Extension of Foster Care Beyond Age 18 - North Dakota
Availability of Foster Care to Age 21
Citation: Cent. Code § 27-20-30.1
For the purposes of this section, the term 'child' means an individual between the ages of 18 and 21 who needs continued foster care services.
If a child needs continued foster care services, as determined by the Department of Health and Human Services and as set forth in a continued foster care agreement, the court shall make the following judicial determination:
- That the child is not deprived, delinquent, or unruly but needs continued foster care services
- That it is in the best interests of the child to remain in or return to foster care
- That reasonable efforts were made to meet the child's needs before a foster care placement for a child remaining in care for continued foster care purposes
- That the administrative county, as determined by the department, or an agency or Tribal council of a recognized Indian reservation in North Dakota shall continue foster care case management, unless otherwise agreed to or required by the department
- That the administrative county or an agency or Tribal council of a recognized Indian reservation in North Dakota must have care and placement responsibility of the child
Requirements for Remaining in Placement
Citation: Cent. Code § 27-20-30.1
A child may remain in or return to foster care if the child meets the following criteria:
- Is age 18 or older but is younger than age 21
- Has satisfied the education, employment, or disability requirements under the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 (P. L. 110-351) and as set forth by the department
Placement Agreements
Citation: Cent. Code § 27-20-30.1
A child may remain in or return to foster care pursuant to a continued foster care agreement. The continued foster care agreement must be willfully entered into between the following:
- The department or its agent, the child, and the foster care provider
- An agency or Tribal council of a recognized Indian reservation in North Dakota (if the child is not subject to the jurisdiction of the State of North Dakota), the child, and the foster care provider
Transition Supports Provided
Citation: Cent. Code § 50-06-34; Admin. Code § 75-03-37-02
The department shall develop a program for services to transition-aged youth at risk. For the purposes of this section, 'transition-aged youth' means children and young adults at risk due to any of the following:
- Deprivation or other activities resulting in youth being involved with the foster care or juvenile justice system
- Serious mental illness or serious disabilities that do not qualify the youth for developmental disabilities program management
- Suicidal tendencies
Services to youth under the program must include the following:
- Individualized assessments to determine the needs and appropriate services to individual transition-aged youth at risk
- A single plan of care to coordinate services among available service systems, emphasizing existing case management resources
- Independent living skills, including self-advocacy training
- Enhanced or extended vocational rehabilitation, including transition from education to employment and from secondary education to higher education
- In-home support, including mentors, individual and family training, and access to respite care
Services to an individual youth must be appropriate to that individual and need not include all services of the program.
In regulation: Transition-aged youth at risk ages 14-24 are eligible for participation in the transition-aged youth at risk program. Services to an individual youth must be appropriate to that youth and do not need to include all services of the program. The department shall provide the services. In addition to the preceding services, the services available under this program include the following:
- Substance abuse assessment and treatment
- Psychological and psychiatric evaluation and treatment
- Individual, group, and family therapy services
- Case aide services
- Crisis residential services