ROBERT L. EHRLICH, JR., Governor                             Ch. 304

transferred or revert to the General Fund of the State but shall remain in the Mental
Hygiene Community-Based Services Fund to be used for the purposes specified in
this section.

SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall be
construed to apply only prospectively and may not be applied or interpreted to have
any effect on or application to any closure, consolidation, or downsizing of any Mental
Hygiene Administration facility before the effective date of this Act.

SECTION 3. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That, on or before September 1,
2004, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the University of Maryland
Medical System, and the University of Maryland, Baltimore, shall report to the Senate
Budget and Taxation Committee, the Senate Finance Committee, the House
Appropriations Committee, and the House Health and Government Operations
Committee in accordance with § 2-1246 of the State Government Article on any
developments related to the proposed transfer of the Walter P. Carter Center to the
University of Maryland Medical System.

SECTION 3. 4. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take
effect July 1, 2004.

Approved May 11, 2004.

CHAPTER 304
(Senate Bill 711)

AN ACT concerning

Child Welfare Services - Children in Out-of-Home Placement

FOR the purpose of declaring the intent of the General Assembly that certain funds
be available for certain services when a parent relinquishes care of the parent's
minor child to others; prohibiting the Department of Human Resources from
placing children committed to the Department in group homes or residential
facilities that accept children from other State agencies after a certain date;
requiring the Department to consider certain criteria before issuing certain
licences; requiring local departments of social services to consider certain
criteria in developing a permanency plan for a child in an out-of-home
placement; altering certain goals of a local board of review for minor children in
out of home placement; altering certain recommendations that may be made by
a local board; requiring the Social Services Administration to adopt certain
regulations; requiring the Special Secretary for Children, Youth, and Families,
in consultation with the Department of Human Resources, the Department of
Health and Mental Hygiene, and the Department of Juvenile Services, to
conduct a certain study, develop a certain plan, and make a certain report on or
before a certain date; defining certain terms; making the provisions of this Act
severable; and generally relating to child welfare services and children in
out-of-home placement.

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