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20-82-211. Child Welfare Ombudsman Division — Creation — Powers and duties.
Arkansas Code — all titles (historical 2020) · legal_authorities
20-82-211. Child Welfare Ombudsman Division — Creation — Powers and duties.
(a)(1) There is created within the Arkansas Child Abuse/Rape/Domestic Violence Commission the Child Welfare Ombudsman Division.
(2) The Executive Director of the Arkansas Child Abuse/Rape/Domestic Violence Commission shall:
(A) Hire a Child Welfare Ombudsman; and
(B) Supervise the Child Welfare Ombudsman.
(3) The Child Welfare Ombudsman shall not be supervised by the members of the Arkansas Child Abuse/Rape/Domestic Violence Commission.
(4) The minimum qualifications for the Child Welfare Ombudsman shall include:
(A) A master's degree in:
(i) Social work;
(ii) Psychology; or
(iii) A related field; or
(B) Comparable experience in one (1) or more programs that serve juveniles and families who are involved in dependency-neglect proceedings.
(5) The Child Welfare Ombudsman shall have the following powers and duties:
(A) The duty to work independently of the:
(i) Department of Human Services;
(ii) Administrative Office of the Courts;
(iii) Commission for Parent Counsel;
(iv) Attorney Ad Litem Program;
(v) Arkansas Public Defender Commission; and
(vi) Arkansas Court Appointed Special Advocates program;
(B) The duty to communicate with a:
(i) Juvenile after the approval of, and subject to the conditions set by, the:
(a) Dependency-neglect attorney ad litem appointed to the juvenile; or
(b) Attorney for the juvenile if the juvenile has an attorney other than a dependency-neglect attorney ad litem; and
(ii) Parent of a juvenile after the approval of, and subject to the conditions set by, the attorney for the parent if the parent has an attorney;
(C) The authority to access a record as allowed by law;
(D) The duty to review and recommend necessary change
Source: Arkansas Code — historical release 78 (November 6, 2020) · 20-82-211
Stored review status: Historical 2020-11-06 source release; later amendments not reconciled; machine-extracted, not independently legally reviewed; source heading status: text_in_historical_source. A text match is a research starting point; applicability is not established.
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Stable record: arkansas_code:legal_authorities:20-82-211
Source file: gov.ar.code.title.20.odt
Pages: Not recorded – Not recorded
Passage SHA-256: 6551053b829edad063220c7caffe44d473116fa8ee53217e7a30f80d40cc747d
Source location: content.xml paragraph 41131
Stored source content
20-82-211. Child Welfare Ombudsman Division — Creation — Powers and duties.
(a)(1) There is created within the Arkansas Child Abuse/Rape/Domestic Violence Commission the Child Welfare Ombudsman Division.
(2) The Executive Director of the Arkansas Child Abuse/Rape/Domestic Violence Commission shall:
(A) Hire a Child Welfare Ombudsman; and
(B) Supervise the Child Welfare Ombudsman.
(3) The Child Welfare Ombudsman shall not be supervised by the members of the Arkansas Child Abuse/Rape/Domestic Violence Commission.
(4) The minimum qualifications for the Child Welfare Ombudsman shall include:
(A) A master's degree in:
(i) Social work;
(ii) Psychology; or
(iii) A related field; or
(B) Comparable experience in one (1) or more programs that serve juveniles and families who are involved in dependency-neglect proceedings.
(5) The Child Welfare Ombudsman shall have the following powers and duties:
(A) The duty to work independently of the:
(i) Department of Human Services;
(ii) Administrative Office of the Courts;
(iii) Commission for Parent Counsel;
(iv) Attorney Ad Litem Program;
(v) Arkansas Public Defender Commission; and
(vi) Arkansas Court Appointed Special Advocates program;
(B) The duty to communicate with a:
(i) Juvenile after the approval of, and subject to the conditions set by, the:
(a) Dependency-neglect attorney ad litem appointed to the juvenile; or
(b) Attorney for the juvenile if the juvenile has an attorney other than a dependency-neglect attorney ad litem; and
(ii) Parent of a juvenile after the approval of, and subject to the conditions set by, the attorney for the parent if the parent has an attorney;
(C) The authority to access a record as allowed by law;
(D) The duty to review and recommend necessary changes to procedures under the Arkansas Juvenile Code of 1989, § 9-27-301 et seq., the Child Maltreatment Act, § 12-18-101 et seq., and other laws relevant to the operation of the child welfare system that are applicable to the:
(i) Department of Human Services;
(ii) Division of Arkansas State Police;
(iii) Administrative Office of the Courts;
(iv) Attorney Ad Litem Program;
(v) Commission for Parent Counsel;
(vi) Arkansas Public Defender Commission; and
(vii) Arkansas Court Appointed Special Advocates program;
(E) The duty to review an issue or concern related to a court case or investigation of a juvenile if it appears that the juvenile, parent of the juvenile, foster parent of the juvenile, relative of the juvenile, or fictive kin of the juvenile may need assistance from the child welfare ombudsman;
(F) The duty to provide training and technical assistance if a request is received from:
(i) A member of the child welfare system;
(ii) The General Assembly; or
(iii) The office of the Governor;
(G) The duty to make the public aware of the Child Welfare Ombudsman Division and the contact information for the Child Welfare Ombudsman Division; and
(H)(i) The duty to prepare an annual report concerning the work of the Child Welfare Ombudsman Division, the operation of the child welfare system, and any recommendations related to the operation of the child welfare system.
(ii) The Child Welfare Ombudsman Division shall submit the annual report to the:
(a) Governor;
(b) Secretary of the Department of Human Services;
(c) Director of the Division of Arkansas State Police;
(d) Director of the Division of Children and Family Services;
(e) Director of the Administrative Office of the Courts;
(f) Commission for Parent Counsel;
(g) House Committee on Aging, Children and Youth, Legislative and Military Affairs; and
(h) Senate Interim Committee on Children and Youth.
(iii) The annual report shall not contain information that would identify a juvenile or the family of a juvenile.
(b) As used in this section, “juvenile” means a juvenile as defined in § 9-27-303 who is:
(1) A respondent in a dependency-neglect proceeding held under the Arkansas Juvenile Code of 1989, § 9-27-301 et seq.; or
(2) The subject of a child maltreatment investigation under the Child Maltreatment Act, § 12-18-101 et seq.
(c) A record maintained by the Child Welfare Ombudsman Division that pertains to a court case or investigation of a juvenile who is the subject of work performed by the Child Welfare Ombudsman Division is confidential and shall not be disclosed except as permitted under § 9-28-407.
Cross-references
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Arkansas Code — all titles (historical 2020) · legal_authorities
12-18-101. Title.
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Child Maltreatment Act”.
Source: Arkansas Code — historical release 78 (November 6, 2020) · 12-18-101
Stored review status: Historical 2020-11-06 source release; later amendments not reconciled; machine-extracted, not independently legally reviewed; source heading status: text_in_historical_source. The source passage cites 12-18-101. This identifies an authority to review, not proof of applicability.
Arkansas Code — all titles (historical 2020) · legal_authorities
9-27-301. Title.
This subchapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Arkansas Juvenile Code of 1989”.
Source: Arkansas Code — historical release 78 (November 6, 2020) · 9-27-301
Stored review status: Historical 2020-11-06 source release; later amendments not reconciled; machine-extracted, not independently legally reviewed; source heading status: text_in_historical_source. The source passage cites 9-27-301. This identifies an authority to review, not proof of applicability.
Arkansas Code — all titles (historical 2020) · legal_authorities
9-27-303. Definitions.
As used in this subchapter:
(1) “Abandoned infant” means a juvenile less than nine (9) months of age whose parent, guardian, or custodian left the child alone or in the possession of another person without identifying information or with an expression of intent by words, actions, or omissions not to return for the infant;
(2)(A) “Abandonment” means:
(i) The failure of the parent to provide reasonable support for a juvenile and to maintain regular contact with a juvenile through statement or contact when the failure is accompanied by an intention on the part of the parent to permit the condition to continue for an indefinite period in the future;
(ii) The failure of a parent to support or maintain regular contact with a child without just cause; or
(iii) An articulated intent to forego parental responsibility.
(B) “Abandonment” does not include a situation in which a child has disrupted his or her adoption and the adoptive parent has exhausted the available resources;
(3)(A) “Abuse” means any of the following acts or omissions by a parent, guardian, custodian, foster parent, person eighteen (18) years of age or older living in the home with a child, whether related or unrelated to the child, or any person who is entrusted with the juvenile's care by a parent, guardian, custodian, or foster parent, including, but not limited to, an agent or employee of a public or private residential home, childcare facility, public or private school, or any person legally responsible for the juvenile's welfare:
(i) Extreme or repeated cruelty to a juvenile;
(ii) Engaging in conduct creating a realistic and serious threat of death, permanent or temporary disfigurement, or impairment of any bodily organ;
(iii) Injury to a juvenile's intellectual,
Source: Arkansas Code — historical release 78 (November 6, 2020) · 9-27-303
Stored review status: Historical 2020-11-06 source release; later amendments not reconciled; machine-extracted, not independently legally reviewed; source heading status: text_in_historical_source. The source passage cites 9-27-303. This identifies an authority to review, not proof of applicability.
Arkansas Code — all titles (historical 2020) · legal_authorities
9-28-407. Licenses required and issued.
(a)(1) It shall be unlawful for any person, partnership, group, corporation, association, or other entity or identifiable group of entities having a coordinated ownership of controlling interest to operate or assist in the operation of a child welfare agency that has not been licensed by the Child Welfare Agency Review Board from licensing pursuant to this subchapter.
(2) This license shall be required in addition to any other license required by law for all entities that fit the definition of a child welfare agency and are not specifically exempted, except that no nonpsychiatric residential treatment facility or agency licensed or exempted pursuant to this subchapter shall be deemed to fall within the meaning of § 20-10-101 for any purpose.
(3) Any child welfare agency capacity licensed or permitted by the board as of March 1, 2003, whether held by the original licensee or by a successor in interest to the original licensee, is exempted from:
(A) Obtaining any license or permit from the Office of Long-Term Care;
(B) Obtaining any permit from the Health Services Permit Agency or the Health Services Permit Commission to operate at the capacity licensed by the board as of March 1, 2003; and
(C) Obtaining any permit from the Health Services Permit Agency or the Health Services Permit Commission to operate at any future expanded capacity serving only non-Arkansas residents unless a permit is required by federal law or regulation.
(4) Any further expansion of capacity by a licensee of the board shall require a license or permit from the Office of Long-Term Care and the Health Services Permit Agency unless the bed expansion is exempted under subdivisions (a)(3)(A)-(C) of this section.
(5)(A) Subdivisions (a)(3) and (4)
Source: Arkansas Code — historical release 78 (November 6, 2020) · 9-28-407
Stored review status: Historical 2020-11-06 source release; later amendments not reconciled; machine-extracted, not independently legally reviewed; source heading status: text_in_historical_source. The source passage cites 9-28-407. This identifies an authority to review, not proof of applicability.