Emergency Placements

Emergency placements require a determination to be made that serious danger exists for a child if the child remains in the care of his/her parent(s) and that the delivery of treatment services will not provide immediate protection for a child.

The report to the court will likely be made after the placement has occurred and should indicate the emergency conditions necessitating out-of-home placement.

The report shall include a request that the court, in its dispositional order, make a determination that such conditions exist and that reasonable efforts to prevent placement would not secure, for the present, a safe environment for a child.

Placement Options

Selection of the most appropriate placement resource is guided by the assessment of the child’s unique needs and personality, and the placement provider’s capacity and skills in meeting those needs that are in the best interest of the child.  All efforts to locate parents, relatives, and other least restrictive placements should be documented in FACES.

Placement shall be in the least restrictive that serves the child’s best interest and special needs. The preference for placement is as follows (in order from most to least desirable – see the Placement Hierarchy on e-forms for more detailed information):

Related Practice Alerts and Memos:

1-3-20 – PA20-RD-01 – Relative Resource Placement Consideration

1-15-19 – https://dssmanuals.mo.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/cd19-01.pdf

6-11-20 – CD20-23 – Update on Placement Hierarchy and Diligent Searches