ORS 418.312: When transfer of custody not required; voluntary placement of children; judicial review of placement.

(1) The Department of Human Services may not require any parent or legal guardian to transfer legal custody of a child in order to have the child placed in a child-caring agency under ORS 418.205 to 418.327, 418.470, 418.475, 418.480 to 418.500, 418.950 to 418.970 and 418.992 to 418.998 in a foster home, group home or institutional child care setting, when the sole reason for the placement is the need to obtain services for the child’s emotional, behavioral or mental disorder or developmental or physical disability. In all such cases, the child shall be placed pursuant to a voluntary placement agreement. When a child is placed pursuant to a voluntary placement agreement, the department shall have responsibility for the child’s placement and care. (2) If a child is placed pursuant to a voluntary placement agreement in a qualified residential treatment program as described in ORS 418.323, the placement is subject to judicial approval under ORS 419B.351. (3)(a) When a child is placed pursuant to a voluntary placement agreement, the department shall make inquiries, as described in ORS 419B.636 (2), to determine whether the department has reason to know that the child is an Indian child. (b) If the department has reason to know that the child is an Indian child, the placement agreement must be executed in person before the juvenile court, consistent with this subsection, and the placement must be approved by the court. (c) At a hearing, the juvenile court shall explain to the Indian child’s parent or Indian custodian, on the record in detail and in the language of the parent or Indian custodian, the parent’s right to legal counsel, the terms and consequences of the voluntary placement agreement, including that if the Indian child remains in custody for more than 12 months, the court will hold a permanency hearing that could eventually result in the termination of parental rights, and the court must inform the parent or Indian custodian that the voluntary placement agreement may be revoked at any time prior to an entry of a final decree of termination of parental rights and have the child returned to the parent’s custody. The parent or Indian custodian must execute the voluntary placement agreement before the court. The parent or Indian custodian shall file the voluntary placement agreement with the court. The court shall certify that the court provided the explanation consistent with the requirements under this paragraph and that the parent or Indian custodian fully understood the explanation. (d) The juvenile court may approve the voluntary placement agreement if: (A) The court finds that the Indian child’s parent or Indian custodian entered into the voluntary placement agreement without a threat of removal by the Department of Human Services or an Oregon licensed adoption agency; and (B) The proposed placement conforms with the placement preferences described in ORS 419B.654. (e) An Indian child’s parent or Indian custodian may terminate the voluntary placement agreement at any time prior to an entry of an order terminating parental rights. To terminate the voluntary placement agreement, the parent or Indian custodian must file a written notice of termination with the juvenile court or otherwise testify before the court. The court shall promptly notify the department of the termination and order the immediate return of the Indian child to the physical custody of the Indian child’s parent or Indian custodian. (4)(a) If a child remains in voluntary placement for more than 180 days, the juvenile court shall make a judicial determination, within the first 180 days of the placement, that the placement is in the best interests of the child. (b) If a child remains in voluntary placement for more than 12 months, the juvenile court shall hold a permanency hearing as provided in ORS 419B.476 no later than 14 months after the child’s original voluntary placement, and not less frequently than once every 12 months thereafter during the continuation of the child’s original voluntary placement, to determine the future status of the child. (5) As used in this section, “voluntary placement agreement” means a binding, written agreement between the department and the parent or legal guardian of a minor child that does not transfer legal custody to the department but that specifies, at a minimum, the legal status of the child and the rights and obligations of the parent or legal guardian, the child and the department while the child is in placement. [1979 c.746 §1; 1993 c.348 §1; 1995 c.79 §213; 1999 c.59 §113; 2001 c.686 §6; 2016 c.106 §22; 2019 c.619 §9; 2020 s.s.1 c.14 §53; 2020 s.s.1 c.19 §§16a,16b; 2021 c.398 §53]