Placement criteria

19-3-213. Placement criteria. (1) In a case in which the county department recommends placement out of the home for a child or in which a child is in out-of-home placement, the court, the guardian ad litem, the county department, a CASA volunteer, and other parties shall consider the best interests of the child and shall comply with the following placement criteria: (a) Prior to the change of placement of a child, the county department shall, to the extent possible, notify the guardian ad litem or counsel for youth, a CASA volunteer, and other parties. If a party disagrees with the change of placement, the party may seek an emergency hearing concerning the appropriate placement for the child. In an emergency, the county department may proceed to make the change of placement prior to a requested hearing and is exempt from creating an individualized placement transition plan, as described in section 19-3-213.5 (2)(a). Absent an emergency placement change, prior to the change of placement of a child, the county department shall create an individualized placement transition plan, as described in section 19-3-213.5 (2)(a). (b) Except in exceptional circumstances, no child shall remain in an emergency, short-term, or shelter facility for more than sixty days, nor shall a child be moved from one such facility to another, unless all reasonable efforts to return the child to the child's home or to place the child in a more permanent setting have been exhausted. (c) (I) If the child is part of a sibling group, as defined in section 19-1-103, and the sibling group is being placed in foster care, the county department shall make thorough efforts to locate a joint placement for all of the children in the sibling group. If the county department locates an appropriate, capable, willing, and available joint placement for all of the children in the sibling group, it is presumed that placement of the entire sibling group in the joint placement is in the best interests of the children. The presumption may be rebutted by a preponderance of the evidence that placement of the entire sibling group in the joint placement is not in the best interests of a child or of the children. (II) Consideration of the placement of children together as a sibling group in foster care shall not be construed as requiring the removal of a child from his or her home and placement into foster care if that is not in the best interests of the child. (III) In any proceeding under this article involving a sibling group, the judge shall review the family services plan document regarding placement of siblings. (d) Prior to the change of placement of a child, all parties shall attempt to promote educational stability for the child by taking into account the child's existing educational situation and, to the extent possible and in accordance with the child's best interests, selecting a change of placement that enables the child to remain in the existing educational situation or to transfer to a new educational situation that is comparable to the existing situation. (2) If a child runs away from an out-of-home placement facility, the person in charge of the placement facility, foster parent, relative, or other placement provider shall notify the county department as soon as possible after discovering that the child has run away. The county department shall notify the court and other parties within ten days after the county department has received notice and take appropriate steps to locate the child. Source: L. 97: Entire section added, p. 1438, � 11, effective July 1. L. 2000: (1) amended, p. 475, � 3, effective July 1. L. 2003: (1)(c)(I) amended, p. 2622, � 1, effective June 5. L. 2008: (1)(d) added, p. 471, � 3, effective April 17. L. 2021: (1)(c)(I) amended, (SB 21-059), ch. 136, p. 730, � 73, effective October 1. L. 2022: (1)(a) amended, (HB 22-1038), ch. 92, p. 441, � 23, effective January 9, 2023. L. 2025: IP(1) and (1)(a) amended, (HB 25-1097), ch. 261, p. 1338, � 2, effective May 28. Cross references: For the legislative declaration contained in the 2008 act enacting subsection (1)(d), see section 1 of chapter 147, Session Laws of Colorado 2008. For the legislative declaration in HB 22-1038, see section 1 of chapter 92, Session Laws of Colorado 2022.