Section 169-C:27 Liability of Expenses and Hearing on Liability. - New Hampshire Statutes

   I. (a) Whenever an order creating liability for expenses is issued by the court under this chapter or whenever a voluntary service plan is developed and provided for a minor and the minor's family by the department, any expenses incurred for services, placements, and programs the providers of which are certified pursuant to RSA 170-G:4, XVIII, shall be payable by the department of health and human services.
      (b) Subparagraph (a) shall not apply to expenses incurred for special education and related services, or to expenses incurred for evaluation, care, and treatment of the child at the Philbrook center or to expenses incurred for the cost of accompanied transportation.
      (c) The state shall have a right of action over for such expenses against the parents or the people chargeable by law for the child's support and necessities and the right to require parents or other people chargeable by law for the minor's support and necessities to assign to the state any insurance benefits that may be available to pay for all or a portion of the services provided. The department shall request reimbursement for such expenses from parents or people chargeable by law for the minor's support and necessities and shall request assignment to the state of any insurance benefits that may be available to pay for all or a portion of the services provided. The court shall require the individual chargeable by law for the child's support and necessities to submit a financial statement annually to the court upon which the court shall make an order as to reimbursement to the state as may be reasonable and just, based on the person's ability to pay. Such financial statement shall include, but not be limited to, any benefits received from the Social Security Administration or insurance benefits available to the individual. The court shall include disposition of these benefits in its order as to reimbursement. Such reimbursement shall be established on a per month or per week basis and shall continue from the time the services begin until 4 years beyond the time such services end, unless such reimbursement is fully paid prior to the end of the 4-year period. The court's jurisdiction to order reimbursement shall continue until the court-ordered obligation to reimburse has been fulfilled. If the court does not issue a reimbursement order, the court shall issue written findings explaining why such reimbursement is not ordered.
      (d) Liability for placement expenses for any court ordered placement of any minor mother under this chapter shall include liability for placement expenses for the child or children of such minor mother if the minor mother and child or children are placed at the same facility.
      (e) Payments due under this section for the care of children in foster homes shall commence within 60 days of the child's placement in the foster home and shall be made every 30 days thereafter.
      (f) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the department shall have no responsibility for the payment of the cost of assigned counsel for any party under this chapter.
   II. Upon the issuance of the order in paragraph I, the court shall send notice to the state. The state may, within 30 days from receipt of notice, request a hearing on the issues of the cost or appropriateness of services, or recovery. At such hearing, the court shall provide all financial information, including names and addresses of persons chargeable by law for the child's support and necessities, to the state.
   III. The office of reimbursements acting on behalf of Laconia developmental services and the New Hampshire hospital is authorized to compromise or reduce any expense to be charged to the state.
   IV. The department may enter into an agreement with a county to collect, on behalf of the department, payments from persons or entities which are ordered to reimburse the state under paragraph I, or which are chargeable by law for the minor's support and necessities. An agreement may authorize the county to deduct reasonable administrative costs from the amounts collected. The balance of any amounts collected by the county pursuant to this paragraph shall be forwarded to the department.
    V. If the person responsible for paying reimbursements to the department under paragraph IV is financially able to pay such reimbursements but fails to make such payments, the department may apply to the district court for a lien on such person's real or personal property for the amount of reimbursements due.
    VI. (a) For the adoptive parent or prospective adoptive parent of a child in the custody of the state whose birth parents have consented to the adoption, relinquished their parental rights to the department, or the parental rights of whose birth parents were terminated pursuant to a petition brought by the department, authorized agency, or foster parent, pursuant to RSA 170-C:4, the state shall have no right of action against such adoptive parent or prospective adoptive parent for the expenses of services, placements, and programs provided pursuant to RSA 169-B, 169-C, or 169-D after the adoption.
      (b) If the department determines that the adoptive parent has been convicted of sexual or physical abuse of the adopted child pursuant to RSA 631 or 632-A, or the adoptive parent has misappropriated adoption subsidy moneys, the adoptive parent shall be responsible for payment for subsequent services, placements, and programs provided pursuant to RSA 169-B, 169-C, or 169-D after the adoption. A determination of misappropriation is subject to the provisions of RSA 126-A:5, VIII.

Source. 1979, 361:2; 434:81. 1981, 555:2. 1982, 25:3. 1983, 458:5. 1985, 96:6; 380:38. 1987, 402:31, 32. 1988, 107:5; 153:2, 5. 1989, 75:2; 229:2; 286:2. 1990, 3:48; 203:2. 1991, 265:3. 1993, 266:4. 1994, 212:2. 1995, 220:3; 308:72, 73; 310:171, 175, 181, 182. 1996, 286:14, 17. 1997, 305:2. 2001, 93:11, eff. Dec. 19, 2002. 2007, 263:21, eff. July 1, 2008. 2008, 274:33, eff. July 1, 2008. 2009, 144:34, 37, eff. July 1, 2009.