234.7  Department duties.
  1.  The department shall comply with the provision associated with child foster care licensees under chapter 237 that requires that a child’s foster parent be included in, and be provided timely notice of, planning and review activities associated with the child, including but not limited to permanency planning and placement review meetings, which shall include discussion of the child’s rehabilitative treatment needs.
  2.  a.  The department shall submit a waiver request to the United States department of health and human services as necessary to provide coverage under the medical assistance program for children who are described by both of the following:
  (1)  The child needs behavioral health care services and qualifies for the care level provided by a psychiatric medical institution for children licensed under chapter 135H.
  (2)  The child is in need of treatment to cure or alleviate serious mental illness or disorder, or emotional damage as evidenced by severe anxiety, depression, withdrawal, or untoward aggressive behavior toward self or others and whose parent, guardian, or custodian is unable to provide such treatment.
  b.  The waiver request shall provide for appropriately addressing the needs of children described in paragraph “a” by implementing any of the following options:  using a wraparound services approach, renegotiating the medical assistance program contract provisions for behavioral health services, or applying another approach for appropriately meeting the children’s needs.
  c.  If federal approval of the waiver request is not received, the department shall submit options to the governor and general assembly to meet the needs of such children through a state-funded program.
95 Acts, ch 182, §14; 2005 Acts, ch 117, §3; 2008 Acts, ch 1032, §38; 2011 Acts, ch 34, §60; 2023 Acts, ch 19, §672