Minnesota Session Laws - 1984, Regular Session

  

                         Laws of Minnesota 1984 

                        CHAPTER 606-S.F.No. 992 
           An act relating to welfare; requiring parents of 
          children on probation or parole to pay the costs of 
          foster care; amending Minnesota Statutes 1982, 
          sections 242.19, subdivision 2; and 260.251, 
          subdivision 1. 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
    Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1982, section 242.19, 
subdivision 2, is amended to read:  
    Subd. 2.  [DISPOSITIONS.] When a child has been committed 
to the commissioner of corrections by a juvenile court, upon a 
finding of his delinquency, the commissioner may for the 
purposes of treatment and rehabilitation: 
    (a) order his the child's confinement to the Minnesota 
correctional facility-Red Wing or the Minnesota correctional 
facility-Sauk Centre, which shall accept them the child, or to a 
group foster home under the control of the commissioner of 
corrections, or to private facilities or facilities established 
by law or incorporated under the laws of this state that may 
care for delinquent children; 
    (b) order his the child's release on parole under such 
supervisions and conditions as the commissioner believes 
conducive to law-abiding conduct, treatment and rehabilitation; 
    (c) order reconfinement or renewed parole as often as the 
commissioner believes to be desirable; 
    (d) revoke or modify any order, except an order of 
discharge, as often as he the commissioner believes to be 
desirable; 
    (e) discharge the child from his or her control when he or 
she is satisfied that the child has been rehabilitated and that 
such discharge is consistent with the protection of the public; 
    (f) if the commissioner finds that the child is eligible 
for probation or parole and it appears from the commissioner's 
investigation that conditions in the child's home or guardian 
the guardian's home are not conducive to the child's treatment 
or, rehabilitation, or to his law-abiding conduct, refer the 
child, together with his or her findings, to a county welfare 
board or a licensed child placing agency for placement in a 
foster care or, when appropriate, for initiation of dependency 
or neglect proceedings as provided in sections 260.011 to 
260.301.  The commissioner of corrections shall reimburse county 
welfare boards for foster care costs they incur for the children 
child while on probation or parole to the extent that funds for 
this purpose are made available to the commissioner by the 
legislature.  The juvenile court shall order the parents of a 
child on probation or parole to pay the costs of foster care 
under section 260.251, subdivision 1, according to their ability 
to pay, and to the extent that the commissioner of corrections 
has not reimbursed the county welfare board.  
    Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1982, section 260.251, 
subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
    Subdivision 1.  [CARE, EXAMINATION, OR TREATMENT.] (a) 
Except where parental rights are terminated, 
    (1) whenever legal custody of a child is transferred by the 
court to a county welfare board, or when 
    (2) whenever legal custody is transferred to a person other 
than the county welfare board, but under the supervision of the 
county welfare board, or whenever the child is placed by the 
court with someone other than its parents pursuant to section 
260.175, clauses (a), (b), or (c), or 
    (3) whenever a minor child is given physical or mental 
examinations or treatment under order of the court, and 
no provision is otherwise made by law for payment for the care, 
examination, or treatment of the minor child, these costs are a 
charge upon the welfare funds of the county in which proceedings 
are held upon certification of the judge of juvenile court. 
   (b) The court shall order the parents or custodian of a 
child, while the child is under the age of 18, to use the total 
income and resources attributable to the child for the period in 
which he or she receives care, examination, or treatment, except 
for clothing and personal needs allowance as provided in section 
256B.35, to reimburse the county for the cost of care, 
examination, or treatment.  Income and resources attributable to 
the child include, but are not limited to, social security 
benefits, supplemental security income (SSI), veterans benefits, 
railroad retirement benefits and child support.  When the child 
is over the age of 18, and continues to receive care, 
examination, or treatment, the court shall order the child to 
reimburse the county for the cost of care, examination, or 
treatment from the income and resources attributable to him or 
her less the clothing and personal needs allowance.  
    (c) If the income and resources attributable to the child 
are not enough to reimburse the county for the full cost of the 
care, examination, or treatment, the court may shall inquire 
into the ability of the parents to support the minor child and, 
after giving the parents a reasonable opportunity to be heard, 
may shall order the parents to pay reimburse the county, in the 
manner and to whom the court may direct, such sums as will cover 
in whole or in part the cost of care, examination, or treatment 
of the minor child. 
    (d) The court shall order the amount of reimbursement 
attributable to the parents or custodian, or attributable to the 
child, or attributable to both sources, withheld under chapter 
518 from the income of the parents or the custodian of the 
child.  If the parents fail a parent or the custodian or the 
child over the age of 18 fails to pay this sum without good 
reason, they he or she may be proceeded against for contempt, or 
the court may inform the county attorney, who shall proceed 
against the parents any of them to collect the unpaid sums, or 
both procedures may be used. 
    Approved May 2, 1984