Arkansas Code
Subchapter 1 - Children and Family Services
§ 9-28-107. Notice when juvenile transferred to custody of department

(a) The Department of Human Services shall exercise due diligence to identify and provide notice to all adult grandparents, all parents of a sibling of the juvenile where the parent has legal custody of the sibling, and other adult relatives of a juvenile transferred to the custody of the department.
(b) The notice provided under this subsection shall:
(1) Be provided within thirty (30) days after the juvenile is transferred to the custody of the department; and
(2) Include adult grandparents or adult relatives suggested by the parent or parents of the juvenile.

(c) The department is not required to provide notice under subsection (b) of this section to an adult grandparent or other adult relative if the adult grandparent or other adult relative has:
(1) A pending charge or past conviction or plea of guilty or nolo contendere for family or domestic violence; or
(2) A true finding of child maltreatment in the Child Maltreatment Central Registry.

(d) The notice required under subsection (b) of this section shall state:
(1) That the juvenile has been or is being removed from the parent;
(2) The option to participate in the:
(A) Care of the child;
(B) Placement with the child; and
(C) Visitation with the child;

(3) That failure to respond to the notice may result in loss of options listed under subdivision (d)(2) of this section;
(4) The requirements to become a provisional foster home and the additional services and supports that are available for children in a foster home; and
(5) That if kinship guardianship is available, how the relative could enter into a kinship guardianship agreement with the department.

(e) The department may provide notice of a juvenile transferred to the custody of the department to persons who have a strong, positive emotional tie to the juvenile and have a positive role in the juvenile's life but are not related by blood, adoption, or marriage.
(f)
(1) As used in this section, a “sibling” includes an individual who would have been considered a sibling of the child but for a termination or other disruption of parental rights.
(2) This section shall not be construed as subordinating the rights of foster or adoptive parents of a child to the rights of the parents of a sibling of that child.