41-7-102. Policy and guiding principles. (1) It is the policy of the state of Montana to support and preserve the family as the single most powerful influence for ensuring the healthy social development and mental and physical well-being of Montana's children.
     (2) The following principles must guide the actions of state government, state agencies, and agents of the state that serve children and families:
     (a) Family support and preservation must be guiding philosophies when the state, state agencies, or agents of the state plan or implement services for children or families. The state shall promote the establishment of a range of services to children and families, including the following components:
     (i) supporting families toward healthy development by providing a community network that offers a range of family support services, activities, and programs designed to promote family well-being, with services that include prenatal care, parenting education, parent aides, and visiting nurses; early childhood screening and developmental services; child care; and family recreation;
     (ii) assisting vulnerable families before crises emerge by providing specialized services to strengthen and preserve families experiencing problems before they become acute and by providing early intervention and family support services, such as respite care, health and mental health services, and home-based rehabilitation services linked to services in subsection (2)(a)(i);
     (iii) protecting and caring for children in crisis by providing intensive services to protect children who have suffered or are at risk of suffering serious harm from child abuse and neglect, by providing care for children at risk of out-of-home placement for emotional disturbances or behavior problems, and by providing family support services to ensure that reasonable efforts are made to safely maintain children in their own homes or to provide temporary or permanent care for children who are removed from their families. These services include family-based services to avoid removal from the home whenever possible and to provide out-of-home care, reunification services, adoption services, and long-term substitute care.
     (b) To maximize resources and establish a range of services driven by the needs of families rather than by a predetermined array of categorical services, the state, state agencies, and agents of the state shall work toward a system of comprehensive and coordinated services to children and families through joint agency planning, joint financing, joint service delivery, common intake and assessment, and other arrangements that promote more effective support for families.
     (c) Needed services to children and families should be provided as close as possible to the home community. The state, state agencies, and agents of the state shall encourage community planning and collaboration. State agencies shall cooperate to support collaborative programs.
     (d) The state encourages all sectors of society to participate in building the community capacity to meet the needs of children and families.
     (3) The family policy objectives described in this section are intended to guide the state's efforts to provide services to children and families. This section may not be construed to require a service or a particular level of service or to grant a right of action to enforce this section or other law.

     History: En. Sec. 2, Ch. 98, L. 1993.