Code of Maryland Regulations › Title 07 - DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES › Subtitle 02 - SOCIAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION › Chapter 07.02.11 - Out-of-Home Placement Program › Section 07.02.11.06 - Voluntary Placement

Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 14, July 12, 2024
A. Time-Limited Voluntary Placement.
(1) If a parent or legal guardian is temporarily unable to care for a child because the parent or legal guardian is, or soon will be, hospitalized, incarcerated, or otherwise unable to parent the child, the local department may acquire responsibility for temporary care of the child by accepting a voluntary placement of the child by the parent or legal guardian, under a binding written agreement between the local department and the parent or legal guardian.
(2) A child may not remain in out-of-home placement under a time-limited voluntary written agreement for more than 180 calendar days.
(3) The local department may accept a time-limited voluntary placement only when all of the following conditions are met:
(a) Reasonable efforts have been made to prevent the need to place the child;
(b) The local department believes that the parent or legal guardian will meet all responsibilities as set forth in Regulation .07 of this chapter;
(c) Both parents, the parent with sole legal custody, the sole caretaker parent of the child, or the legal guardian signs a binding written agreement;
(d) The parents or legal guardian who are parties to the voluntary agreement sign a document that gives the local department the authority to consent to medical care, as set forth in Regulation .08 of this chapter;
(e) The parents who are parties to the voluntary agreement pay child support in accordance with Regulation .29 of this chapter; and
(f) The placement is made in support of a plan of service to the parents or legal guardian designed to lead to reunification within 180 calendar days.
(4) The local department shall:
(a) Give written and oral notice to the parents or legal guardian that the time-limited voluntary placement agreement can be revoked at any time by a written revocation signed by the same individual or individuals who signed the voluntary agreement; and
(b) Inform the parents or legal guardian that the local department shall petition the court for custody if it is determined that the child's best interest requires out-of-home placement for longer than 180 calendar days.
(5) Upon receipt of a written revocation, the local department shall:
(a) Promptly return the child to the parents or legal guardian; or
(b) Immediately petition the court for emergency shelter care for the child.
(6) The local department shall petition the court for custody:
(a) As soon as the local department determines that the child will require out-of-home placement for longer than 180 calendar days; or
(b) Whenever the local department determines that it is in the child's best interest.
(7) The child who continues to require out-of-home placement at the end of 180 calendar days of placement pursuant to a time-limited voluntary placement written agreement may remain in out-of-home placement only if a juvenile court has committed the child to the custody or guardianship of a local department.
(8) This regulation does not apply to children whose parents have signed a voluntary consent for adoption.