§ 9-28-411 - Foster children and educational issues. - Arkansas Statutes

9-28-411. Foster children and educational issues.

(a) The Department of Human Services and the local school districts shall work together for the best interest of any child placed in the custody of the department.

(b) By the next business day after the department exercises a seventy-two-hour hold on a child or a court places custody of a child with the department, the department shall inform the child's current school regardless of whether the child remains in the current school that:

(1) The department has exercised a seventy-two-hour hold on the child; or

(2) The court has placed custody of the child with the department.

(c) By the next business day after a foster child transfers to a new placement, the department shall notify the child's current school that the foster child has transferred to a new placement.

(d) By the next business day after the department comes to reasonably believe that a foster child has experienced a traumatic event, the department may notify the child's school counselor that the department reasonably believes that the foster child has experienced a traumatic event.

(e) By the next business day after the department knows through an investigation or any ongoing protective services case that a foster child has experienced a traumatic event, the department may notify the child's school counselor of the traumatic event that the department has knowledge of through an investigation or an ongoing protective services case.

(f) When appropriate, the school counselor may share with the principal and the child's teachers any information reported to the counselor under subsection (d) or subsection (e) of this section.

(g) (1) For a child in the custody of the department, the department or its designee, who may be a foster parent, shall be the decision maker for all general educational matters for the child, subject to limitation only by the court having jurisdiction of the custody matter.

(2) For education matters under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq., a foster parent may be the decision maker for a child in the custody of the department.