2020 Second Extraordinary Session ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 48
BY SENATORS MIZELL, ABRAHAM, ALLAIN, BARROW, BERNARD, CATHEY,
CLOUD, CONNICK, CORTEZ, FESI, FIELDS, HARRIS, HENSGENS,
HEWITT, JACKSON, LAMBERT, MCMATH, FRED MILLS,
ROBERT MILLS, MORRIS, PEACOCK, POPE, SMITH, TARVER,
WARD AND WOMACK
A RESOLUTION
To direct the Department of Children and Family Services to comply with Senate Resolution
52 of the 2020 First Extraordinary Session and report to the legislature on the impact
and success of the department's guidelines on care setting decision making for
children under age six.
WHEREAS, the Senate adopted Senate Resolution 52 of the 2020 First Extraordinary
Session on June 30, 2020, requesting the Department of Children and Family Services to
provide certain information regarding the foster care program and implementation and
application of Document 6-305, entitled Guidelines for Care Setting Decision Making for
Children under Age Six; and
WHEREAS, Senate Resolution 52 asked for the requested information no later than
October 1, 2020; and
WHEREAS, having not received the information by the date requested, the Senate
Committee on Health and Welfare included on its October 14, 2020, agenda, Presentation
by the Department of Children and Family Services regarding SR52 of the 2020 1st
Extraordinary Session; and
WHEREAS, after the agenda posted the Department of Children and Family Services
provided multiple reasons why they would not attend the hearing, including a written
correspondence received the morning of the hearing that stated in part, "Senate Resolution
52 was introduced and passed on June 30, 2020, the last day of the 2020 First Extraordinary
Session. The Department was not aware of its introduction or passage." SR 52 states that,
a copy of the Resolution shall be transmitted to the secretary of the Department of Children
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and Family Services". The Resolution was not transmitted; and
WHEREAS, Senate records indicate that a courtesy copy of the Resolution was
transmitted to the secretary on July 2, 2020; and
WHEREAS, regardless of whether the Resolution was transmitted or not,
Resolutions adopted by the legislature are effective once adopted; the transmittal referenced
and provided for in the Resolution is merely a courtesy copy; and
WHEREAS, the expectation of the Senate is that when a Resolution is adopted it will
be adhered to by an agency and that when a committee with oversight authority over a state
agency requests their presence for a hearing, the agency will send an appropriate
representative with subject matter expertise; and
WHEREAS, it was to the dismay of the chairman and members of the Committee
on Health and Welfare that not a single representative from the Department of Children and
Family Services willingly appeared before the committee to discuss the most important issue
of foster child care; and
WHEREAS, it was only after members of the committee vocally expressed their
frustration that the department made an appearance; and
WHEREAS, upon arrival the secretary would not answer direct questions about the
foster care program that her agency administers, including those covered by Document
6-305, under the assertion that she was prevented from doing so as a result of pending
litigation; and
WHEREAS, the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare was not seeking
information relative to the pending litigation, but rather about the administration of the foster
care program, and after a communication impasse and moment of silence the committee "hit
the reset button" and adjourned with the expectation that the data will be provided and a
future hearing will be held; and
WHEREAS, the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare is committed to exercising
its oversight authority on this matter and better understanding the current state of the
department administered foster care program completely irrespective of the litigation
pending against the department; and
WHEREAS, the first step in that process is collection of the data requested in Senate
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Resolution 52 followed by a thorough hearing in which the department attends and
participates; and
WHEREAS, since there has been no progress on this request since Senate Resolution
52 was adopted on June 30, 2020, the Senate now sees fit to direct the Department of
Children and Family Services to cooperate on this matter.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby direct the Department of Children and Family Services to comply with Senate
Resolution 52 of the 2020 First Extraordinary Session and report to the legislature on the
impact and success of the department's guidelines on care setting decision making for
children under age six.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the department shall address all of the following
with regard to Document 6-305, entitled Guidelines for Care Setting Decision Making for
Children under Age Six, with an effective date of March 15, 2019, in the report requested
by this Resolution:
(1)(a)How many children under the age of six years were moved after a minimum
of six to eight months in placement since March 15, 2019, and for what
reason?
(b)In how many of those cases were mental health professionals consulted and
what did they recommend?
(c)What evidence can the department provide about the proportion of cases in
which the stability of placement was weighed more than biological
relationships and the proportion of cases in which biological relationships
were weighed more than the stability of placement?
(2)How does the department train its employees with regard to application of
the guidelines?
(3)How many families and children have been impacted by the implementation
of the guidelines and what were the outcomes?
(4)Does the department universally support and operate pursuant to the
guidelines and in what circumstances will the department vary from the
guidelines?
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BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the department shall not be required to provide
any confidential, personally identifiable, or otherwise sensitive information in the report
submitted pursuant to this Resolution.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the department shall submit the report requested
by this Resolution no later than December 1, 2020.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
secretary of the Department of Children and Family Services.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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