30:4C-55 Placement plans, requirements.

6. The division shall prepare and revise, when necessary, in consultation with the child's parents or legal guardian and, when appropriate, the child, a placement plan for each child placed outside his home. The placement plan shall include:

a. A statement of the goal for the permanent placement or return home of the child and anticipated date that the goal will be achieved;

b. The intermediate objectives relating to the attainment of the goal;

c. A statement of the duties and responsibilities of the division, the parents or legal guardian and the temporary caretaker, including the services to be provided by the division to the child and to the temporary caretaker;

d. A statement of the services to be provided to the parent or legal guardian or an exception to the requirement to provide reasonable efforts toward family reunification in accordance with section 25 of P.L.1999, c.53 (C.30:4C-11.3). Services to facilitate adoption or an alternative permanent placement may be provided concurrently with services to reunify the child with the parent or guardian; and

e. A permanency plan for the child and the division's reasonable efforts to achieve that plan, if: the division has established an exception to the requirement to provide reasonable efforts toward family reunification in accordance with section 25 of P.L.1999, c.53 (C.30:4C-11.3); or the child has been in placement for 12 months.

The permanency plan shall include whether and, if applicable, when:

(a) the child shall be returned to the parent or guardian, if the child can be returned home without endangering the child's health or safety;

(b) the division has determined that family reunification is not possible, and the division shall file a petition for the termination of parental rights for the purpose of adoption; or

(c) the division has determined that termination of parental rights is not appropriate in accordance with section 31 of P.L.1999, c.53 (C.30:4C-15.3) and the child shall be placed in an alternative permanent placement.

L.1977,c.424,s.6; amended 1999, c.53, s.44.