When criminal or DFPS history prevents approval of a potential kinship caregiver’s home assessment, CPS must complete a Kinship Safety Evaluation (KSE).

Who Completes the KSE

The kinship development caseworker completes the KSE when the case meets both of the following criteria:

• DFPS has conservatorship of at least one child living in the home at the time the home assessment is denied.
• The Kinship stage is open, or the kinship caregiver has been referred to the Kinship program.

The child’s caseworker completes the KSE when any of the following situations apply:

• The child has not yet been placed in the home.
• The Conservatorship program director or supervisor determines it is in the child’s best interest for the child’s caseworker to complete the KSE.

How to Complete the KSE

The KSE must include specific recommendations from the supervisor or program director who evaluated the potential kinship caregiver’s home assessment.

To complete the KSE, the caseworker must do all the following:

• Describe the nature and seriousness of the DFPS case or criminal offense that is in the history of the potential kinship caregiver or household member, including any other prior history. The following requirements apply to criminal history information:
  • DFPS may disclose criminal history information from the Department of Public Safety (DPS) or other state criminal justice agencies to specific types of people, as indicated in Texas Government Code 411.114.
  • DFPS cannot disclose or release criminal history information from the FBI to any person or entity.
  • If a criminal offense requiring a KSE is found in the caregiver’s FBI criminal history but is not also listed in the caregiver’s DPS criminal history results, the caseworker cannot disclose that offense. The caseworker also cannot state that an FBI history check revealed criminal history. The caseworker cannot disclose criminal history record information from the FBI under any circumstances. The caseworker may only state in the KSE that the caregiver has criminal history that requires the KSE.
• Obtain a copy of the report on the administrative review of investigation findings (ARIF), if there is a DFPS Reason to Believe (RTB) finding and an ARIF has occurred.
• State the age of the person at the time of the DFPS case or criminal offense, if relevant.
• State how much time has passed since the person’s most recent DFPS case or conviction of a criminal offense.
• Explain the evidence of rehabilitative efforts (that is, how the person has improved in relevant areas), including any information from collaterals that supports the evidence.
• Summarize why the person does not pose a safety threat to the child.
• Indicate whether the offense would be an absolute bar, temporary bar, or no bar to becoming a foster or adoptive home or would otherwise require Residential Child Care Regulation (RCCR) to conduct a risk evaluation.
• Explain what the caseworker told the caregiver about the effect of the DFPS history or criminal history and whether the caregiver understood that the history will or may do the following:
  • Prevent the caregiver from being verified as a foster home or approved as an adoptive home.
  • Limit the caregiver’s ability to receive financial assistance to care for the child.
• Explain in detail why the caseworker recommends placing the child in the home.
• State the date of the program director’s approval to proceed with the home assessment despite the DFPS history or criminal history.
• Submit the KSE for approval. See 6624 Obtaining CPS Approval of the Home Assessment and Placement of a Child in a Kinship Home.

For absolute and five-year bars that require regional director approval after the KSE, the documentation must also do the following:

• Describe the extraordinary circumstances that exist to justify the kinship placement despite the criminal history or DFPS history.
• Present compelling justification as to how the caregiver will ensure the child’s safety in the kinship home.

Much of this information may already be in the kinship home assessment. However, the caseworker must summarize it in the KSE in a way that makes clear why the potential kinship caregiver’s home is safe despite the criminal history or DFPS history.

A KSE may not be used to approve a home assessment for payment without also approving it for placement. One approval covers both placement and payment.