Title 42, Title 42 Affairs and Government

(a) The director may, in the director's discretion, admit to the department on a voluntary basis any child who, in the director's opinion, could benefit from any of the services offered in foster care or residential facilities administered by or under contract with, or otherwise …

(a) No child placed or treated under the supervision of the department in any public or private facility shall be deprived of any personal property or civil rights, except in accordance with due process. (b) Each child placed or treated under the supervision of the department in …

There are hereby transferred to the director of children, youth and families: (1) Those functions of the department of human services that were administered through or with respect to the division of community services to include generally and specifically the administration of c…

There are transferred to the director of children, youth and families: (1) Those functions of the department of corrections that were administered through or with respect to the division of youth services and the division of field services to include generally and specifically ju…

No facility or portion of a facility of the “Rhode Island Training School for Youth” shall be located on any portion of the property within the city of Cranston known as the John O. Pastore Center as described in § 22-7.4-34 which is south of Howard Avenue, so called.

(a) The Rhode Island training school shall consist of a youth development center, a youth assessment center, and a female correctional treatment facility. The youth development center and the youth assessment center shall not exceed a maximum daily capacity of one hundred forty-e…

There are transferred to the director of the department of children, youth and families: (1) Those children and youth functions and services of the department of behavioral healthcare, developmental disabilities and hospitals administered through or with respect to the division o…

There are transferred to the director of children, youth and families: (1) Those functions of the department of community affairs that were administered through or with respect to the division of youth development and of all officers, employees, agencies, advisory councils, commi…

The state finds and declares: (1) That parents have the primary responsibility for meeting the needs of their children, and the state has an obligation to help them discharge this responsibility or to assume this responsibility when parents are unable to do so; (2) That the state…

(a) The director of administration, with the approval of the governor, shall make the conclusive determination of the number of positions, personnel, property, records, and appropriation balances, allocations and other funds of the department of human services, department of corr…

In order to insure continuity of the administrative business of the state, the actual transfer of functions, or any part thereof, to the department of children, youth and families from the department of human services, department of corrections, department of behavioral healthcar…

Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, any division or unit or agency within the department of children, youth and families, however entitled or described, may at any time be reorganized, divided, consolidated, abolished, or otherwise reconstituted by the director, with the…

The abolition of any department or transfer of any function as provided in this chapter shall not impair the obligation of any contract or agreement nor abate any suit, action or other proceeding lawfully commenced by or against the head of any agency or officer of the state in h…

All general and public laws affected by this chapter shall be revised, amended, consolidated, and conformed by the law revision office of the joint committee on legislative services. Wherever in general and public laws reference is made to the functions of the department of human…

The department is authorized to cooperate with the appropriate agencies of the federal government, this state or other states, and regional and local agencies in the planning, design and implementation of any programs and facilities necessary to implement this chapter. The depart…

Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the director, assuming any duties formerly imposed upon any other department, division, board, commission, or other agency, shall perform those duties, notwithstanding that they were formerly performed by a board, commission, or singl…

This chapter shall be liberally construed in aid of its declared purposes, the primary purpose of which is the coordination and integration of functions relating to children within one department and the allocation of these functions to the department established by this chapter.

If any provision of this chapter or of any rule or regulation made under this chapter, or the application of this chapter to any person or circumstance, is held invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, the remainder of the chapter, rule, or regulation and the application of …

The general assembly shall annually appropriate any sum or sums as it may deem necessary for the expenses of the department of children, youth and families in the conduct of its activities and in the implementation of the powers, duties, programs, and authorizations embodied in t…

(a) There is a five percent (5%) annual funding increase to provide quality residential programming and treatment for children in out-of-home care to all department of children, youth and families contracted residential providers which will be effective for fiscal years 2001 and …

For the purposes of this chapter: (1) “Advocate” means the child advocate or any of the child advocate's agents, servants, or employees as established pursuant to this title. (2) “Child” or “children” means any person under the age of eighteen (18); provided that children over th…

(a) There is created the family and children trust program. The director may apply for, receive and accept grants, gifts, and bequests from any source, governmental or private, with the approval of the director of administration. Upon receipt of any remittance the director shall …

That building located at the Rhode Island Training School that houses the Training School’s educational program shall hereafter be named and known as the Judge Angelo G. Rossi Memorial Building.

There are transferred to the department of administration: (1) Those functions of the department of children, youth and families that were administered through or with respect to departmental programs in the performance of strategic planning as defined in § 42-11-10(c); (2) All o…

(a) There is created in the department of children, youth and families, the youth diversion program, a community-based program providing outreach and advocacy services to youth between the ages of nine (9) and seventeen (17), who may be the subject of a family court petition or a…

(a) It is the policy of the department not to require a parent to surrender physical possession or custody of his or her minor child or children based solely upon the department’s provisions of services to the family. A surrender shall be determined by the family court or as othe…

The title of this chapter is amended to read “department of children, youth and families”. Wherever in the general laws the words “department for children and their families” appear, they shall be amended to read “department of children, youth and families”.

Effective January 1, 2009, and for any day thereafter, the department’s approved capacity for out-of-home residential placements, excluding foster homes, shall not exceed the total of one thousand (1,000) out-of-home residential placements. The department is authorized to reinves…

On or before October 1, 2016, the department of children, youth and families shall begin to implement a strategy to transition from reliance on congregate-care placements to greater use of foster homes with community-based services for children and families. Said strategy shall e…

On or before October 1, 2016, the department of children, youth and families shall recommend the allocation of existing resources as needed to ensure that those children in need of residential care, including foster homes and support services, receive them in the least-restrictiv…

Annual reports showing progress in residential-care system reform and rebalancing shall be submitted by April 1, 2017, and annually thereafter on or before April 1 of each year by the department to the finance committees of both the senate and the house of representatives and sha…

All grant funds from nonprofit charitable organizations accepted by the department of children, youth and families with formally established agreements with an approved budget for their use shall be deposited as restricted receipts.

(a) The director shall meet the following minimum qualifications: (1) Hold a master’s degree in social work or a closely related field, and have demonstrated experience in child welfare and/or children’s mental health, and/or juvenile justice; and (2) Have at least five (5) years…

(a) The department shall be the principal agency of the state to mobilize the human, physical, and financial resources available to plan, develop, and evaluate a comprehensive and integrated statewide program of services designed to ensure the opportunity for children to reach th…

(a) The foster parent(s) of a child, committed to the department of children, youth and families by the family court, who has had the physical custody of the child for a period of two (2) years or more may petition the family court for the adoption of the child. (b) The court sha…

The departments of children, youth and families (DCYF) and human services (DHS) shall cooperate to develop a design of a continuum of care for children’s behavioral health services that encourages the use of alternative psychiatric and other services to hospitalization and review…

(a)(1) The standards set by the Council on Accreditation (COA) are nationally recognized as best practices for protecting and providing services to abused and neglected children; (2) Achieving and maintaining these standards requires a solid commitment from the legislative, execu…

The director may appoint and may remove any executive directors, deputy directors, and administrators as the director deems advisable; provided, however, that all assistant directors, associate directors, or executive directors shall have a masters degree in social work (M.S.W.) …

(a) There shall be established a central registry within the department responsible for the collection, receipt, dissemination, reporting, and maintenance of all files relating to children under the jurisdiction of this chapter. The central registry will be the main repository fo…

(a) Any records of the department pertaining to children and their families in need of service pursuant to the provisions of this chapter; or for whom an application for services has been made, shall be confidential and only disclosed as provided by law. (b) Records may be disclo…

There shall be established as many regional or local service centers as may be deemed necessary by the director. Factors to be included in the determination are population density, travel time, and degree of correspondence to the geographic jurisdictions of other agencies. Each d…