Sec. 07.02.11.16. Decision to Make the Permanency Plan Other than Reunification

A. In addition to engaging in the analysis set for in §C of this regulation and giving primary consideration to the health and safety of the child, the local department shall give serious consideration to implementing the permanency plan other than reunification if any of the following circumstances exists:

(1) The parent or guardian has subjected the child to any of the following aggravated circumstances:

(a) The parent or guardian has engaged in or facilitated:

(i) Chronic or severe physical abuse of the child, a sibling of the child, or another child in the household;

(ii) Chronic or life threatening neglect of the child, a sibling of the child, or another child in the household;

(iii) Sexual abuse of the child, a sibling of the child, or another child in the household;

(iv) Torture of the child, a sibling of the child, or another child in the household;

(b) The parent or guardian knowingly failed to take appropriate steps to protect the child after a person in the household inflicted sexual abuse, severe physical abuse, life threatening neglect, or torture on the child or another child in the household; or

(c) The child, a sibling of the child, or another child in the household has suffered severe physical abuse or death resulting from abuse by the parent or guardian or another adult in the household and all persons who could have inflicted the abuse or caused the death remain in the household;

(2) The parent or guardian has been convicted, in any state or court of the United States, of:

(a) A crime of violence, as defined in Criminal Law Article, §14-101, Annotated Code of Maryland, against:

(i) The child;

(ii) Another parent or guardian of the child;

(iii) Another child of the parent or guardian; or

(b) Aiding or abetting, conspiring, or soliciting to commit a crime described above in §A(2)(a) of this regulation;

(3) The local department believes the child to be abandoned as defined in Regulation .03B of this chapter;

(4) The parent has involuntarily lost parental rights of a sibling of the child;

(5) The child was born addicted to or dependent on cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, or a derivative of them, or with a significant presence of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, or a derivative of them in the child's blood, as evidenced by toxicology or other appropriate tests, and the local department has offered the mother admission into a drug treatment program within 90 days after the birth of the child, and the mother:

(a) Does not accept admission to the program or its equivalent within 45 days of the offer; or

(b) Fails to participate fully in the program or its equivalent;

(6) The child has been adjudicated to be a child in need of assistance, neglected, abused, or dependent in a prior juvenile proceeding and the local department has documented one of the following continuous or serious acts or conditions of the parent or legal guardian:

(a) A disability which renders the parent or legal guardian consistently unable to care for the immediate and ongoing psychological and physical needs of the child for long periods of time, even with appropriate and available supports and services to avoid discriminating on the basis of disability;

(b) Acts of abuse or neglect, as determined by child protective services of the local department, toward any child in the family;

(c) Repeated or continuous failure to provide for the child's physical, mental, or emotional health and development, even though the parent or legal guardian is physically and financially able; or

(7) The child has been continuously out of the custody of the parents or legal guardian, and in out-of-home placement with the local department for at least a year, and the local department has documented that:

(a) The conditions which led to the child's placement still persist, or similar conditions of a potentially harmful nature still exist;

(b) There is little likelihood that the conditions which led to the child's placement will be remedied at an early date to make it possible for the child to be returned to the family in the immediate future;

(c) Continuation of the parent-child relationship diminishes the child's prospects for early integration into a stable and permanent family; and

(d) The parents or legal guardian have failed to implement a plan for resumption of care which would provide adequately for the child's physical, mental, or emotional health and development, or to maintain regular interest or contact with the child.

B. The local department may request a waiver of reunification efforts, for one or both parents, or the legal guardian, from the court at the CINA adjudication hearing or whenever it is determined that the circumstances described in §A(1)-(4) of this regulation apply to a child adjudicated a CINA.

C. At each reconsideration in determining whether to continue a plan of reunification, the local department shall evaluate the parents' or legal guardian's:

(1) Progress toward remedying the conditions that led to the child's placement;

(2) Ability to provide appropriate care and supervision of other children in their care and custody;

(3) Cooperation with the local department in planning for, and meeting, the needs of the child;

(4) Attempts to maintain a relationship with the child through visits, phone calls, letters, and other means; and

(5) Likelihood of resuming care and custody of the child within 15 months of the child's placement.

D. The local department shall pursue termination of parental rights for a child who has been in out-of-home placement for 15 of the most recent 22 months unless:

(1) The case record documents that inadequate services were provided by the local department to the parents or legal guardian;

(2) The child is placed permanently with a relative; or

(3) A compelling reason exists.

E. When the local department is required to pursue termination of parental rights as required in §D of this regulation or the permanency plan is changed to adoption, except as noted in §I of this regulation, the local department shall:

(1) Ask the parents or legal guardian if they will consent to adoption; and

(2) Refer the case to the local department's attorney within 30 days of the date the plan is changed.

F. When the case is referred to the attorney, the attorney shall, within 30 days, petition the court for guardianship with the right to consent to adoption.

G. Adoption Services to Child.

(1) Criteria. Adoption services shall be available to any child:

(a) Whose birth parent voluntarily relinquishes the child for adoption;

(b) Whose birth parent is considering relinquishing the child for adoption because of an inability to sustain adequate parental responsibilities;

(c) For whom the decision to pursue permanency planning through adoption is considered by the local department to be in the best interest of the child; or

(d) For whom there has been a referral from another service program for local department adoption planning.

(2) Decision.

(a) When an application for adoption services on behalf of a child is received, the local department and the birth parents shall make a decision regarding the appropriate case plan after the local department ascertains the facts and determines the need for the service.

(b) Before guardianship is awarded, children accepted for adoption services may be placed in preadoptive resource family homes, or other residential child care facilities approved by or under the supervision of the local department.

(3) Preadoptive Foster Care Placement.

(a) Eligibility for preadoptive foster care is set forth in Regulation .04 of this chapter.

(b) For a Native American child receiving permanency planning services, the local department shall:

(i) Comply with the federal Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978, 25 U.S.C. §1901 et seq.; and

(ii) Notify the Administration's adoption or out-of-home placement program staff when the local department decides on adoption as the permanency plan.

(4) Responsibility in Preadoptive Foster Care.

(a) The child in preadoptive foster care shall receive services as set forth in this chapter and the local department shall retain ultimate responsibility for:

(i) Providing the child with appropriate physical care, emotional security, and intellectual stimulation; and

(ii) Observing and recording the child's developmental progress.

(b) The local department shall assist the child and the foster family in understanding the child's history in order to facilitate the child's separation from the child's birth family and attachment to an adoptive family.

(c) Significant social, biographical, medical, developmental, and educational information shall be immediately documented in the child's record for use in assessing the child's special needs and selecting the most appropriate adoptive family for the child.

(d) For a child in preadoptive foster care who is separated from siblings, the local department shall ensure the provision of sibling visitation as appropriate in the best interests of the siblings as set forth in Family Law Article, §5-525.2, Annotated Code of Maryland.

(5) Upon receipt of a report of a suspected child abuse or neglect related fatality or a fatality in an open service case, the local department shall comply with the Department's protocol for child fatalities, available from the Administration.

(6) For a child who is eligible for early intervention and special education services and whose parents are unknown, unavailable, or deceased, the local department shall request surrogate parents to secure the provision of those services.

H. Court-Ordered Termination of Parental Rights.

(1) Parental rights may only be terminated by court order.

(2) Only the executive head of a child placement agency or the attorney for the child may file a petition to grant guardianship to the agency.

(3) When a court determines that a child is an abandoned infant, the petition to grant guardianship to the agency must be filed within 60 days of the court’s determination that the child is an abandoned infant.

(4) The petition to grant guardianship to the agency must be filed within 60 days of the court’s determination that reasonable efforts to reunify the child and parent are not required according to §§A(1)-(4) of this regulation.

(5) When the local department decides that adoption is the appropriate permanency plan for the child:

(a) The local department shall refer the case to the local department’s attorney within 30 days of making that decision, with or without the consent of the parents; and

(b) The attorney shall file the termination of parental rights petition within 30 days of receipt of the referral.

I. Court-Ordered Plan of Adoption by a Nonrelative.

(1) When the court determines that the permanency plan be changed to adoption by a nonrelative, the local department shall file a petition for guardianship:

(a) Within 30 days if the local department supports the plan; or

(b) Within 60 days if the local department does not support the plan.

(2) A termination of parental rights hearing shall be scheduled in place of the next 6-month review hearing.