Minnesota Statutes 260C.706 – Family and Permanency Team Requirements
(a) When the responsible social services agency‘s juvenile treatment screening team, as defined in section 260C.157, recommends placing the child in a qualified residential treatment program, the agency must assemble a family and permanency team within ten days.
Terms Used In Minnesota Statutes 260C.706
- Agency: means the responsible social services agency or a licensed child-placing agency. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
- Child: means an individual under 18 years of age. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
- Court: means juvenile court unless otherwise specified in this section. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
- Family and permanency team: means a team consisting of the child's parent or legal custodian, relatives, foster care providers, and professionals who are resources to the child's family such as teachers, medical or mental health providers who have treated the child, or clergy, as appropriate. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
- Foster care: means 24-hour substitute care for a child for whom a responsible social services agency has placement and care responsibility and:
(1) who is placed away from the child's parent or guardian in foster family homes, foster homes of relatives, group homes, emergency shelters, residential facilities not excluded in this subdivision, child care institutions, and preadoptive homes;
(2) who is colocated with the child's parent or guardian in a licensed residential family-based substance use disorder treatment program as defined in subdivision 22a; or
(3) who is returned to the care of the child's parent or guardian from whom the child was removed under a trial home visit pursuant to section 260C. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
- Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
- Parent: means a person who has a legal parent and child relationship with a child which confers or imposes on the person legal rights, privileges, duties, and obligations consistent with sections 257. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
- Permanency plan: means the established goal in the out-of-home placement plan that will achieve a safe, permanent home for the child. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
- Qualified residential treatment program: means a children's residential treatment program licensed under chapter 245A or licensed or approved by a tribe that is approved to receive foster care maintenance payments under section 256. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
- Relative: means a person related to the child by blood, marriage, or adoption; the legal parent, guardian, or custodian of the child's siblings; or an individual who is an important friend of the child or of the child's parent or custodian, including an individual with whom the child has resided or had significant contact or who has a significant relationship to the child or the child's parent or custodian. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
- Responsible social services agency: means the county social services agency that has responsibility for public child welfare and child protection services and includes the provision of adoption services as an agent of the commissioner of human services. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
- Sibling: means one of two or more individuals who have one or both parents in common through blood, marriage, or adoption. See Minnesota Statutes 260C.007
(1) The team must include all appropriate biological family members, the child’s parents, legal guardians or custodians, foster care providers, and relatives as defined in section 260C.007, subdivisions 26b and 27, and professionals, as appropriate, who are a resource to the child’s family, such as teachers, medical or mental health providers, or clergy.
(2) When a child is placed in foster care prior to the qualified residential treatment program, the agency shall include relatives responding to the relative search notice as required under section 260C.221 on this team, unless the juvenile court finds that contacting a specific relative would present a safety or health risk to the parent, guardian, child, sibling, or any other family member.
(3) When a qualified residential treatment program is the child’s initial placement setting, the responsible social services agency must engage with the child and the child’s parents to determine the appropriate family and permanency team members.
(4) When the permanency goal is to reunify the child with the child’s parent or legal guardian, the purpose of the relative search and focus of the family and permanency team is to preserve family relationships and identify and develop supports for the child and parents.
(5) The responsible agency must make a good faith effort to identify and assemble all appropriate individuals to be part of the child’s family and permanency team and request input from the parents regarding relative search efforts consistent with section 260C.221. The out-of-home placement plan in section 260C.708 must include all contact information for the team members, as well as contact information for family members or relatives who are not a part of the family and permanency team.
(6) If the child is age 14 or older, the team must include members of the family and permanency team that the child selects in accordance with section 260C.212, subdivision 1, paragraph (b).
(7) Consistent with section 260C.221, a responsible social services agency may disclose relevant and appropriate private data about the child to relatives in order for the relatives to participate in caring and planning for the child’s placement.
(8) If the child is an Indian child under section 260.751, the responsible social services agency must make active efforts to include the child’s tribal representative on the family and permanency team.
(b) The family and permanency team shall meet regarding the assessment required under section 260C.704 to determine whether it is necessary and appropriate to place the child in a qualified residential treatment program and to participate in case planning under section 260C.708.
(c) When reunification of the child with the child’s parent or legal guardian is the permanency plan, the family and permanency team shall support the parent-child relationship by recognizing the parent’s legal authority, consulting with the parent regarding ongoing planning for the child, and assisting the parent with visiting and contacting the child.
(d) When the agency’s permanency plan is to transfer the child’s permanent legal and physical custody to a relative or for the child’s adoption, the team shall:
(1) coordinate with the proposed guardian to provide the child with educational services, medical care, and dental care;
(2) coordinate with the proposed guardian, the agency, and the foster care facility to meet the child’s treatment needs after the child is placed in a permanent placement with the proposed guardian;
(3) plan to meet the child’s need for safety, stability, and connection with the child’s family and community after the child is placed in a permanent placement with the proposed guardian; and
(4) in the case of an Indian child, communicate with the child’s tribe to identify necessary and appropriate services for the child, transition planning for the child, the child’s treatment needs, and how to maintain the child’s connections to the child’s community, family, and tribe.
(e) The agency shall invite the family and permanency team to participate in case planning and the agency shall give the team notice of court reviews under sections 260C.152 and 260C.221 until: (1) the child is reunited with the child’s parents; or (2) the child’s foster care placement ends and the child is in a permanent placement.