MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

1997 Regular Session

To: Public Health and Welfare; Appropriations

By: Senator(s) Frazier

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 43-15-5, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES TO CONTRACT WITH "MISSISSIPPI FAMILIES FOR KIDS," A NONPROFIT AGENCY, TO ASSIST IN THE RECRUITMENT OF FOSTER CARE AND ADOPTIVE FAMILIES FOR CHILDREN IN THE CUSTODY OF THE DEPARTMENT, TO AUTHORIZE THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES TO PROVIDE SAID PRIVATE ENTITY WITH ACCESS TO INFORMATION ON SUCH CHILDREN AS WOULD ASSIST IN THE RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION OF FOSTER AND ADOPTIVE PARENTS AS IS IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE CHILD AND TO AUTHORIZE SAID PRIVATE ENTITY TO USE SUCH INFORMATION TO MONITOR THE CHILD'S PROGRESS THROUGH THE FOSTER CARE SYSTEM; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 43-15-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

43-15-5. (1) The State Department of Human Services shall have authority and it shall be its duty to administer or supervise all public child welfare services, including those services, responsibilities, duties and powers with which the county departments of human services are charged and empowered in this chapter; administer and supervise the licensing and inspection of all private child placing agencies; provide for the care of dependent and neglected children in foster family homes or in institutions, supervise the care of such children and those of illegitimate birth; supervise the importation of children; and supervise the operation of all state institutions for children. The State Department of Human Services shall be authorized to purchase hospital and medical insurance coverage for those children placed in foster care by the state or county departments of human services who are not otherwise eligible for medical assistance under the Mississippi Medicaid Law. The State Department of Human Services shall be further authorized to purchase burial or life insurance not exceeding One Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($1,500.00) for those children placed in foster care by the state or county departments of human services. All insurance coverage authorized herein may be purchased with any funds other than state funds available to the State Department of Human Services, including those funds available to the child which are administered by the department.

(2) Any person, partnership, group, corporation, organization or association desiring to operate a child residential home, as defined in Section 43-16-3, may make application for a license for such a facility to the State Department of Human Services on the application forms furnished for this purpose by the department. If an applicant meets the published rules and regulations of the department regarding minimum standards for a child residential home, then the applicant shall be granted a license by the department.

(3) The Department of Human Services is authorized to contract with and enter into necessary information sharing agreements with "Mississippi Families for Kids," a private nonprofit agency organized under the laws of the State Mississippi, in order to assist in the recruitment of suitable foster care and adoptive families for children in the custody of the department. The Department of Human Services is further authorized to provide said private entity with access to biographical and other information on such children as is necessary to assist in the recruitment and selection of foster and adoptive parents for such children as is in their best interest. The department is further authorized to provide said private entity with continued access to information regarding such children as is necessary to monitor the child's or children's progress through the foster care system. The department shall promulgate regulations necessary to protect the confidentiality of the children in the custody of the department under such agreement with the private entity, and to ensure that any such agreement ensures that timely and quality services are being provided to families and children served by the department's foster care and adoption program.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 1997.