Art. 672. Care and treatment by department; placement; disapproval

            A.(1) Whenever custody of a child is assigned to the Department of Children and Family Services, the child shall be assigned to the custody of the department rather than to a particular placement setting. The department shall have authority over the placement within its resources and the allocation of other available resources within the department for children judicially committed to its custody.

            (2) The court may disapprove the placement of a child on its own motion or on the motion of a party for good cause shown after a contradictory hearing. The party's motion shall be in writing and contain particularized allegations that the placement is not in the best interest of the child. The court may deny the party's motion or set a contradictory hearing with notice to all parties. The hearing may be consolidated with any previously scheduled hearing. If the court disapproves the placement, the court shall render specific written reasons for finding that the placement is not in the best interest of the child and shall order the department to choose a more suitable placement.

            B. The court shall not divide legal and physical custody whenever assigning custody to a department in accordance with this Article, Articles 619, 622, 627, 681, 700, or 716, or any other statute or provision of law. The court shall specify other public agencies or institutions that have legal or financial responsibility, or both, to provide their particular services identified at disposition or subsequent case review. Placing custody of a child with one state department shall not remove the obligation of any other state department to provide services to that child from their resources for which the child is eligible under state or federal statute or state or federal appropriation, including but not limited to twenty-four-hour care.

            Acts 1991, No. 235, §6, eff. Jan. 1, 1992; Acts 1993, No. 634, §1, eff. June 15, 1993; Acts 1993, No. 866, §1; eff. June 23, 1993; Acts 1997, No. 612, §1; Acts 1997, No. 671, §1, eff. July 7, 1997; Acts 2001, No. 567, §1; Acts 2018, No. 189, §1; Acts 2024, No. 92, §1.