permanency. To access the information, the Regional Supervisor must contact the State Foster Care Administrator who will request, as appropriate, the information through the State Parent Locator Service (SPLS).

New section was added.

624-05-15-41.  Federal Parent Locator Service

The North Dakota Department of Human Services or designee, in its provision of services under Title IV-E/IV-B of the Social Security Act, may have access to certain Child Support Enforcement Federal parent Locator service (FPLS) information for defined purposes. Information may only be accessed for the purpose of locating or facilitating the discovery of an individual who has or may have parental rights in order to make more informed and timely decisions about a child’s permanency.

To access the FPLS information the following steps must be followed:
•	The Child Welfare case manager identifies a need for “locate” information.  (Is the information needed for an individual who has, or may have parental rights to a child, is it related to IV-B or IV-E, and is the purpose to make more informed and timely decisions about a child’s permanency?)
•	If the answer is “No” then FPLS information may not be requested. 
•	If the answer is “Yes” then the case manager completes the Request Form – Use of the Federal Parent Locator Service (FPLS) for Child Welfare Services (Request Form). 
•	The completed Request Form is attached to an e-mail and sent to the Regional Supervisor.
•	The Regional Supervisor reviews the request for approval.
•	The Regional Supervisor sends the approved Request Form to the State Parent Locator Service (SPLS) as an email attachment. (csespls@nd.gov)

SPLS receives the request and processes it on FACSES.  The request is automatically submitted to FPLS the next Friday.  (Federal law prohibits the disclosure of FPLS information on an individual for whom an IV-D program has placed a Family Violence Indicator (FVI).  A IV-D- program places the FVI on an individual when there is reason to believe that release of information may result in physical or emotional harm.  Therefore, although fairly uncommon, it may be that FPLS information will not be available due to the FVI.)  

FPLS uses a variety of powerful sources, many of which produce information that would otherwise be confidential.  SPLS will usually receive FPLS responses one to two weeks after submittal.  However, this varies depending on the source of the information.    

The SPLS worker sends the FPLS responses back to the Regional Supervisor via email.  Upon receiving the FPLS responses:
•	The Regional Supervisor provides the responses to the case manager by forwarding the email.
An evaluation form to gather feedback on the usefulness of the FPLS information may be sent to the Regional Supervisor.  Upon receiving the evaluation form:
•	The Regional Supervisor either completes and returns the form, or 
•	Forwards the form to the case manager for completion with a return request.  

A new paragraph was added at the end.

624-05-15-105-15.   Responsibility by Type of Care and Custodian

High Risk Activities
The child’s custodian has the discretion to approve the child’s participation in what may be considered high risk activities; i.e. skiing, hunting, horseback riding. This decision should be made during the Foster Care Child & Family Team meeting. It is recommended that the child attend any safety course available that may relate to the activity prior to participating in the activity; i.e. hunter’s safety. Approval should be documented in the child’s case file.

Added 2 paragraphs at the end of Referrals to Therapeutic Family Foster Care.

624-05-20-15.  Therapeutic Family Foster Care

Referrals to Therapeutic Family Foster Care:

Therapeutic Family Foster Care is a resource for children at risk of a more restrictive placement setting. It is one of the resources available to children in the whole spectrum of out-of-home care (relative care, family foster care, therapeutic family foster care, group care, residential child care, residential treatment). It is intended to address the child’s needs at the time, to enable return to a less restrictive setting (family foster care, relative care, or home). TFFC is a very limited resource and is not used for emergency or shelter care, nor is it considered a resource for a planned, long-term foster care placement.

Due to the availability of TFFC, only those children who cannot be served in other family foster care homes should be referred to TFFC. The needs of most young children and medically fragile children can most often be met in other foster care homes, sometimes with the addition of excess maintenance payment or other problems at risk of placement in a more restrictive setting are appropriate referrals to TFFC.

Cross Regional Referrals:
Regional supervisors and custodians from the referring and receiving county must be involved in child placement planning decisions. All prospective referrals to the therapeutic family foster care program in a region other than where the custodian is located must be approved by both the referring and receiving regional supervisor(s) before the referral is processed.

Multiple Placements in a Therapeutic Family Foster Home:
North Dakota policy states a preference for one child in a therapeutic family foster home with two placements as the maximum. In instances where a second placement is planned, the custodian must review the appropriateness of the placement with the regional supervisor prior to processing the referral. The custodian of the child currently placed in the therapeutic family foster home must be involved in the discussions regarding the possible placement of a second child into the home. It is imperative that all parties involved in utilizing/referring to the same therapeutic family foster home come to an agreement prior to processing the referral.  

Par. 2.  Effective Date – January 12, 2009