(a) The State Department of Social Services shall provide guidance on best practices and facilitate an exchange of information and best practices among counties on an annual basis, commencing no later than January 1, 2014, on establishing memoranda of understanding with appropriate foreign consulates for juvenile court cases in which a parent has been arrested and issued an immigration hold, has been detained by the United States Department of Homeland Security, or has been deported to his or her country of origin. This exchange of information may be accomplished by posting training and other information on the department’s Internet Web site.

(b) The memoranda of understanding shall include, but shall not be limited to, procedures for contacting a foreign consulate at the onset of a juvenile court case, accessing documentation for the child, locating a detained parent, facilitating family reunification once a parent has been deported to his or her country of origin, aiding the safe transfer of a child to the parent’s country of origin, and communicating with relevant departments and services in the parent’s country of origin, including, when appropriate, allowing reports from the foreign child welfare authorities documenting the parent’s living situation and the parent’s participation in service plans in the country of origin that are in compliance with the case plan requirements.

(Added by Stats. 2012, Ch. 845, Sec. 16. (SB 1064) Effective January 1, 2013.)