Foster Care Services Permanency Planning 624-05

Definitions 624-05-05

(Revised 1/15/21 ML #3606)

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PI 21-17

PI 21-17 Attachment A

PI 21-17 Attachment B

PI 21-17 Attachment C

PI 21-17 Attachment D

PI 21-17 Attachment E

PI 21-17 Attachment F

PI 21-17 Attachment G

“Abandon” means:
1. As to a parent of a child not in the custody of that parent, failure by the non-custodial parent significantly without justifiable cause:
  1. To communicate with the child; or
  2. To provide for the care and support of the child as required by law; or
1. As to a parent of a child in that parent’s custody:
  1. To leave the child for an indefinite period of time without making firm and agreed plans, with the child’s immediate caregiver, for the parent’s resumption of physical custody;
  2. Following the child’s birth or treatment at a hospital, to fail or arrange for the child’s discharge within ten days after the child no longer requires hospital care; or
  1. To willfully fail to furnish food, shelter, clothing, or medical attention reasonably sufficient to meet the child’s needs.
“Abandoned Infant” means a child who has been abandoned before reaching the age of one year.
“Active Efforts (ICWA)” means affirmative, active, thorough, and timely efforts intended primarily to maintain the child in the home, prevent removal of the child from the child's family, or, after removal, or reunite an Indian child with his or her family.
“Administrative Review” means a review open to the participation of the parents of the child, conducted by a panel of appropriate persons at least one of whom is not responsible for the case management of or the delivery of services to, either the child or the parents who are the subject of the review.
“Age-Appropriate” means activities or events that are generally accepted as suitable for children of the same chronological age or level of maturity. Age appropriateness is based on the development of cognitive, emotions, physical, and behavioral capacity that is typical for an age group.
“Agency” means the North Dakota Department of Human Services, Children and Family Services Division or its designee, including any Human Service Zone.
“Aggravated Circumstances” means circumstances in which a parent:
1. Abandons, tortures, chronically abuses, or sexually abuses a child;
2. Fails to make substantial, meaningful efforts to secure treatment for the parent’s addiction, mental illness, behavior disorder, or any combination of those conditions for a period equal to the lesser of:
  1. One year; or
  2. One-half of the child’s lifetime, measured in days, as of the date a petition alleging aggravated circumstances is filed.
1. Engages in sex offenses in which a child is the victim or intended victim, including corruption or solicitation of a minor, use of a minor in a sexual performance, sexual exploitation or assault, or incest (prohibited under sections 12.1-20-01 through 12.1-20-08 or chapter 12.1-27.2);
1. Engages in conduct that constitutes one of the following crimes, or of an offense under the laws of another jurisdiction which requires proof of substantially similar elements;
  1. Murder, manslaughter, or negligent homicide (violations of section 12.1-16-01, 12.1-16-02, or 12.1-16-03);
  2. Aiding, abetting, attempting, conspiring, or soliciting murder, manslaughter, or negligent homicide (violations of section 12.1-16-01, 12.1-16-02, or 12.1-16-03); or
  3. Aggravated assault in which the victim has suffered serious injury (violation of section 12.1-17-02).
1. Engages or attempts to engage in simple assault, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment or terrorizing in which a child is the victim or intended victim (prohibited under sections 12.1-17-01 through 12.1-17-04); or
1. Has been incarcerated under a sentence for which the latest release date is:
  1. In the case of a child age nine or older, after the child’s majority; or
  2. In the case of a child, after the child is twice the child’s current age, measured in days.
"Babysitting" is short-term care of foster children when the foster parents are temporarily away, however still available to respond if needed. A babysitter can be a responsible individual, between the ages of 14 and 21, secured to provide care and supervision for no more than eight consecutive hours in one day.
“Child” means an individual who is:
1. Under the age of eighteen years and is neither married and cohabiting with spouse nor in the military services of the United States; or
2. Under the age of twenty years with respect to a delinquent act committed while under the age of eighteen years.
"Child care (daycare)" is planned care for a child required ongoing while the foster parents are at work, school, or otherwise engaged on a regular basis. If ongoing child care is needed, foster parents can be approved for reimbursement following policy set forth in Maintenance Chapter 623-05.
“Deprived child” means a child who:
1. Is without proper parental care or control, subsistence, education as required by law, or other care or control necessary for the child’s physical, mental, or emotional health, or morals, and the deprivation is not due primarily to the lack of financial means of the child’s parents, guardian, or other custodian;
1. Has been placed for care or adoption in violation of law
2. Has been abandoned by the child’s parents, guardian, or other custodian;
3. Is without proper parental care, control, or education as required by law, or other care and control necessary for the child’s well-being because of the physical, mental, emotional, or other illness or disability of the child’s parent or parents, and that such lack of care is not due to a willful act of commission or act of omission by the child’s parents, and care is required by a parent; or
1. Is in need of treatment and whose parents, guardian, or other custodian have refused to participate in treatment as ordered by the juvenile court.
“Domicile (ICWA)" the domicile of an Indian parent or custodian’s domicile is on the reservation; meaning their residence with intent to stay, or return.
“Fit and willing relative or other appropriate individual” means a relative or other individual who has been determined, after consideration of an assessment that includes a criminal history record investigation under section 23 of this Act, to be a qualified person under Chapter 30.1-27, and who consents in writing to act as a legal guardian.
“Financially Responsible County” is the county where the child's parent has residence at the time of court intervention. The county of financial responsibility could change after a 60-day lapse in placement. If the parents do not have residence in North Dakota, then the financial responsibility exists in the county where the child resided at the time of court intervention. (Definition developed by county directors, 1997).
“Foster Care For Children” means the provision of substitute parental child care to those children described in Subsection vi of Section 50-09-01 of N.D.C.C. and includes the provision of food, shelter, security and safety, guidance and comfort on a 24-hour basis, to one or more children under 21 years of age to safeguard the child’s growth and development and to minimize and counteract hazards to the child’s emotional health inherent in the separation from the child’s family. Foster care may be provided in a licensed family foster home, group home, or residential child care facility.
“Foster Family Home” means an occupied family residence in which foster care is regularly provided by the owner or leasee thereof to no more than four children, unless all of the children in foster care are related to each other by blood or marriage in which case such limitations shall not apply.
“Federally Recognized Tribe” means any Indian Tribe, band, nation, or other organized group or community of Indians recognized as eligible for the services provided to Indians by the Secretary of the Interior because of their status as Indians, including any Alaska Native Village. 25 U. S. C. 1903(8)
“Group Home” means a licensed or approved residence in which foster care is regularly provided to at least four, but fewer than thirteen, unrelated children.
“Home” when used in the phrase “to return home” means the abode of the child’s parent with whom the child formerly resided.
“Indian child” means any unmarried person who is under age eighteen and is either (a) a member or citizen of an Indian Tribe or (b) is eligible for membership or citizenship in an Indian Tribe and is the biological child of a member/citizen of an Indian Tribe. 25 U.S.C. § 1903 (4); 25 C.F.R. § 23.2. A child who meets this definition is subject to ICWA.
“Indian child’s Tribe” means (a) the Indian Tribe in which an Indian child is a member or eligible for membership or (b), in the case of an Indian child who is a member of or eligible for membership in more than one Tribe, the Indian Tribe with which the Indian child has the more significant contacts. 25 U.S.C. § 1903(5).
“Imminent risk of serious harm” (used in risk only intakes and coordination with law enforcement) means:
1. Imminent - Having the potential to occur at any moment, or there is substantial likelihood that harm will be experienced.
2. Risk of Serious Harm - A high likelihood of a child being abused or experiencing negligent treatment or maltreatment that could result in one or more of the following outcomes:
  1. Death
  2. Life endangering illness
  3. Injury requiring medical attention
  4. Substantial risk of injury to the physical, emotional, or cognitive development
“Normalcy” means giving children in foster care the opportunity to engage in typical growth and development. This includes the participation in age- appropriate activities, responsibilities and life skills.
“Permanency hearing” means a (judicial or Division of Juvenile Services [DJS] administrative hearing pursuant to N.D.C.C. 27-20) hearing, conducted with respect to a child who is in foster care, to determine the permanency plan for the child which includes:
1. Whether and, if applicable, when the child will be returned to the parent;
2. Whether and, if applicable, when the child will be placed for adoption and the state will file a petition for termination of parental rights;
3. Whether and, if applicable, when a fit and willing relative or other appropriate individual will be appointed as a legal guardian;
4. Whether and, if applicable, to place siblings in the same foster care, relative, guardianship, or adoptive placement, unless it is determined that the joint placement would be contrary to the safety or well-being of any of the siblings;
5. Whether and, if applicable, in the case of siblings removed from their home who are not jointly placed, to provide for frequent visitation or other ongoing interaction between the siblings, unless it is determined to be contrary to the safety or well-being of any of the siblings;
6. In cases in which a compelling reason has been shown that it would not be in the child’s best interests to return home, to have parental rights terminated, to be placed for adoption, to be placed with a fit and willing relative, or to be placed with a legal guardian, whether and, if applicable, when the child is age sixteen or greater and placed in another planned permanent living arrangement;
7. 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
8. In the case of a child who has attained age fourteen, the services needed to assist the child to make the transition from foster care to successful adulthood.
“Protective supervision” means supervision ordered by the court of children found to be deprived or unruly.
“Qualified Expert Witness (QEW)” means an individual qualified to testify regarding whether the child’s continued custody by the parent or Indian custodian is likely to result in serious emotional or physical damage to the child and should be qualified to testify as to the prevailing social and cultural standards of the Indian child’s Tribe. A QEW may be designated by the Indian child’s Tribe, but ultimately is the responsibility of the custodial agency and/or court to secure QEW’s for ICWA cases. The caseworker regularly assigned to the Indian child may not serve as a QEW in child-custody proceedings concerning the child.
"Qualified Residential Treatment Program" means a licensed or approved residence providing an out-of-home treatment placement for children.
“Reasonable and Prudent Parent Standard” means the standard characterized by careful and sensible parental decisions that maintain the health, safety, and best interests of a child while at the same time encouraging the emotional and developmental growth of the child participating in extracurricular, enrichment, cultural, and social activities.
“Reasonable efforts” means the exercise of due diligence by the agency to use appropriate and available services to meet the needs of the child and the child’s family in order to prevent removal of the child from the child’s family, or, after removal, to use appropriate and available services to eliminate the need for removal and to reunite the child and the child’s family and to maintain family connections. If the child cannot return home, the agency must make reasonable efforts to make and finalize an alternate permanent placement of the child, including identifying appropriate in-State and out-of-State options. In the case of siblings removed from their home and not jointly placed, frequent visitation or interaction must be provided, unless it is contrary to the safety or well-being of any sibling. In making reasonable efforts and in determining reasonable efforts, the child's health and safety must be the paramount concern.
“Relative” means:
1. The child’s grandparent, great-grandparent, sibling, half-sibling, aunt, great-aunt, uncle, great-uncle, nephew, niece, or first cousin;
2. An individual with a relationship to the child, derived through a current or former spouse of the child’s parent, similar to a relationship described in subdivision a:
3. An individual recognized in the child’s community as having a relationship with the child similar to a relationship described in subdivision a; or
4. The child’s stepparent.
"Respite care" is temporary relief care for a child with special medical, emotional or behavioral needs, which requires time-limited supervision and care by another licensed foster parent. Respite care cannot exceed 96 hours and is reimbursable through a formal agreement (SFN 929) pre-approved by a regional representative.
"Substitute care" is temporary care of foster children when the foster parents are unavailable to provide supervision and care for more than a portion of one day.
"Substitute caregiver" is a responsible adult, age 21 or older, temporarily providing care for a foster child in the absence of the foster parents for a portion of one day. If time exceeds one day, a licensed foster parent must provide substitute care if the primary foster parents are unavailable.