(a) Prior to placing a disabled child or a child suspected of being disabled in a residential facility, outside the child’s home, a court, regional center for the developmentally disabled, or public agency other than an educational agency, shall notify the administrator of the special education local plan area in which the residential facility is located. The administrator of the special education local plan area shall provide the court or other placing agency with information about the availability of an appropriate public or nonpublic, nonsectarian special education program in the special education local plan area where the residential facility is located.

(b) Notwithstanding Section 56159 of the Education Code, the involvement of the administrator of the special education local plan area in the placement discussion, pursuant to subdivision (a), shall in no way obligate a public education agency to pay for the residential costs and the cost of noneducational services for a child placed in a licensed children’s institution or foster family home.

(c) It is the intent of the Legislature that this section will encourage communication between the courts and other public agencies that engage in referring children to, or placing children in, residential facilities, and representatives of local educational agencies. It is not the intent of this section to hinder the courts or public agencies in their responsibilities for placing disabled children in residential facilities when appropriate.

(d) Any public agency other than an educational agency that places a disabled child or a child suspected of being disabled in a facility out of state without the involvement of the school district, special education local plan area, or county office of education in which the parent or guardian resides, shall assume all financial responsibility for the child’s residential placement, special education program, and related services in the other state unless the other state or its local agencies assume responsibility.

(Amended by Stats. 2002, Ch. 585, Sec. 3. Effective January 1, 2003.)