110 CMR 7.504 - Placement of Out-of-state Children in Educational Institutions

(1) Programs conducted by public or private agencies in which children are placed in family homes incident to their attendance at educational institutions in other states are foster care placements within the meaning of the Interstate Compact, because the home rather than the educational institution provides child care and supervision during the time when the child is not in attendance at the school program.

(2) To facilitate the conduct of such a program, the agency administering it may investigate and prepare reports on the Massachusetts homes in question in advance, and may offer such reports to the Compact Administrator of the Commonwealth as part of the information required in connection with an intended placement, provided that any such report must be current to within six months of the date of its submission.

(3) Any home in which a child is placed or proposed to be placed pursuant to 110 CMR 7.000 shall obtain and maintain such license or approval as a child care or foster home as the laws and regulations of the Commonwealth require. The license or approval must be in full force and effect at the time the sending agency gives notice of the intended placement and at all times during the continuance of the placement. Failure to meet this condition shall be sufficient ground for the Compact Administrator to deny or terminate the placement.

(4) The operator of a program to which 110 CMR 7.504 applies shall:

(a) notify the Compact Administrator of the Commonwealth promptly in writing if the child is returned to his parent's or guardian's home or is sent to another home during the school year.

(b) notify the Compact Administrator of the Commonwealth promptly in writing upon the child's return to his parent's or guardian's home at the end of the school year.

(5) If a child in a program to which 110 CMR 7.000 applies is placed from one home to another the action shall be considered a new placement and shall require the same notifications, furnishing of information and documentation, and receipt of a notice pursuant to Article III (b) of the Compact as an initial placement.

(6) The special procedures of 110 CMR 7.000 shall be available only for programs in which the parents or guardians retain full custodial rights to control (by the giving or withholding of consent or otherwise) the place of abode and participation in the program of the child. Further, this regulation applies only to programs one purpose of which is to afford children educational opportunities but in which residential schools or other residential institutions are not utilized to provide the educational component of the program.

Notes

110 CMR 7.504