9 CAR § 40-806. Resource home assessment process

(a)(1) In order to ensure quality resource homes, the Division of Children and Family Services will complete a thorough home assessment for each prospective resource family. (2) The purpose of the assessment process is to educate prospective resource parents on the characteristics of children in out-of-home placement and evaluate their ability to meet those needs. (3) The home assessment is a mutual selection process. (4) It involves several components including, but not limited to, background checks, an in-home consultation visit, preservice training, a home study, and ongoing consultation with the prospective resource parents to ensure that all appropriate criteria related to both compliance and quality are met. (5)(A) It shall be conducted in accordance with the requirements set forth by the Arkansas Child Welfare Agency Licensing Act, Arkansas Code § 9-28-401 et seq., with the Minimum Licensing Standards for Child Welfare Agencies — Placement, 9 CAR pt. 30. (B) These standards serve as the baseline for approval, licensing, and ongoing compliance of all resource homes. (b) Background checks. (1)(A) In addition to ensuring that homes meet the basic criteria, the Division of Children and Family Services will only place children in approved resource homes where the resource parents and appropriate members of the household have been cleared through a series of background checks: (i) The Child Maltreatment Central Registry; (ii) A Division of Arkansas State Police criminal record check; and (iii) A Federal Bureau of Investigation background check (with the exception that placements may be made in provisional resource homes before Federal Bureau of Investigation results are received). (B) Any household member who resides in the home for more than three (3) cumulative months in a calendar year (for example, an adult biological child of the resource parents who is home for the summer and holiday breaks or a relative who visits for six (6) weeks twice a year) must clear all applicable background checks. (2) Child Maltreatment Central Registry. (A) Resource parents and all other members of the household fourteen (14) years of age and older, excluding children experiencing foster care, must be cleared through the Child Maltreatment Central Registry. (B) The Child Maltreatment Central Registry check will be repeated every two (2) years on all appropriate household members. (C) If applicable, a Child Maltreatment Central Registry check will also be conducted on each household member fourteen (14) years of age or older in any state of residence in which they have lived for the past five (5) years, and in their state of employment, if different, for reports of child maltreatment. (3) State police criminal record check. (A) Resource parents and all other members of the household eighteen and a half (18 1/2) years of age and older, excluding children experiencing foster care, must be cleared through a Division of Arkansas State Police criminal record check. (B) As soon as possible after a household member, excluding children experiencing foster care, reaches their eighteenth birthday, the paperwork to request the Division of Arkansas State Police criminal record check must be initiated to ensure results are received by the time that household member reaches eighteen and a half (18 1/2) years of age. (C) The Division of Arkansas State Police criminal record check will be repeated every two (2) years on all appropriate household members. (D) If a provisional Division of Arkansas State Police criminal record check enters pending status, Division of Children and Family Services staff may work with local law enforcement to obtain local verification of criminal record for the individual to expedite placement of the child in the home of the relative or fictive kin. (E) The Division of Children and Family Services staff will ensure follow up with the Division of Arkansas State Police criminal record check within two (2) business days of the check entering pending status. (4) Federal Bureau of Investigation criminal background check. (A) Resource parents and all members of the resource home who are eighteen and a half (18 1/2) years of age and older, excluding children experiencing foster care, must also clear a Federal Bureau of Investigation fingerprint-based criminal background check. (B) As soon as possible, after a household member (excluding children experiencing foster care) reaches their eighteenth birthday, the paperwork to request the Federal Bureau of Investigation criminal record check must be initiated to ensure results are received by the time that household member reaches eighteen and a half (18 1/2) years of age. (C) The Federal Bureau of Investigation check does not need to be repeated. (D) Placement in a provisional resource home may be made prior to receipt of Federal Bureau of Investigation criminal background check results, when in the best interest of the child. (E) When placement in a provisional home occurs, the Division of Children and Family Services will ensure that Federal Bureau of Investigation criminal background checks are submitted for processing within five (5) business days. (F) Barriers to completion within five (5) business days should be assessed on a case-by-case basis and decisions should be made relevant to the best interests of the youth or youths placed in the provisional resource home. (5) Traffic violations record check. (A)(i) The Division of Children and Family Services will check the traffic violations record from the Office of Driver Services for each prospective resource parent and other applicable members of the household. (ii) This record returns the number of traffic offenses and other violations incurred by the resource applicant, to include the number of points assessed by the Office of Driver Services for convictions of moving traffic violations as per the Arkansas State Vehicle Safety Program (ASVSP). (iii) The traffic violations record check will be repeated every two (2) years. (iv) To ensure child safety, the Division of Children and Family Services will carefully assess what, if any, safety concerns exist for any applicant or current resource parent accumulating ten (10) or more points on their traffic violation record. (B)(i) A family member with no current valid Arkansas driver’s license will be given twenty (20) days to apply and receive an Arkansas driver’s license. (ii) If the resource family member does not wish to obtain an Arkansas license, a written explanation from the applicant is required and a traffic violations record check must be completed in the state of issuance for the currently held license. (iii) The applicant is responsible for obtaining and providing the traffic violations record check from the other state. (C) The requirement for a driver’s license may be waived for provisional applicants, if an acceptable plan to transport the children placed in their home, to school, court dates, medical appointments, and similar engagements, is approved. (d) In-home consultation visit. (1) The in-home consultation visit allows resource staff to gather initial information on provisional applicants and additional information for traditional applicants that was not provided in the online application. (2) The in-home consultation visit will determine if the home meets approval requirements and, if not, what changes are needed to come into compliance. (3) Resource home approval requirements include Minimum Licensing Standards for Child Welfare Agencies — Placement, 9 CAR pt. 30, and Division of Children and Family Services policy requirements for resource homes. (e) Preservice training. (1)(A) Resource parents must also complete the Division of Children and Family Services-approved preservice training curricula designated for an applicant’s specific service type (that is, kinship or traditional). (B) For traditional resource applicants, preservice training and the Division of Children and Family Services orientation and final walk-through of the home must be completed prior to placement of a child. (C) Preservice training will include, but is not limited to the following topics: (i) Legal rights; (ii) Roles, responsibilities, and expectations of resource parents; (iii) Agency structure, purpose, policies, and services; (iv) Laws and regulations as related to resource homes or children experiencing foster care; (v) The impact of childhood trauma; (vi) Managing child behaviors; (vii) Medication administration; and (viii) The importance of maintaining meaningful connections between the child and caregivers, including regular family time. (2)(A) Child Maltreatment Central Registry and Division of Arkansas State Police criminal background checks must be cleared, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation criminal background check must have been submitted before a prospective resource parent can begin preservice training. (B) Traditional resource parents must also complete infant, child, and adult CPR and standard first aid training and receive certification in both areas prior to placement of a child in their home. (C) Provisional resource parents must complete infant, child, and adult CPR and standard first aid training within six (6) months of the child being placed in their home, though the CPR and standard first aid training is not an element that is required to move from provisional status to fully approved kinship foster family home status. (3)(A) New CPR and first aid training is not required for individuals certified as paramedics and emergency medical technicians (EMTs) if proof of current certification is provided to Division of Children and Family Services staff. (B) Current certification in basic life support (BLS) and advanced cardiovascular life support (ACLS) also meet the Minimum Licensing Standard for CPR if proof of current certification is provided to the Division of Children and Family Services staff. (C) All other medical professionals (including nurses) must have current CPR certification as outlined above and provide a copy of their current certification to Division of Children and Family Services staff. (D) Additional first aid training for nurses and other medical professionals (to include those with ACLS certification) is not required. (E) If an applicant with a current BLS certification is a paramedic, EMT, or firefighter, additional first aid training is not required. (F) A lay person with BLS certification may have to take a first aid class if current certification in first aid cannot be provided. (f) Home study. (1)(A) The home study assists in determining if a family is ready, willing, and able to become a suitable and safe placement resource for a child. (B) At least two (2) home study visits must be conducted with a resource parent applicant. (C) The preference is for both visits to take place in the resource applicant home, but, as needed, it is permissible for one (1) visit to be in the resource applicant home while the other is conducted over a virtual conference platform (such as Zoom or Facetime) with the approval of the applicable Division of Children and Family Services Program Manager or designee who oversees home study provider contracts. (D) The evaluator will interview each age-appropriate member of the household. (2)(A) The Division of Children and Family Services-approved home study tool evaluates a family’s dynamics including, but not limited to, motivation for wanting to become a resource home, household composition, housing, safety hazards, income and expenses, health, education, childcare arrangements or plans, child rearing practices, daily schedules, social history, family activities, and support systems. (B) By learning more about these areas, the home study assists in ascertaining how members of a family function individually and as a unit, and, subsequently, helps inform the conclusions and recommendation as to whether a family should serve as a resource home. (3)(A) If at any point throughout the home assessment process a prospective resource home is found to be out of compliance with a licensing standard or a Division of Children and Family Services policy, the noncompliance issue must be addressed. (B) However, if the division determines that the noncompliance issue would not endanger the safety or well-being of children placed in a home, an alternative compliance or Division of Children and Family Services policy waiver may be requested as appropriate, (particularly for relatives and fictive kin). (C) An alternative compliance is a request for approval from the Child Welfare Agency Review Board to deviate from a minimum licensing standard. (D) A policy waiver is a request to deviate from a Division of Children and Family Services policy or procedure. (E) If the individual conducting the home study finds an area of noncompliance, he or she must notify division staff who should then take the appropriate steps to address the noncompliance issue. (4)(A) The successful completion of all home assessment components as outlined will allow the Division of Children and Family Services to assess the quality and capability of resource homes. (B) The home assessment process will also assist prospective resource parents in determining if fostering is appropriate for them and, if so, prepare them for their new role. (5)(A) The home study may be conducted by designated Division of Children and Family Services staff, other contract providers, or by volunteers trained by designated Division of Children and Family Services staff. (B) The evaluator will complete the division-approved home study in accordance with established protocols. (g) Final walkthrough of the home and orientation. (1) Prior to approving an open resource home, Division of Children and Family Services staff will conduct a final walk-through of the home to ensure all resource home requirements have been met, and to review what to expect in the immediate future regarding a first placement. (2) This will include the Division of Children and Family Services and the resource parents signing the initial resource agreement, which provides a summary of the following information: (A) Expectations and responsibilities of the Division of Children and Family Services, the staff, and the resource parents; (B) Services to be provided; (C) Financial arrangements for the children placed in the home; (D) Authority that the resource parents can exercise for the children placed in their home; (E) Actions that require Division of Children and Family Services authorization; (F) Legal responsibility for damage or risk resulting from children in their home; (G) Division of Children and Family Services process and procedures for investigating complaints; and (H) Division of Children and Family Services procedure for giving advance notice of termination of a placement except for documented emergencies.