§ 9-28-112 — Foster children and educational issues

(a) The Department of Human Services and school districts shall work together for the best interest of any child placed in the custody of the department. (b) By the next business day after the department exercises a seventy-two-hour hold on a child or a court places custody of a child with the department, the department shall inform the child's current school district, regardless of whether the child remains at his or her current school, that: (1) The department has exercised a seventy-two-hour hold on the child; or (2) The court has placed the child in the custody of the department. (c) By the next business day after a foster child transfers to a new placement, the department shall notify the child's current school that the foster child has transferred to a new placement. (d) By the next business day after the department reasonably believes that a foster child has experienced a traumatic event, the department may notify the school counselor of the child that the department reasonably believes that the foster child has experienced a traumatic event. (e) By the next business day after the department knows that a foster child has experienced a traumatic event through an investigation or an ongoing protective services case, the department may notify the school counselor of the child of the traumatic event that the department has knowledge of through an investigation or an ongoing protective services case. (f) The school counselor of the child may share information reported to the counselor under subsections (d) and (e) of this section with the school principal and the teachers of the child, if appropriate. (g) (1) The department or its designee, who may be a foster parent, shall make educational decisions for a child in the custody of the department related to general educational matters, subject to limitation only by the court having jurisdiction of the custody matter. (2) For educational matters under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq., a foster parent may make decisions for a child in the custody of the department.

Legislative History

Acts 2011, No. 591, § 1