740. (Amended by Stats. 2009, Ch. 46, Sec. 4.)

(a) Any minor adjudged to be a ward of the court on the basis that he or she is a person described in Section 602 and who is placed in a community care facility shall be placed in a community care facility within his or her county of residence, unless both of the following apply:

(1) He or she has identifiable needs requiring specialized care that cannot be provided in a local facility or his or her needs dictate physical separation from his or her family.

(2) The county of residence agrees to pay the placement county the costs of providing services to the minor, pursuant to Section 1566.25 of the Health and Safety Code.

(b) (1) Before the placement of a minor adjudged to be a ward of the court on the basis that he or she is a person described in Section 602 in any community care facility outside the ward’s county of residence, the probation officer of the county making the placement, or in the case of a ward of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Division of Juvenile Facilities, the parole officer in charge of his or her case, shall send, via mail, delivery, fax, or electronically, written notice of the placement, including the name of the ward, the juvenile record of the ward (including any known prior offenses), and the ward’s county of residence, to the probation officer of the county in which the community care facility is located. It is the intention of the Legislature, in regard to this requirement, that the probation officer of the county making the placement, or in the case of a ward of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Division of Juvenile Facilities, the parole officer in charge of his or her case, shall make his or her best efforts to send, via mail, fax, or electronically, or to hand deliver, the notice at least 24 hours prior to the time the placement is made. When that placement is terminated, the probation officer of the county making the placement, or in the case of a ward of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Division of Juvenile Facilities, the parole officer in charge of his or her case, shall send notice thereof to any person or agency receiving notification of the placement.

(2) When it has been determined that it is necessary for a ward whose board and care is funded through the Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care program to be placed in a county other than the ward’s parents’ or guardians’ county of residence, the specific reason the out-of-county placement is necessary shall be documented in the ward’s case plan. If the reason is lack of resources in the sending county to meet the specific needs of the ward, those specific resources needs shall be documented in the case plan.

(3) When it has been determined that a ward whose board and care is funded through the Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care program is to be placed out-of-county and that the sending county is to maintain responsibility for supervision and visitation of the ward, the sending county shall develop a plan of supervision and visitation activities to be performed, and shall specify that the sending county is responsible for performing those activities. In addition to the plan of supervision and visitation, the sending county shall document information regarding known or suspected gang affiliation or dangerous behavior of the ward that indicates the ward may pose a safety concern in the receiving county. The sending county shall send to the receiving county a copy of the plan of supervision and visitation, in addition to the notice of placement required in paragraph (1), prior to placement of the ward. If placement occurs on a holiday or weekend, the plan of supervision and visitation and the notice of placement shall be provided to the receiving county on or before the end of the next business day.

(4) When it has been determined that a ward whose placement is funded through the Aid to Families with Dependent Children-Foster Care program is to be placed out-of-county and the sending county plans that the receiving county shall be responsible for the supervision and visitation of the ward, the sending county shall develop a formal agreement between the sending and receiving counties. The formal agreement shall specify the supervision and visitation to be provided the ward, and shall specify that the receiving county is responsible for providing the supervision and visitation. The formal agreement shall be approved and signed by the sending and receiving counties prior to placement of the ward in the receiving county. Additionally, the notice of placement required by paragraph (1) shall be provided to the receiving county prior to placement of the ward in that county. Upon completion of the case plan, the sending county shall provide a copy of the completed case plan to the receiving county. The case plan shall include information regarding known or suspected gang affiliation or dangerous behavior of the ward that indicates the ward may pose a safety concern for the receiving county.

(5) The probation department of a receiving county that has a group home in which a minor is placed by the probation department of another county, after adjudication of the minor for any felony offense, may disclose to the sheriff of the receiving county or to the municipal police department of the city in which the group home is located, the name of the minor, the felony offense or offenses for which the minor has been adjudicated, and the address of the group home. This information shall be utilized only for law enforcement purposes and may not be utilized in a manner that is inconsistent with the rehabilitative program in which the minor has been placed or with the progress the minor may be making in the placement program. Notwithstanding any other law, the information provided by the probation department to a law enforcement agency under this paragraph may be provided to other law enforcement personnel for the limited law enforcement purposes described in this paragraph, but shall otherwise remain confidential.

(c) Notwithstanding subdivision (e) of Section 1538.5 of the Health and Safety Code, at the request of the probation department of the county in which the group home facility is located, the group home shall notify a probation official designated by the probation department to receive notifications pursuant to this subdivision, of unusual incidents concerning a ward placed by the sending county that involved a response by local law enforcement or emergency services personnel, including runaway incidents. The notification shall include identifying information about the ward. A group home facility shall notify the designated probation official of a requesting probation department of an unusual incident no later than the applicable deadline imposed by law or department regulation for a group home facility to notify the licensing agency of the unusual incident. The requesting probation department shall maintain the confidentiality of any identifying information about the ward contained in the notification and shall not share, transfer, or otherwise release the identifying information to a third party unless otherwise authorized by state or federal law.

(d) A minor, the parent or guardian of a minor, and counsel representing a minor or the parent or guardian of a minor may petition the juvenile court for the review of a placement decision concerning the minor made by the probation officer pursuant to subdivision (a). The petition shall state the petitioner’s relationship to the minor and shall set forth in concise language the grounds on which the review is sought. The court shall order that a hearing shall be held on the petition and shall give prior notice, or cause prior notice to be given, to the persons and by the means prescribed by Section 776, and, in instances in which the means of giving notice is not prescribed by that section, then by any means as the court prescribes.

(e) If a minor is placed in a community care facility out of his or her county of residence and is then arrested and placed in juvenile hall pending a jurisdictional hearing, the county of residence shall pay to the probation department of the county of placement all reasonable costs resulting directly from the minor’s stay in the juvenile hall, provided that these costs exceed one hundred dollars ($100).

(g) Claims made by the probation department in the county of placement to the county of residence, pursuant to subdivisions (e) and (f), shall be paid within 30 days of the submission of these claims and the probation department in the county of placement shall bear the remaining expense.

(h) As used in this section:

(1) “Community care facility” shall be defined as provided in Section 1502 of the Health and Safety Code.

(2) “Gang affiliation” shall have the same meaning as defined for data entry into the CalGang system.

(3) “Group home” has the same meaning as provided in paragraph (1) of subdivision (g) of Section 80001 of Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations.