A. Prior to holding a dispositional hearing, the court shall direct the department to prepare a written family services plan for submission to the court.

B. The plan for family services shall contain the following information:

(1) a statement of the problem;

(2) the needs of the child;

(3) the needs of the family;

(4) a description of the specific progress needed to be made by both the parent and the child, the reasons why the plan is likely to be useful, the availability of any proposed services and the department's overall plan for ensuring that the services will be delivered;

(5) if removal from the home or continued residence outside the home is recommended for the child, a statement of the likely harm the child will suffer as a result of removal from the home, including emotional harm resulting from separation from the child's parents;

(6) if removal from the home or continued residence outside the home is recommended for the child, a description of any previous efforts to work with the parent and the child in the home and a description of any in-home treatment programs that have been considered and rejected;

(7) a description of the steps that will be taken to minimize any harm to the child that may result if separation from the child's parent occurs or continues;

(8) if removal from the home or continued residence outside the home is recommended for the child and the child is sixteen years of age or older, a description of the specific skills the child requires for successful transition into independent living as an adult, what programs are necessary to develop the skills, the reasons why the programs are likely to be useful, the availability of any proposed programs and the department's overall plan for ensuring that the child will be adequately prepared for adulthood; and

(9) when the child is an Indian child, contact shall be made with the child's Indian tribe for the purpose of consultation and exchange of information and the plan shall indicate the person contacted in the child's Indian tribe and the results of that contact.

C. A copy of the plan shall be provided by the department to all parties at least five days before the dispositional hearing.

D. If the child is a member of an adjudicated family in need of court-ordered services, any temporary custody orders shall remain in effect until the court has received and considered the plan at the dispositional hearing.

History: 1978 Comp., § 32A-3B-15, enacted by Laws 1993, ch. 77, § 87.