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<section article="gcj" article_name="Courts and Judicial Proceedings" number="3-802" title_number="3" title_name="Courts of General Jurisdiction -- Jurisdiction/special Causes of Action" subtitle_number="8" subtitle_name="Juvenile Causes -- Children in Need of Assistance">
  <level label="a">
    <text>The purposes of this subtitle are:</text>
    <level label="1">
      <text>To provide for the care, protection, safety, and mental and physical development of any child coming within the provisions of this subtitle;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>To provide for a program of services and treatment consistent with the child’s best interests and the promotion of the public interest;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>To conserve and strengthen the child’s family ties and to separate a child from the child’s parents only when necessary for the child’s welfare;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="4">
      <text>To hold parents of children found to be in need of assistance responsible for remedying the circumstances that required the court’s intervention;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="5">
      <text>Except as otherwise provided by law, to hold the local department responsible for providing services to assist the parents with remedying the circumstances that required the court’s intervention;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="6">
      <text>If necessary to remove a child from the child’s home, to secure for the child custody, care, and discipline as nearly as possible equivalent to that which the child’s parents should have given;</text>
    </level>
    <level label="7">
      <text>To achieve a timely, permanent placement for the child consistent with the child’s best interests; and</text>
    </level>
    <level label="8">
      <text>To provide judicial procedures for carrying out the provisions of this subtitle.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="b">
    <text>This subtitle shall be construed liberally to effectuate these purposes.</text>
  </level>
  <level label="c">
    <level label="1">
      <text>In all judicial proceedings conducted in accordance with this subtitle or § 5-326 of the Family Law Article, the court may direct the local department to provide services to a child, the child’s family, or the child’s caregiver to the extent that the local department is authorized under State law.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>The court shall exercise the authority described in paragraph (1) of this subsection to protect and advance a child’s best interests.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
</section>
