The caseworker must place the child or youth in the least restrictive, most family-like setting available, consistent with the child or youth’s best interest and special needs.
Social Security Act, Title IV-E, §675(5)(A)
| Level of Restrictiveness | Type of DFPS Placement |
|---|---|
| Least restrictive | Relative’s home, including the home of a noncustodial parent |
| Moderately restrictive | Foster family home, adoptive home, or cottage-style general residential operation (GRO) |
| Most restrictive | Child care institution, including any other GRO, such as emergency shelters or RTCs and facilities regulated by other state agencies |
The child or youth’s caseworker must document the reasons the placement was chosen in the Placement Detail page in IMPACT under least restrictive setting. If a relative, foster family home, adoptive home, or cottage-style GRO is not chosen, the caseworker must explain why a less restrictive setting was not appropriate for the child or youth. DFPS’s rules allow placement into more restrictive settings (see table above) in one of the following circumstances:
- The child or youth needs treatment services or other programmatic services (other than child care services) that are not available or cannot be provided in a foster home or cottage-style GRO.
- The child or youth is placed with a sibling or a parent who needs treatment services or other programmatic services, and placement with the sibling or parent in a GRO is deemed to be in the child or youth’s best interest.
- The child or youth is placed in a GRO because it is close to the child or youth’s home or school of origin, and such placement is deemed to be in the child or youth’s best interest.
- There is no foster home or cottage-style GRO immediately available for the child or youth to be placed in.
- The court orders the placement.
DFPS Rules, 40 TAC §700.1311(a)
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