9 CAR § 40-503. Family case plan

(a) The family case plan is a written document that is a discrete part of the case record between the family and the Division of Children and Family Services. (b) It outlines a strategy to assist the family in rectifying the issues that resulted in division involvement so that children may: (1) Safely remain in their home during a prevention or in-home case; or (2) Safely return to the parent, guardian, custodian, or other caregiver from whom they were removed. (c)(1) A family case plan will be developed with all families involved in a dependency-neglect case or a family in need of services (FINS) case in which the division has been ordered to provide services. (2) For cases not associated with a dependency-neglect or FINS petition, a family case plan must be developed if the case remains open for more than thirty (30) days. (d) The initial family case plan will be completed in the division information management system within thirty (30) days of: (1) Opening of an in-home case (to include prevention cases) or, filing of a related petition, whichever comes first; or (2) A child entering a permanency services placement or the date the petition was filed, whichever comes first. (e)(1) Family case plans will be updated at least every ninety (90) days thereafter, preferably during the family team meetings for both in-home and permanency services cases. (2) However, family case plans will also be updated any time as needed based on evolving circumstances or participants. (3) All parties will be notified of any substantive change to the family case plan. (f) Family case plans will be developed after a thorough assessment of: (1) Harm and safety threats (considering the impact of caregiver behavior on the child); (2) Worries about what might happen if there is no intervention; (3) What is working or has worked well in relation to ensuring child safety; and (4) Strengths and resources available to the family, including the strength of the family’s network of support. (g) The development of family case plans will be a collaborative process between: (1) Family; (2) The age-appropriate children; (3) The family’s identified network members; and (4)(A) Division staff; and other professionals, as applicable. (B) If the parents are unwilling or unable to participate in the development of the family case plan, the division will document the parents’ unwillingness or inability to participate and provide a copy of the written documentation to the parent, if available. (C) The division will then prepare a family case plan conforming as nearly as possible to the requirements set forth in this rule; (5) When there is court involvement, resource parents, attorneys ad litem, parent counsel, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), division staff who supervise family time, and any other involved parties; (6) Adult household members and age-appropriate children in the household where the child resides or resided before removal; (7) Noncustodial parents, including putative parents and incarcerated parents (unless legally prohibited from contact with the children); (8) At least one (1) network member who must also be assigned action steps; and (h) Consideration of the health and safety of a child must be addressed in all family case plans and include the following: (1)(A) Harm, worry, and behaviorally specific goal statements created in consensus with the family, their network, and relevant parties to the case. (B)(i) Worry statements will be focused on the caregiver’s current behavior and the impact of the specific behavior on the child. (ii) Caregiver’s past behaviors and current behaviors having no direct negative impact on a child should not be included in service provision or family case planning unless those caregiver behaviors are included as actions of protection for a child. (C) Goal statements will focus on the behavioral changes needed to assure child safety; (2) Behaviorally specific action steps for achieving the goals for each person in the family case plan to include specific timeframes in which the actions will be accomplished; (3) Needed services and supports and a description of how these will facilitate the changes needed to ensure child safety; and (4) Any reasonable accommodations made to ensure that participants in the plan have meaningful access to reunification services and prevention supports, as per the Americans with Disabilities Act. (i) In addition, for families whose children are experiencing out-of-home placement, the family case plan will: (1) Be completed and filed with the court within thirty (30) days of a child entering out-of-home care, and prior to adjudication. (2) Include a concurrent goal that addresses a safe permanent placement if reunification is not possible and action steps to actively achieve the concurrent permanency goal. (3) Include plans for family time for parents, guardians, or custodians and children in out-of-home care, as well as the family time rights and obligations of the parents, guardian, or custodian and the division during the periods the child is in an out-of-home placement; (4) Describe action steps needed to place siblings together if they are initially in different placements to include: (A) The reasons why joint placement would be contrary to the safety or well-being of any of the siblings; and (B) Documentation of efforts to facilitate frequent family time or other ongoing interaction, unless documented that frequent family time or other ongoing interaction would be contrary to the safety or well-being of any of the siblings; (5) Describe the child’s placement, and a discussion of the safety and appropriateness of the placement to include whether the placement is: (A) In the least restrictive (most family-like) setting available; (B) In close proximity to the home of the caregiver when the goal is reunification; (C) If the child has been placed a substantial distance from the home of the caregiver or has been placed out of state, the description will include reasons why such a placement is in the best interest of the child; and (D) Is consistent with the best interests and special needs of the child; (6) Ensure the educational stability of the child while they are experiencing foster care including: (A) An appropriate educational setting and consideration to the proximity of the school in which the child is enrolled at the time of placement; and (B) Coordination with appropriate local educational agencies to ensure the child remains in the school in which the child is enrolled at the time of each placement; or (C) If remaining in such school is not in the best interests of the child, immediate and appropriate enrollment in a new school with all educational records provided to the school through collaboration between the division and the local school district; (7) Include the health and education records of the child including the most recent information available regarding: (A) Names and addresses of the child’s health and educational providers; (B) Child’s grade level performance; (C) Child’s school record; (D) A record of the child’s immunizations; (E) The child’s known medical issues; (F) The child’s medications; and (G) Any other relevant educational information concerning the child that is determined to be appropriate; (8)(A) Where appropriate for a child fourteen (14) years of age or older experiencing foster care, a written description of the programs and services that will help the child prepare for the transition from foster care to successful adulthood. (B) Any revision or addition must be developed in consultation with the child and at the option of the child, with up to two (2) members of the family case planning team who are chosen by the child and who are not a resource parent of, or Social Service Specialist for the child. (C) Any individual selected by a child to be a member of the family case planning team may be rejected by the division at any time if there is a good cause to believe that the individual would not act in the best interest of the child. (D) One (1) individual selected to be a member of the child’s case planning team may be designated to be the child’s advisor and, as necessary, advocate, with respect to the application of the reasonable and prudent parent standard to the child. (9) During the ninety-day period immediately prior to the date on which the youth will attain eighteen (18) years of age, division staff will provide the youth with assistance and support in developing a transition plan within the family case plan that is personalized at the direction of the youth, including specific options on: (A) Housing; (B) Health insurance; (C) Education; (D) Local opportunities for mentors and continuing support services; (E) Work force supports and employment services; (F) Information about the importance of designating another individual to make healthcare treatment decisions on behalf of the youth if the youth becomes unable to participate in such decisions and the youth does not have, or does not want, a relative who would otherwise be authorized under state law to make such decisions; and (G) Options to execute a healthcare power of attorney, healthcare proxy, or similar document recognized under state law that is as detailed as the youth may elect; (10)(A) Include documentation of the steps taken to finalize a placement when the family case plan goal is or becomes adoption or placement in another permanent home. (B) When the case plan goal is adoption, at a minimum such documentation will include child specific recruitment efforts such as the use of state, tribal, regional, or national adoption exchanges including electronic exchange systems to facilitate orderly and timely placements. (C) For a child with respect to whom the permanency plan is placement with a relative and receipt of kinship subsidized guardianship payments, a description of: (i) The steps taken to determine that it is not appropriate for the child to be returned to their caregiver or be adopted; (ii) The reasons for any separation of siblings during placement; (iii) The reasons why a permanency placement with a fit and willing relative through a kinship guardianship assistance arrangement is in the child’s best interests; (iv) The ways in which the child meets the eligibility requirements for a kinship subsidized guardianship payment; (v) The efforts made to discuss adoption by the child's relative resource parent as a more permanent alternative to legal guardianship and, in the case of a relative resource parent who has chosen not to pursue adoption, documentation of the reasons; and (vi) The efforts made to discuss with the child's parent or parents the kinship guardianship assistance arrangement, or the reasons why the efforts were not made. (j) The division will provide copies of the signed family case plan to the parents, guardians, or custodians, other caregivers in the household, age-appropriate children, family support network members, and all parties to the case, as applicable. (k) Before case closure, division staff, family members, household members, age-appropriate children, and members of the family support network will develop an aftercare plan that addresses ongoing child safety after the division is no longer working with the family.