(A) There is created, within the Department of Children's Advocacy, the Division for Review of the Foster Care of Children. The division must be supported by a board consisting of seven members, all of whom must be past or present members of local review boards. There must be one member from each congressional district, all appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate.

(B) Terms of office for the members of the board are for four years and until their successors are appointed and qualify. Appointments must be made by the Governor for terms of four years to expire on June thirtieth of the appropriate year.

(C) The board shall elect from its members a chairman who shall serve for two years. Five members of the board constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. Members of the board shall receive per diem, mileage, and subsistence as provided by law for members of boards, commissions, and committees while engaged in the work of the board.

(D) The board shall meet at least quarterly and more frequently upon the call of the division director to review and coordinate the activities of the local review boards and make recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly with regard to foster care policies, procedures, and deficiencies of public and private agencies which arrange for foster care of children as determined by the review of cases provided for in Section 63-11-720(A)(1) and (2). These recommendations must be submitted to the Governor and included in an annual report, filed with the General Assembly, of the activities of the state office and local review boards.

(E) The board, upon recommendation of the division director, shall promulgate regulations to carry out the provisions of this article. These regulations shall provide for and must be limited to procedures for: reviewing reports and other necessary information at state, county, and private agencies and facilities; scheduling of reviews and notification of interested parties; conducting local review board and board of directors' meetings; disseminating local review board recommendations, including reporting to the appropriate family court judges the status of judicially approved treatment plans; participating and intervening in family court proceedings; and developing policies for summary review of children privately placed in privately-owned facilities or group homes.

(F) The Governor may employ a division director to serve at the Governor's pleasure who may be paid an annual salary to be determined by the Governor. The director may be removed pursuant to Section 1-3-240. The division director shall employ staff as is necessary to carry out this article, and the staff must be compensated in an amount and in a manner as may be determined by the Governor.

(G) This article may not be construed to provide for subpoena authority.

HISTORY: 2008 Act No. 361, Section 2; 2012 Act No. 279, Section 29, eff June 26, 2012; 2014 Act No. 121 (S.22), Pt V, Section 7.KK.1, eff July 1, 2015; 2018 Act No. 160 (S.805), Section 4, eff July 1, 2019.

Editor's Note

2012 Act No. 279, Section 33, provides as follows:

"Due to the congressional redistricting, any person elected or appointed to serve, or serving, as a member of any board, commission, or committee to represent a congressional district, whose residency is transferred to another district by a change in the composition of the district, may serve, or continue to serve, the term of office for which he was elected or appointed; however, the appointing or electing authority shall appoint or elect an additional member on that board, commission, or committee from the district which loses a resident member as a result of the transfer to serve until the term of the transferred member expires. When a vacancy occurs in the district to which a member has been transferred, the vacancy must not be filled until the full term of the transferred member expires. Further, the inability to hold an election or to make an appointment due to judicial review of the congressional districts does not constitute a vacancy."

2018 Act No. 160, Sections 18.A and 18.B, provide as follows:

"SECTION 18. A. Where the provisions of this act transfer duties, programs, or services of the Department of Administration to the Department of Children's Advocacy, the employees, authorized appropriations, and assets and liabilities of these divisions, services, and programs also are transferred to and become part of the Department of Children's Advocacy. All classified or unclassified personnel employed by the divisions, programs, services, or initiatives transferred from the Department of Administration, either by contract or by employment at will, become on July 1, 2019, employees of the Department of Children's Advocacy, with the same compensation, classification, and grade level, as applicable. Before the transfer of the applicable divisions, programs, services, or initiatives of the Department of Administration pursuant to this act, these agencies and organizations shall cause all necessary actions to be taken to accomplish this transfer in accordance with state and federal laws and regulations."

"B. Applicable regulations promulgated by the Department of Administration are continued and are considered to be promulgated by the Department of Children's Advocacy. Applicable contracts entered into by the Department of Administration are continued and are considered to be devolved upon the Department of Children's Advocacy at the time of the transfer."

Effect of Amendment

The 2012 amendment removed "and one member from the State at large" in subsection (A).

2014 Act No. 121, Section 7.KK.1, in subsection (A), substituted "within the Department of Administration" for "as part of the Office of the Governor", and substituted "board consisting of eight members" for "board consisting of seven members"; in subsection (C), substituted "Five members of the board" for "Four members of the board"; and in subsection (F), inserted "division" before "director".

2018 Act No. 160, Section 4, in (A), in the first sentence, substituted "Department of Children's Advocacy" for "Department of Administration", and, in the second sentence, substituted "seven members" for "eight members".