Title 50, Public Welfare

1. Except as provided in subsections 2, 3, and 4, the state agency, in its administration of the temporary assistance for needy families program, shall: a. Provide assistance to otherwise eligible pregnant women; b. Except as provided in subdivision c, afford eligible households …

The recorder and secretary of state may not charge or collect any fee otherwise prescribed by law from a state or human service zone engaged in the establishment of paternity or the establishment, modification, or enforcement of child support orders.

1. The state agency shall: a. Inform all temporary assistance for needy families applicants and recipients of the options available under the domestic violence option; b. Screen all applicants to determine who are past or present victims of domestic violence or at risk of further…

All federal funds and other income generated by the state agency under a cooperative agreement with an Indian tribe for child support enforcement services are appropriated on a continuing basis for the sole purpose of hiring additional staff and payment of other expenses as neces…

1. The state agency, directly or through agents, may issue an order requiring an income payer to deduct the amount identified in the order from the portion of any lump sum payment to an obligor that has been withheld under section 14-09-09.34. 2. The state agency, directly or thr…

Except as authorized by the obligor, the state agency shall hold any funds collected under section 28-21-05.2, 50-09-35, or 50-09-40 and may not disburse the funds as a collection of child support until the time has expired for requesting a review by a court under section 50-09-1…

An insurer as defined in section 26.1-36.5-01 shall exchange health insurance information with the state agency for the purpose of establishing or enforcing a medical support obligation. An insurer shall provide the health insurance information required in this section to the sta…

The state agency shall establish a program of transition assistance to pay a portion of the cost of child care for families that lose eligibility, and remain ineligible, for benefits under section 50-09-29 due to earnings from employment. This program must: 1. Provide benefits fo…

The state agency may employ attorneys to carry out its duties in administering the child support enforcement and medical support enforcement programs. Any attorney who represents the state agency under this chapter must be a special assistant attorney general appointed by the att…

Before a gaming operator makes a payment of winnings for which the gaming operator is required to file an internal revenue service form W-2G or substantially equivalent form, the gaming operator shall obtain the name, address, and social security number of the winner and submit t…

As used in this chapter: 1. "Agency foster home for adults" means a residential home in which foster care for adults is regularly provided by professional staff trained to provide services to older adults or adults with a disability, to four or fewer adults who are not related by…

1. A person may not furnish foster care for children for more than thirty days during a calendar year without first procuring a license, certification, or approval to do so from the department. The mandatory provisions of this section requiring licensure, certification, or approv…

A person may not furnish foster care for adults for more than one adult, or for more than two adults who are related to each other, without first procuring a license to do so from the department. A person may not furnish foster care for an adult if the person has had a license de…

Before initial licensure, or certification and each renewal under this chapter, each family foster home for children shall complete a course of instruction related to fire prevention and safety. The state fire marshal shall design the course in cooperation with the department of …

The department of health and human services shall prescribe self-declaration forms to be completed and signed by each family foster home for children provider before initial licensure or certification and each renewal under this chapter. The self-declaration forms must include re…

1. The department shall grant a license or certification for the operation of a facility receiving persons for foster care, for a period of not more than two years, to reputable and responsible persons upon showing that: a. The premises to be used are in fit sanitary condition an…

Conviction of an offense does not disqualify a person from licensure, certification, or approval under this chapter unless the department determines that the offense has a direct bearing upon that person's ability to serve the public as the operator of a facility or that, followi…

At the discretion of the department, a provisional license, certification, or approval may be issued to an applicant who, or whose facility, fails to conform in all respects to this chapter and the rules of the department. The department may set conditions under which a provision…

Notwithstanding sections 50-11-02 and 50-11-09, the department shall determine the maximum number of licensed qualified residential treatment program bed capacity for children based upon a needs assessment conducted by the department.

1. Except as provided in section 50-11-06.9, the department shall secure from any individual employed by, or providing care in, a facility providing foster care for adults and any adult living in the facility, but not being provided care in the facility, identifying information o…

A record of all children and adults cared for in any facility licensed, certified, or approved under this chapter must be maintained in the manner and form prescribed by the department. The department shall establish reasonable minimum standards, and shall make such reasonable ru…

On or before October 1, 1982, and annually thereafter, the department of health and human services shall attempt to reduce the number of children receiving assistance under title IV-E of the Social Security Act, who have been in foster care for more than twenty-four months, by th…

1. Public funds for the purchase of foster care for children or adults may be used only in facilities licensed, certified, or approved by the department. No person acting on behalf of any state, county, or local governmental entity may arrange for or promote care provided in a fa…

1. The department shall provide liability coverage for acts or omissions of foster children placed in the care of licensed, certified, or approved family foster homes for children. The department may provide this liability coverage through self-insurance. 2. The liability coverag…

A person providing foster care for children in a licensed, certified, or approved facility is immune from civil liability for any act or omission resulting in damage or injury to or by a child in foster care if, at the time of the act or omission, the person providing foster care…

The department shall provide payment to family foster home for children, supervised independent living program, certified family foster home for children, and qualified residential treatment program for children providers using an automated clearinghouse to provide for electronic…

1. As used in this section: a. "Respite care provider" means an individual enrolled as a qualified service provider who provides respite care to private-pay adult residents in the absence of the provider. b. "Substitute caregiver" means an individual who meets qualified service p…

An adult foster care provider may: 1. Employ a temporary assistant as needed to assist with private-pay adult residents that have physical limitations that require more than one provider to properly assist. 2. Use an electronic device for monitoring an otherwise unattended adult …

The department and its authorized agents at any time may inspect any facility licensed, certified, or approved under the provisions of this chapter or with respect to which a license, certification, or approval application has been made, except for approved family foster homes fo…

After each inspection or reinspection, the department shall mail or deliver any correction order or notice of noncompliance to the facility.

Whenever the department determines that the facility is not in compliance with this chapter, or the rules adopted thereunder, a notice of license, certification, or approval denial or revocation or a correction order must be issued to the facility, except for approved family fost…

A facility issued a correction order under section 50-11-04.2 must be inspected at the end of the period allowed for correction. If, upon inspection, it is determined that the facility has not corrected a violation identified in the correction order, a notice of noncompliance wit…

A facility, if issued a notice of noncompliance with a correction order, must be assessed fiscal sanctions in accordance with a schedule of fiscal sanctions established by rule. The fiscal sanction must be assessed for each day the facility remains out of compliance after the all…

A facility must promptly provide written notice to the department when a violation noted in a notice of noncompliance is corrected. Upon receipt of written notice by the department, the daily fiscal sanction assessed for the deficiency must stop accruing. The facility must be pro…

Fiscal sanctions assessed pursuant to this chapter are payable fifteen days after receipt of the notice of noncompliance and at fifteen-day intervals thereafter, as the fiscal sanctions accrue. Recovery of an assessed fiscal sanction must be stayed if the operator makes written r…

Any fiscal sanction collected for any violation of this chapter or of rules adopted pursuant to this chapter must be paid into the state treasury for the general fund after the costs of recovering the fiscal sanction are deducted therefrom.

The records of facilities licensed, certified, or approved under this chapter and the records of the department and its authorized agents, pertaining to the children or adults receiving care, are confidential but may be disclosed: 1. In a judicial proceeding; 2. To officers of th…

No facility licensed under this chapter may be held out as having authority to dispose of any child, advertise children for adoption, or be held out directly or indirectly, as being able to dispose of children, without first being licensed so to do under chapter 50-12.

1. The department may require an identified relative and any adult living in the home of the identified relative to go through a criminal history record investigation pursuant to section 50-11-06.8. 2. If the department requires a criminal history record investigation pursuant to…

A person may not arrange for or promote care provided in a facility for unaccompanied undocumented children unless the facility has a license or approval issued by the department.

1. Whenever requested by any person, organization, corporation, or limited liability company interested in establishing a foster care facility for children or adults, the department shall furnish information concerning the minimum requirements for a facility and concerning the ne…

Except as otherwise provided in this section, an application to the department for a license, certification, or approval required by this chapter to provide foster care to adults or children must be approved or denied within sixty days of its receipt by the department. The depart…

1. Each facility providing foster care for children shall secure, from a law enforcement agency or any other agency authorized to take fingerprints, two sets of fingerprints and shall provide all other information necessary to secure state criminal history record information and …

A criminal history record investigation may not be required, under section 50-11-06.8 or 50-11-02.4, of a foster home for adults licensed or approved on August 1, 1999, for so long as that home remains continuously licensed or approved.

The department may deny or revoke the license or certification of any facility upon proper showing of any of the following: 1. Any of the conditions set forth in section 50-11-02 as prerequisites for the issuance of the license or certification do not exist. 2. The application co…

Before any application for a license or certification under the provisions of this chapter is denied or before revocation of any such license or certification takes place, written charges as to the specific reasons therefor, a copy of the statutes and department rules authorizing…