41-3-101. Declaration of policy. (1) It is the policy of the state of Montana to:
     (a) ensure that all youth are afforded an adequate physical and emotional environment to promote normal development;
     (b) compel in proper cases the parent or guardian of a youth to perform the moral and legal duty owed to the youth;
     (c) achieve these purposes in a family environment whenever possible;
     (d) preserve the unity and welfare of the family whenever possible;
     (e) ensure that there is no forced removal of a child from the family based solely on an unsubstantiated allegation of abuse or neglect;
     (f) recognize that a child is entitled to assert the child's constitutional rights;
     (g) ensure that all children have a right to a healthy and safe childhood in a nurturing permanent family or in the closest possible substitute;
     (h) provide for the protection of children whose health and welfare are or may be adversely affected and further threatened by the conduct of those responsible for their care and protection;
     (i) require a department social worker to interview the parents of a child to which a petition pertains, if they are reasonably available, before the state may file a petition for temporary investigative authority or a petition for immediate protection and emergency protective services and to require that a judge may not issue an order granting a petition, except an order for immediate protection of the youth, until the parents, if they are reasonably available, are given the opportunity to appear before the judge or have their statements, if any, presented to the judge for consideration before an order is granted; and
     (j) ensure that whenever removal of a child from the home is necessary, the child is entitled to maintain ethnic, cultural, and religious heritage whenever appropriate.
     (2) It is intended that the mandatory reporting of abuse or endangerment cases by professional people and other community members to the appropriate authority will cause the protective services of the state to seek to prevent further abuses, protect and enhance the welfare of these children, and preserve family life whenever appropriate.
     (3) In implementing this chapter, whenever it is necessary to remove a child from the child's home, the department shall, when it is in the best interests of the child, place the child with the child's noncustodial birth parent or with the child's extended family, including adult siblings, grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, and uncles, when placement with the extended family is approved by the department, prior to placing the child in an alternative protective or residential facility. Prior to approving a placement, the department shall investigate whether anyone living in the home has been convicted of a crime involving serious harm to children.
     (4) In implementing the policy of this section, the child's health and safety are of paramount concern.

     History: (1)En. 10-1300 by Sec. 1, Ch. 328, L. 1974; Sec. 10-1300, R.C.M. 1947; (2)En. Sec. 1, Ch. 178, L. 1965; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 292, L. 1973; Sec. 10-901, R.C.M. 1947; redes. 10-1303 by Sec. 14, Ch. 328, L. 1974; Sec. 10-1303, R.C.M. 1947; R.C.M. 1947, 10-1300, 10-1303; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 543, L. 1979; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 494, L. 1995; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 564, L. 1995; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 501, L. 1997; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 566, L. 1999; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 281, L. 2001; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 311, L. 2001.