Rule 3.616.Proceeding to Determine Continuation of Voluntary Foster Care Services.

MCR 3.616 creates a short, paper based court proceeding that sits on top of an agreement the parties have already made. Under subrule (A) the rule governs review of all voluntary foster care agreements made under article II of the Young Adult Voluntary Foster Care Act, MCL 400.645 through MCL 400.663. Subrule (B) gives the family division of the circuit court jurisdiction, on the filing of a petition, to review an agreement extending foster care services after age 18. The court is not being asked to place the youth. It is being asked whether staying in voluntary foster care serves the youth's best interests.

A file opened for one purpose

Subrule (C) has the court open a file on the filing of the petition, using the appropriate case classification code referenced in MCR 8.117, and close it once the determination under subrule (F) issues. The file exists for the review and nothing beyond it. Subrule (D) requires the petition and the judicial determination to be on forms approved by the state court administrator, which keeps the paperwork uniform across counties.

The petition

Subrule (E) sets the timing and the contents. Within 150 days after the signing of a voluntary foster care agreement, the Department of Health and Human Services files an ex parte petition in the family division in the county where the youth resides, asking the court to determine that continuing in voluntary foster care is in the youth's best interests. The petition contains:

• the youth's name, date of birth, race, gender, and current address;
• the name, date of birth, and residence address of the youth's parents or legal custodian, if parental rights have not been terminated;
• the name and address of the foster parent or parents;
• a statement that the youth has been notified of the right to request a hearing about continuing in foster care;
• a showing that a court's jurisdiction over the youth's child protective proceeding has been terminated, naming the court and the date; and
• any other information the department, a parent or legal custodian, the youth, or a foster parent wants considered.

A written report prepared under MCL 400.655 and a copy of the signed agreement come with it. The department serves the petition on the youth and on the foster parent or parents, if any.

The determination

Subrule (F) describes a review on the documents. The court reads the petition, the report, and the voluntary foster care agreement, then determines whether continuing in voluntary foster care is in the youth's best interests. The order includes that determination and individualized findings supporting it, based on the department's written report and other information filed with the court. It is signed and dated within 21 days of the filing of the petition, and served on the department, the youth, and the foster parent or parents, if any. The word individualized carries weight here: a form order without findings tied to this youth would not meet the subrule.

Access to the file

Subrule (G) makes the file confidential, with two exceptions built in. The Department of Health and Human Services and the youth are entitled to access to the records the file contains. The rule does not extend that entitlement to anyone else.