REFERENCE: CHILDREN’S DIVISION 

DISCUSSION:

The purpose of this memorandum is to introduce changes in policy related to closing of resource homes that have not had a placement for the last 12 months or longer. These changes are located in the Child Welfare Manual Section 6 Chapter 3. 

Foster, relative and kinship homes are licensed to provide care to the children in the Division’s custody. Homes that are licensed but not accepting placements inflate the numbers of available homes and mask the issue of lack of available placements for children in the Division’s custody.

The Division takes the placement of children very seriously and as such want to have licensed only those homes that are actively accepting and providing for alternative care placements. Therefore, the Division is establishing a protocol and guidelines for the closing of licenses for those homes that have not had a placement for the last 12 months or longer. 

At the time of license renewal, the Children’s Services Worker responsible for licensing should identify those homes which have not had a placement in the last 12 months or longer. Once a home is identified, the worker should contact the family to arrange a face to face meeting. At this meeting, the worker should discuss the reason why the family has not had a placement during the past year or longer. 

For foster care providers, the worker should discuss the reason why the foster parent(s) has not had a placement during this time frame as well as discussing the types of children needing foster care placement. The goal should be to work with the family so they are ready to take foster care placements. A plan can be made to address the concerns of the foster parent(s) and/or the Division. The foster parent(s) may attend additional training or may be utilized for respite care to address placement concerns. The Professional Family Development Plan should be utilized for this process. Information on the Professional Family Development Plan is located in the Child Welfare Manual Section 6 Chapter 2 Attachment C. 

The worker should begin the process for closing the license only after working with the foster parent(s) to reach an agreement on placing children in the home and discussion with the worker’s supervisor. The worker should complete the form CS-20 Foster/Relative Home Action Report. These will be considered a voluntary relinquishment of the license, unless licensing violations are present and impact the decision to close the license, and staff should mark “other” in the reason for the license relinquishment. Staff should explain that the foster home has not had placement for the last 12 months or longer and that an agreement could not be reached for the placement of children in the home. If the foster family does not agree with closing the license, it should be suspended until such time as the family will accept children or license closing or revocation can be completed. Once the CS-20 is completed and approved, staff should update the SS-60 to show the license has been closed. The close reason used should be “04 – Vendor Resource Discontinued Service”. An exception can be made for Teaching Foster Parents who are not currently accepting placements since the contract for Teaching Foster Parents requires them to have a current license. 

For relative and kinship care providers, the worker should determine if the providers may be utilized for the identified child(ren) in the future. The license may be kept open if there is a possibility that the relative/kin child(ren) may return to the home. If the worker and supervisor feel the family is appropriate for consideration, they may also discuss with the provider the needs of the circuit for alternative care providers to determine if the provider is interested in becoming a licensed foster home. The license should be closed if neither of these criteria is met. The closing procedure is the same as noted above.

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