A. When the legal custody of a child or the placement and care responsibility of an eligible adult is vested in a public agency, under the provisions of the Children's Code, the public agency may transfer physical custody of the child or the eligible adult to an appropriate private agency and may purchase care and treatment from the private agency if the private agency submits periodic reports to the public agency covering the care and treatment the child or eligible adult is receiving and the child's or eligible adult's responses to that care and treatment. These reports shall be made as frequently as the public agency deems necessary, but not less often than once each six months for each child or eligible adult. The private agency shall also afford an opportunity for a representative of the public agency to examine or consult with the child or eligible adult as frequently as the public agency deems necessary.

B. As used in this section, "eligible adult" means an individual who meets the eligibility criteria for participation in the fostering connections program established pursuant to the Fostering Connections Act.

History: 1978 Comp., § 32A-1-20, enacted by Laws 1993, ch. 77, § 29; 2019, ch. 149, § 12.

The 2019 amendment, effective June 14, 2019, authorized a public agency, which has the care responsibility of an eligible adult, to purchase care and treatment for that eligible adult from a private agency; added new subsection designation "A."; in Subsection A, after "custody of a child", added "or the placement and care responsibility of an eligible adult", after "physical custody of the child", added "or the eligible adult", after "treatment the child", added "or eligible adult", after "and the child's", added "or eligible adult", after "six months for each child", added "or eligible adult", and after "consult with the child", added "or the eligible adult"; and added Subsection B.