case plan
(1) The term “case plan” means a written document which meets the requirements of section 675a of this title and includes at least the following: (A) A description of the type of home or institution in which a child is to be placed, including a discussion of the safety and appropriateness of the placement and how the agency which is responsible for the child plans to carry out the voluntary placement agreement entered into or judicial determination made with respect to the child in accordance with section 672(a)(1) of this title. (B) A plan for assuring that the child receives safe and proper care and that services are provided to the parents, child, and foster parents in order to improve the conditions in the parents’ home, facilitate return of the child to his own safe home or the permanent placement of the child, and address the needs of the child while in foster care, including a discussion of the appropriateness of the services that have been provided to the child under the plan. With respect to a child who has attained 14 years of age, the plan developed for the child in accordance with this paragraph, and any revision or addition to the plan, shall be developed in consultation with the child and, at the option of the child, with up to 2 members of the case planning team who are chosen by the child and who are not a foster parent of, or caseworker for, the child. A State may reject an individual selected by a child to be a member of the case planning team at any time if the State has good cause to believe that the individual would not act in the best interests of the child. One individual selected by a child to be a member of the child’s case planning team may be designated to be the child’s advisor and, as necessary, advocate, with respect to the application of the reasonable and prudent parent standard to the child. (C) The health and education records of the child, including the most recent information available regarding— (i) the names and addresses of the child’s health and educational providers; (ii) the child’s grade level performance; (iii) the child’s school record; (iv) a record of the child’s immunizations; (v) the child’s known medical problems; (vi) the child’s medications; and (vii) any other relevant health and education information concerning the child determined to be appropriate by the State agency. (D) For a child who has attained 14 years of age or over, a written description of the programs and services which will help such child prepare for the transition from foster care to a successful adulthood. (E) In the case of a child with respect to whom the permanency plan is adoption or placement in another permanent home, documentation of the steps the agency is taking to find an adoptive family or other permanent living arrangement for the child, to place the child with an adoptive family, a fit and willing relative, a legal guardian, or in another planned permanent living arrangement, and to finalize the adoption or legal guardianship. At a minimum, such documentation shall include child specific recruitment efforts such as the use of State, regional, and national adoption exchanges including electronic exchange systems to facilitate orderly and timely in-State and interstate placements. (F) In the case of a child with respect to whom the permanency plan is placement with a relative and receipt of kinship guardianship assistance payments under section 673(d) of this title , a description of— (i) the steps that the agency has taken to determine that it is not appropriate for the child to be returned home or adopted; (ii) the reasons for any separation of siblings during placement; (iii) the reasons why a permanent placement with a fit and willing relative through a kinship guardianship assistance arrangement is in the child’s best interests; (iv) the ways in which the child meets the eligibility requirements for a kinship guardianship assistance payment; (v) the efforts the agency has made to discuss adoption by the child’s relative foster parent as a more permanent alternative to legal guardianship and, in the case of a relative foster parent who has chosen not to pursue adoption, documentation of the reasons therefor; and (vi) the efforts made by the State agency to discuss with the child’s parent or parents the kinship guardianship assistance arrangement, or the reasons why the efforts were not made. (G) A plan for ensuring the educational stability of the child while in foster care, including— (i) assurances that each placement of the child in foster care takes into account the appropriateness of the current educational setting and the proximity to the school in which the child is enrolled at the time of placement; and (ii) (I) an assurance that the State agency has coordinated with appropriate local educational agencies (as defined under section 7801 of title 20 ) to ensure that the child remains in the school in which the child is enrolled at the time of each placement; or (II) if remaining in such school is not in the best interests of the child, assurances by the State agency and the local educational agencies to provide immediate and appropriate enrollment in a new school, with all of the educational records of the child provided to the school.