Sec. 1. 18-A MRSA §5-201, as enacted by PL 1979, c. 540, §1, is amended to read:

§5-201. Status of guardian of minor; general

A person becomes a guardian of a minor by acceptance of a testamentary appointment or upon appointment by the court. The guardianship status continues until terminated, without regard to the location from time to time of the guardian and minor ward. This section does not apply to permanency guardians appointed in District Court child protective proceedings under Title 22, section 4038-C.__If a minor has a permanency guardian, the court may not appoint another guardian without leave of the District Court in which the child protective proceeding is pending.

Sec. 2. 22 MRSA §4002, sub-§7-A, as amended by PL 1987, c. 769, Pt. A, §77, is repealed.

Sec. 3. 22 MRSA §4036-B, sub-§5, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 408, §1, is amended to read:

5. Reasonable efforts to finalize permanency plan. The department shall make reasonable efforts to finalize the permanency plan. In each order determining a permanency plan pursuant to section 4038, subsection 7-A 4038-B, the court shall make a finding whether or not the department has made reasonable efforts to finalize the permanency plan.

Sec. 4. 22 MRSA §4038, sub-§7-A, as amended PL 2001, c. 696, §32, is repealed.

Sec. 5. 22 MRSA §4038-A, as amended by PL 1995, c. 694, Pt. D, §45 and affected by Pt. E, §2, is further amended to read:

§4038-A. Transfer to District Court

If a case is transferred to the District Court pursuant to Title 18-A, section 9-205, the court shall conduct a hearing and enter a dispositional order using the same standards as set forth in section 4036. The court after the hearing and entering of a dispositional order shall conduct reviews in accordance with section 4038 and permanency planning hearings in accordance with section 4038-B.

Sec. 6. 22 MRSA §§4038-B to 4038-D are enacted to read:

§4038-B.__Permanency plans