§ 63-7-720. Reasonable efforts to prevent removal.
§ 63-7-1640. Family preservation.
45 CFR § 1356.21. Foster care maintenance payments program implementation requirements.
Title IV-E of the Social Security Act, 42 USC 670 et seq.

• Determine whether reasonable efforts were made by DSS to prevent removal (at Probable Cause Hearing). § 63-7-720.
• Determine if reasonable efforts have been made to preserve or reunify the family. § 63-7-1640.
• Determine if reasonable efforts to preserve or reunify a family should be required in hearings regarding removal, review of placement plan amendments, review of status of child in foster care, or permanency planning. § 63-7-1640(B).

• Initial Finding: Within 60 days after removal of a child from the home, the court must determine whether reasonable efforts were made, or were not required to prevent the removal. 45 CFR § 1356.21(b)(1)(i).
• Annual Finding: Every 12 months, beginning no later than 12 months after child enters foster care, the court must determine whether reasonable efforts to finalize a permanency plan have been made. 45 CFR § 1356.21(b)(2)(i).

• If the initial finding of reasonable efforts to prevent removal is not made within 60 days after the removal, the child is NEVER eligible for Title IV-E foster care funding for the duration of this placement episode. 45 CFR § 1356.21(b)(1)(ii).
• If the annual determination of reasonable efforts is not made, the child becomes ineligible for the IV-E foster care maintenance payment from the end of the 12th month until a judicial determination of reasonable efforts is made. 45 CFR § 1356.21(b)(3), 45 CFR § 1356.21(b)(2)(i).

•  Court shall evaluate evidence and make findings based on reasonable person standard.

• At a probable cause hearing concerning a child of whom DSS has assumed legal custody, the court must determine whether DSS made reasonable efforts to prevent removal. § 63-7-720(A).
  • The child’s health and safety must be the paramount concern. § 63-7-1640(A)(1).
• The court may find that reasonable efforts would not have allowed the child to remain safely in the home, and if so, the court shall find that removal without services was reasonable. § 63-7-720(C).
• In determining what may constitute reasonable efforts, the court should consider the requirements of a probable cause hearing order found in § 63-7-720(A):
  • Services made available to family before DSS assumed custody and how they related to the family’s needs;
  • Efforts by DSS to provide services before assuming legal custody;
  • Why efforts did not eliminate the need for DSS to assume custody;
  • The family meeting outcome and attendees, or why one was not held;
    Efforts to place child with known relative or in another familiar environment;
  • Whether efforts to eliminate need for DSS to assume legal custody were reasonable including whether services were:
    • reasonably available and timely,
    • reasonably adequate to address the family’s needs,
    • reasonably adequate to protect the child and realistic; and
    • whether efforts to place the child in a familiar environment were reasonable.
• Reasonable efforts required to prevent removal from a parent or guardian with a disability must include individualized efforts based on the specific disability, including referrals for access to adaptive parenting equipment, referrals for instruction on adaptive parenting techniques, and reasonable accommodations for accessing services otherwise made available to parents without a disability. § 63-7-720(B).
• At a merits/removal hearing if the court removes custody of the child, the order must contain a finding of whether DSS made reasonable efforts to prevent removal.
  • The requirements listed above for the probable cause hearing order are also required for the merits/removal hearing order, with the exception of the family meeting requirement. § 63-7-1660(G).
  • The child’s health and safety must be the paramount concern. § 63-7-1640(A)(1).
• The Administration of Children and Families Child Welfare Policy Manual also provides questions to guide a judge’s consideration of reasonable efforts:
  • Would the child’s health or safety have been compromised if DSS attempted to maintain the child in the home?
  • Was the placement/treatment plan customized to the individual needs of the family or was it a "boiler plate" plan?
  • Did DSS provide services to ameliorate factors present in the child or parent, i.e., physical, emotional, or psychological, that would inhibit a parent’s ability to maintain the child safely in the home?
  • Do limitations exist with respect to service availability, including transportation issues? If so, what efforts did the agency undertake to overcome these obstacles?

• The court may rule on whether reasonable efforts to preserve or reunify a family should be required in hearings regarding removal of custody, review of placement plan amendments, review of the status of a child in foster care, or permanency planning or in a separate proceeding for this purpose. § 63-7-1640(B).
  
  • The court may consider this issue on the motion of a named party, the child’s GAL, or the foster care review board. § 63-7-1640(B).
  • Reasonable efforts required to preserve or reunify a family in which the parent or legal guardian has a disability must include individualized efforts based on the specific disability, including referrals for access to adaptive parenting equipment, referrals for instruction on adaptive parenting techniques, and reasonable accommodations for accessing services otherwise made available to parents without a disability. § 63-7-1640(A)(2).
• If the court authorizes DSS to terminate or forgo reasonable efforts:
  
  • The court must make specific written findings in support of its conclusion:
    
    • that one or more of the conditions listed in § 63-7-1640(C) exist, and
    • why continuation of reasonable efforts is not in the child’s best interest. § 63-7-1640(F).
  • The court order shall require a permanency planning hearing be held within 30 days (if the decision was made at a hearing other than a permanency planning hearing). § 63-7-1640(E).
  • DSS shall file a TPR petition within 60 days, absent compelling reasons why TPR would be contrary to the child’s best interests. § 63-7-1640(G).
• If the court denies a request by DSS to terminate or forgo reasonable efforts where one or more of the conditions listed in § 63-7-1640(C) are shown to exist, the court must make specific written findings in support of its conclusion that continuation of reasonable efforts is in the child’s best interest. § 63-7-1640(F).
  
  • The court must not consider the availability or lack of adoptive resource as reason to deny request.

• The court may authorize DSS to terminate or forgo reasonable efforts to preserve or reunify a family when the records of a court of competent jurisdiction show or when the court determines one or more of the following conditions, listed in § 63-7-1640(C)(1) through (8) exists:
  
  1. parent has subjected the child or another child while living in the parent’s home to:
     
     • severe or repeated abuse or neglect;
     • sexual abuse;
     • acts the judge finds constitute torture; or
     • abandonment;
  2. parent has been convicted of or pled guilty or no contest to murder of another child, or an equivalent offense;
  3. parent has been convicted of or pled guilty or no contest to voluntary manslaughter of another child, or an equivalent offense;
  4. parent has been convicted of or pled guilty or no contest to aiding, abetting, attempting, soliciting, or conspiring to commit murder or voluntary manslaughter of the child or another child while living in the parent’s home, or an equivalent offense;
  5. physical abuse of a child resulted in the death or in-patient hospital admission and the abuse is the act for which the parent has been convicted of or pled guilty or no contest to committing, aiding, abetting, conspiring to commit, or soliciting:
     
     • an offense against the person, as provided for in Title 16, Chapter 3;
     • criminal domestic violence, as defined in § 16-25-20;
     • criminal domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature, as defined in § 16-25-65; or
     • common law offense of assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, or an equivalent offense in another jurisdiction;
  6. parent’s parental rights to another child have been terminated involuntarily;
  7. parent has a diagnosable condition unlikely to change within a reasonable time including, alcohol or drug addiction, mental deficiency, mental illness, or extreme physical incapacity, and the condition makes the parent unlikely to provide minimally acceptable care of the child (Note: Under § 63-7-2570(6)(c), parental rights of a parent or legal guardian with a disability cannot be terminated solely on the basis of the disability.); or
  8. other circumstances exist that the court finds make continuation or implementation of reasonable efforts to preserve or reunify the family inconsistent with the permanent plan for the child.

• Overview of Title IV-E Requirement
  
  • Once a child has entered foster care, in order to continue to receive Title IV-E funds, DSS must make reasonable efforts to finalize a permanent plan for the child.
  • The determination of whether DSS has made reasonable efforts to finalize a permanent plan must be made within 12 months from the date the child was deemed to have entered foster care and at least once every 12 months thereafter for as long as the child remains in foster care.
• When determining whether DSS made reasonable efforts to finalize a permanent plan, the court should consider:
  
  • whether the efforts of DSS and the services offered to the family in the past 12 months were reasonably available, timely, meaningful, and realistic under the circumstances; and
  • whether DSS’s activities associated with making and finalizing a permanent plan are consistent with the permanency goal. The court may consider any of the following (this list is by no means comprehensive and is provided solely as illustrative considerations):
    
    • Did DSS devise a placement plan with the parents (when possible) as soon after removal as possible?
    • Has a concurrent permanent plan been established?
    • Is DSS helping the family to identify and access resources and/or services needed to help the family reunify? Examples include: DSS Emergency Assistance Funds, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Family Independence program, Medicaid, housing referrals, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) (formerly the food stamp program), ABC Child Care program, referral to child support enforcement, and vocational rehabilitation.
    • Is DSS monitoring the parent’s progress towards completing the objectives of the placement plan?
    • Is DSS meeting with the parents to identify and discuss ongoing issues and assess the parents’ progress towards reunification?
    • Were referrals made and services started as soon after removal as possible?
    • Did DSS complete a diligent search for the absent parent?
    • Did DSS locate and contact the noncustodial parent as quickly as possible after removal?
    • Did DSS assess the noncustodial parent’s ability to provide care for the child, and, if appropriate, provide services to enable the non-custodial parent to safely care for the child?
    • Did DSS conduct a relative search to identify, locate and contact relatives for possible placement, guardianship or custody of the child within 30 days of the child’s placement in foster care?
    • Did DSS timely perform home studies on relatives?
    • Is DSS facilitating frequent parent-child visits?
    • Are sibling visits occurring frequently?
    • Are sibling groups placed in the same home for foster care or adoption?
    • Has the child been assessed for adoption?
    • Is DSS making child specific adoption recruitment efforts?
    • Has an adoptive family been identified?
    • Has the child been placed in a prospective adoptive home?
    •  Is DSS providing Independent Living Services to the foster child, if appropriate?