Section 141 — Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Act 1989: Agreements for extended care of severely disabled children and young persons

141 Agreements for extended care of severely disabled children and young persons (1) This section applies to any child or young person who is so mentally or physically disabled that suitable care for that child or young person can be provided only if that child or young person is placed in the care of an organisation or body approved under section 396 of this Act to provide care for such a child or young person. (2) Subject to this section and to sections 143 to 145 and section 147 of this Act, where every person who is a parent or guardian or person having the care of a child or young person to whom this section applies agrees to do so, those persons may,— (a) With the agreement of an Iwi Social Service or a Cultural Social Service, place the child or young person in the care of that Social Service; or (b) With the agreement of a Director of a Child and Family Support Service, place the child or young person in the care of the Director. (3) No agreement may be made under subsection (2) of this section providing for the placement of any child or young person in the care of any person for any period that exceeds 2 years, but any such agreement may from time to time be extended for such period (not exceeding 2 years in each instance) as a family group conference may approve. (4) No agreement may be made under subsection (2) of this section providing for the placement of any child or young person in the care of any person (in this subsection referred to as the proposed caregiver) unless a person or organisation authorised pursuant to subsection (5) of this section (not being a person employed by the proposed caregiver) certifies,— (a) That the proposed caregiver has appropriate facilities and adequate staffing to care for the child or young person; or (b) Where, pursuant to section 362 of this Act, the proposed caregiver intends to place the child or young person in the charge of some other person or organisation, that the proposed caregiver has appropriate facilities and adequate staffing to supervise the placement and to ensure that adequate and appropriate care is provided to the child or young person. (5) The Director-General of Health may from time to time, on application made to the Director-General, authorise any suitable person or organisation to issue certificates for the purposes of subsection (4) of this section. (6) The Director-General of Health may grant an authority under subsection (5) of this section subject to such conditions as the Director-General of Health thinks fit, and may at any time revoke any such authority, or revoke, vary, or add to any condition imposed under this subsection. (7) The Director-General of Health may from time to time, under section 41 of the State Sector Act 1988 , delegate to any district health board (within the meaning of the New Zealand Public Health and Disability Act 2000 ) the powers conferred on the Director-General of Health by subsections (5) and (6) and, for that purpose and for that purpose only, sections 41 and 42 of the State Sector Act 1988 apply as if every district health board were an employee of the Ministry of Health. Subsection (1) was amended, as from 8 January 1995, by section 25(1) Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Amendment Act 1994 (1994 No 121) by substituting “ the care of an organisation or body approved under section 396 of this Act to provide care for such a child or young person ” for “ institutional care ” . Subsection (2)(a) was substituted, as from 8 January 1995, by section 46 Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Amendment Act 1994 (1994 No 121). Subsection (4) was substituted, and subsections (5) to (7) were inserted, as from 8 January 1995, by section 25(2) Children, Young Persons, and Their Families Amendment Act 1994 (1994 No 121). Subsection (7) was substituted, as from 1 July 1998, by section 5(4) Health and Disability Services Amendment Act 1998 (1998 No 74). Subsection (7) was further substituted, as from 1 January 2001, by section 111(1) New Zealand Public Health and Disability Act 2000 (2000 No 91).