§ 3130.39. Services and facilities which may be used.
(a) A service or facility used by the county agency to serve children shall be licensed or approved by the appropriate State agency if that service or facility is subject to licensure or approval.
(b) Facilities used by the county agency for the residential care of children shall meet basic State and local requirements for the health and safety of children.
(c) Children who are dependent and not also adjudicated delinquent may not be placed in a facility operated for the benefit of delinquent children.
Notes of Decisions Dependent
Juvenile Court has authority to order county youth services agency to fulfill a duty to give financial support to dependent child, and trial court may enter an order directing agency to fund placement of child in preschool program, although the cost for such would not be reimbursed by Department of Public Welfare. In re Tameka M., 580 A.2d 750 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1990).
Considering the enormous implications of a dependency finding, such a determination can only be made in compliance with statutory requirements regarding dependency determinations and cannot be made by a trial court sua sponte without a petition for dependency having been filed. Fallaro v. Yeager, 528 A.2d 222 (Pa. Super. 1987).
General Comment
The provisions of this section act as a limitation upon the services and facilities which may be used by county agencies. In re Lowry, 464 A.2d 333 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1983).
Judicial Review
In ordering a disposition under 42 Pa.C.S. § 6351 (relating to disposition of dependent child) the Court acts not in the role of adjudicator reviewing the action of an administrative agency, but rather acts under a separate discretionary role with the purpose of meeting the child’s best interests, so the court does have the authority to order the county institution district to place children in homes not yet approved, even though the provisions of this section prohibit the county institution district from doing so on its own initiative, and the Superior Court judgment was reversed. In re Lowry, 484 A.2d 383 (Pa. 1984).
Standing
The Supreme Court concluded that foster parents lacked standing to seek or contest custody of their foster child who had been adjudicated dependent. In re G. C., 735 A.2d 1226 (Pa. 1999).
Because foster parents have neither permanent custody of their foster children nor an expectation of permanent custody, the decision of a legal custodian regarding custody does not cause the type of direct and substantial injury necessary for standing. In re G. C., 673 A.2d 932 (Pa. Super. 1996); affirmed 735 A.2d 1226 (Pa. 1999).
Cross References This section cited in 55 Pa. Code § 3130.67 (relating to placement planning); 55 Pa. Code § 3140.21 (relating to general); and 55 Pa. Code § 3490.361 (relating to requirements for agencies providing protective services).
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