52-8-104. Requirements for licensure. - Montana Statutes

     52-8-104. Requirements for licensure. The department may issue licenses to agencies meeting the following minimum requirements:
     (1) The chief function of the agency or a specific program within the agency must be the care and placement of children.
     (2) The agency operates on a nonprofit basis and is financially responsible in and for its operation.
     (3) The agency meets the requirements as designated by the department by rule.
     (4) The directing or managing personnel of the agency must be qualified both on the basis of professional educational experience and character.
     (5) The agency shall maintain complete records of the children and adoptive or foster parents with which the agency deals. Adoption records must be maintained in accordance with 42-6-101.
     (6) The agency shall maintain and use an in-state office for making a social study of the child, particularly with regard to the physical and mental condition of the child and the child's family background.
     (7) The agency shall maintain and use an in-state office for conducting a preplacement evaluation for adoptive parents or a home study for foster parents, particularly with regard to the physical and mental health, emotional stability, and personal integrity of the adoptive or foster parents and their ability to promote the child's welfare.
     (8) The agency must have the ability to provide education for adoptive or foster parents and counseling for placing parents as required in 42-2-409 and department rules.
     (9) The agency shall agree to cooperate with courts having jurisdiction in adoptive or foster care matters and with other public agencies having to deal with the welfare of children.
     (10) The agency shall, annually, submit a full, complete, and true financial statement to the department, and the statement must contain a full accounting of the operations of the agency during the preceding year.

     History: En. Sec. 154, Ch. 480, L. 1997; amd. Sec. 28, Ch. 311, L. 2001; Sec. 42-8-104, MCA 1999; redes. 52-8-104 by Sec. 17(3)(e), Ch. 281, L. 2001.