§ 23-13.1-5. DCYF — Procedure.
(a) Immediately upon any time that a hospital or other facility designated in this chapter
takes physical possession of an infant pursuant to this chapter, the hospital or other
facility designated in this chapter shall notify the director of the department of
children, youth and families, or his or her designee, that it has physical possession
of the infant. The director of the department of children, youth and families shall
establish a procedure by which a hospital or other facility designated in this chapter
can notify the department for children, youth and families. The department of children,
y
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§ 23-13.1-5. DCYF — Procedure.
(a) Immediately upon any time that a hospital or other facility designated in this chapter
takes physical possession of an infant pursuant to this chapter, the hospital or other
facility designated in this chapter shall notify the director of the department of
children, youth and families, or his or her designee, that it has physical possession
of the infant. The director of the department of children, youth and families shall
establish a procedure by which a hospital or other facility designated in this chapter
can notify the department for children, youth and families. The department of children,
youth and families shall immediately respond to the hospital or other facility designated
in this chapter and place the infant in the temporary protective custody of the department
and make arrangements for the infant to undergo a comprehensive medical examination
by a licensed physician or a duly certified registered nurse practitioner in accordance
with the provisions of § 40-11-5. Thereafter, the department of children, youth and families shall file an emergency
petition for the removal of the infant from the care and custody of the parents in
accordance with the provisions of § 40-11-7.
(b) The department of children, youth and families shall, upon obtaining temporary custody
of the infant and provided that no person has asserted a claim to be the parent of
the infant within ninety (90) days of the department obtaining custody, commence proceedings
to terminate the parental rights of the parents of the infant in accordance with the
provisions of § 15-7-7. The leaving of the infant at a hospital or other facility designated herein and
the failure of a person to assert a claim to be the parent of the infant within ninety
(90) days of the infant being placed in the temporary custody of the department of
children, youth and families shall constitute prima facie evidence of permanent abandonment
of the infant.