The first priority of the worker shall always be to locate a runaway child/youth and remedy the reasons that the child/youth has run. However, there may be individual cases where the Division may want to explore a request for release of jurisdiction from the court. All requests for release of custodial responsibility should be evaluated on a case by case basis by the case manager, their direct supervisor, and FST team members. During the FST meeting, there should be a thorough review of documented efforts and consideration of the following factors:

• The age of the child/youth
• The number and type of previous placements
• The current and concurrent case plan
• Whether TPR has or has not occurred
• The child’s/youth’s progress and compliance in cooperating with the Division’s services
• The child’s/youth’s run history (one time event verses chronic runs)
• Whether the child/youth is running to a specific place or person
• Is there an exit plan in place for the child/youth to provide on-going support? (See memorandum CD04-56 for details on exit planning)

It is important that a youth never be released from custody without an exit plan in place as it is our responsibility to ensure that youth leaving the foster care system either have support services in place or know how to obtain them as needed in the future. Non-compliance cannot be used as the sole reason to request termination of custodial duties by the Division. With this understanding, there may be rare situations where it is appropriate to request a release of jurisdiction when it is clear that there is a documented history of chronic and repeated non-compliance on the youth’s part to accept placements and services offered by the Division or in cases where the youth has been missing without contact for a minimum of twelve months. This does not include cases where the youth has run to a non-approved placement and remains in contact with the worker. Placement issues need to be addressed by the worker, youth, FST members and the court.

If the court of jurisdiction does not agree to a release of custody and the child/youth is not located, the worker should continue to:

• Contact law enforcement, family, relatives, friends and all other contacts once per month in an effort to locate the child/youth for a minimum of six months;
• Monthly cross check Family Support Division screens IPAR and IMES as well as Food stamps screen through FAMIS system on the FAPC screen;
• If after six months, the child/youth is not located, continue to contact law enforcement, relatives and other contacts on a quarterly basis in effort to locate child/youth;
• Continue to provide written summary to court on all actions taken to locate child/youth; and
• Resubmit request for release of jurisdiction at all court hearings.