Section 441.151.20. Juvenile court services responsibilities.

The chief juvenile court officer shall purchase court-ordered services for eligible children pursuant to the authority of a court order and the certification of the court.

         151.20(1) The chief juvenile court officer shall have the opportunity to establish the availability of funds before a request for court-ordered services is presented to the court.

         151.20(2) Any services that are provided without the signed approval of the chief juvenile court officer or approved administrator may be denied payment, unless there is an emergency or after-hours situation and no other provision exists for handling emergency or after-hours situations or transports.

         151.20(3) A district or juvenile court shall not order any service that is a charge upon the state pursuant to Iowa Code section 232.141 if there are insufficient court-ordered services funds available in the district court distribution amount to pay for the service.

         151.20(4) The chief juvenile court officer shall encourage use of the funds in the district’s fiscal year fund allocation such that there are sufficient funds during the entire year to pay for all court-ordered services.

            a.               The chief juvenile court officer shall establish service priorities for spending the court-ordered services funds allocated to the district.

            b.               The chief juvenile court officer shall inform the state court administrator of potential shortfalls in the district’s distribution amount and shall request the state court administrator to transfer funds between the districts’ distribution amounts as prudent.

            c.               The chief juvenile court officer shall notify the state court administrator and the chief judge of the district in the event that the court-ordered services funds for the judicial district are exhausted.

[ARC 2435C, IAB 3/16/16, effective 5/1/16]