11400.
For the purposes of this article, the following definitions shall apply:(a) “Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care (AFDC-FC)” means the aid provided on behalf of needy children in foster care under the terms of this division.
(b) “Case plan” means a written document that, at a minimum, specifies the type of home in which the child shall be placed, the safety of that home, and the appropriateness of that home to meet the child’s needs. It shall also include the agency’s plan for ensuring that the child receive proper care and protection in a safe environment, and shall set forth the appropriate services to be provided to the child, the child’s family, and the foster
parents, in order to meet the child’s needs while in foster care, and to reunify the child with the child’s family. In addition, the plan shall specify the services that will be provided or steps that will be taken to facilitate an alternate permanent plan if reunification is not possible.
(c) “Certified family home” means a family residence certified by a licensed foster family agency and issued a certificate of approval by that agency as meeting licensing standards, and used only by that foster family agency for placements.
(d) “Family home” means the family residency of a licensee in which 24-hour care and supervision are provided for children.
(e) “Small family home” means any residential facility, in the licensee’s family residence, which provides 24-hour care for six or fewer foster children who have mental
disorders or developmental or physical disabilities and who require special care and supervision as a result of their disabilities.
(f) “Foster care” means the 24-hour out-of-home care provided to children whose own families are unable or unwilling to care for them, and who are in need of temporary or long-term substitute parenting.
(g) “Foster family agency” means any individual or organization engaged in the recruiting, certifying, and training of, and providing professional support to, foster parents, or in finding homes or other places for placement of children for temporary or permanent care who require that level of care as an alternative to a group home. Private foster family agencies shall be organized and operated on a nonprofit basis.
(h) “Group home” means a nondetention privately operated residential
home, organized and operated on a nonprofit basis only, of any capacity, or a nondetention licensed residential care home operated by the County of San Mateo with a capacity of up to 25 beds, that provides services in a group setting to children in need of care and supervision, as required by paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 1502 of the Health and Safety Code.
(i) “Periodic review” means review of a child’s status by the juvenile court or by an administrative review panel, that shall include a consideration of the safety of the child, a determination of the continuing need for placement in foster care, evaluation of the goals for the placement and the progress toward meeting these goals, and development of a target date for the child’s return home or establishment of alternative permanent placement.
(j) “Permanency planning hearing” means a hearing conducted by the
juvenile court in which the child’s future status, including whether the child shall be returned home or another permanent plan shall be developed, is determined.
(k) “Placement and care” refers to the responsibility for the welfare of a child vested in an agency or organization by virtue of the agency or organization having (1) been delegated care, custody, and control of a child by the juvenile court, (2) taken responsibility, pursuant to a relinquishment or termination of parental rights on a child, (3) taken the responsibility of supervising a child detained by the juvenile court pursuant to Section 319 or 636, or (4) signed a voluntary placement agreement for the child’s placement; or to the responsibility designated to an individual by virtue of his or her being appointed the child’s legal guardian.
(l) “Preplacement preventive services” means services that are
designed to help children remain with their families by preventing or eliminating the need for removal.
(m) “Relative” means an adult who is related to the child by blood, adoption, or affinity within the fifth degree of kinship, including stepparents, stepsiblings, and all relatives whose status is preceded by the words “great,” “great-great,” or “grand” or the spouse of any of these persons even if the marriage was terminated by death or dissolution.
(n) “Nonrelative extended family member” means an adult caregiver who has an established familial or mentoring relationship with the child, as described in Section 362.7.
(o) “Voluntary placement” means an out-of-home placement of a child by (1) the county welfare department after the parents or guardians have requested the assistance of the county welfare department
and have signed a voluntary placement agreement; or (2) the county welfare department licensed public or private adoption agency, or the department acting as an adoption agency, after the parents have requested the assistance of either the county welfare department, the licensed public or private adoption agency, or the department acting as an adoption agency for the purpose of adoption planning, and have signed a voluntary placement agreement.
(p) “Voluntary placement agreement” means a written agreement between either the county welfare department, a licensed public or private adoption agency, or the department acting as an adoption agency, and the parents or guardians of a child that specifies, at a minimum, the following:
(1) The legal status of the child.
(2) The rights and obligations of the parents or
guardians, the child, and the agency in which the child is placed.
(q) “Original placement date” means the most recent date on which the court detained a child and ordered an agency to be responsible for supervising the child or the date on which an agency assumed responsibility for a child due to termination of parental rights, relinquishment, or voluntary placement.
(r) “Transitional housing placement facility” means either of the following:
(1) A community care facility licensed by the State Department of Social Services pursuant to Section 1559.110 of the Health and Safety Code to provide transitional housing opportunities to persons at least 16 years of age, and not more than 18 years of age unless they satisfy the requirements of Section 11403, who are in out-of-home placement under the supervision of the
county department of social services or the county probation department, and who are participating in an independent living program.
(2) A facility certified to provide transitional housing services pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 1559.110 of the Health and Safety Code.
(s) “Transitional housing placement program” means a program that provides supervised housing opportunities to eligible youth pursuant to Article 4 (commencing with Section 16522) of Chapter 5 of Part 4.
(t) “Crisis nursery” means a facility licensed to provide short-term, 24-hour nonmedical residential care and supervision for children under six years of age who are either voluntarily placed for temporary care by a parent or legal guardian due to a family crisis or stressful situation for no more than 30 days or, except as provided in
subdivision (e) of Section 1516 of the Health and Safety Code, who are temporarily placed by a county child welfare service agency for no more than 14 days.
(u) “Whole family foster home” means a family home, approved relative caregiver or nonrelative extended family member’s home, or certified family home that provides foster care for a minor parent and his or her child, and is specifically recruited and trained to assist the minor parent in developing the skills necessary to provide a safe, stable, and permanent home for his or her child. The child of the minor parent need not be the subject of a petition filed pursuant to Section 300 to qualify for placement in a whole family foster home.
(v) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2008, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before January
1, 2008, deletes or extends that date.