Applicability – These rules apply to Child-Placing Agencies and to Congregate Care

Applicability – These rules apply to Child-Placing Agencies and to Congregate Care Facilities which will accept admissions twenty-four (24) hours a day seven (7) days a week:  a. Therapeutic group homes b. Intake and Assessment Centers / Emergency Shelters c. Traditional group homes d. Therapeutic foster homes/ Traditional foster homes licensed under a private Child-Placing Agency umbrella e. Qualified Residential Treatment Programs (QRTP) f. Teen Maternity Homes g. Supervised independent living h. Specialized group care for minors who are victims of human trafficking  These rules do not apply to child caring entities or agencies that operate exclusively as:  a. A facility or program owned or operated by an agency of the State of Mississippi or United States government.  b. A facility or program operated by or under an exclusive contract with the Mississippi Department of Corrections.  c. Schools and educational programs and facilities whose primary purpose is to provide a regular course of study necessary for advancement to a higher educational level or completion of a prescribed course of study, and which may, incident to such educational purposes, provide boarding facilities to the students of such programs.  d. Any residential child-caring agency or child-placing agency operated or conducted under the auspices of a religious institution and meeting the requirements or conditions of this section is exempt from the licensure requirements of this article under the following conditions: i. Such religious institutions must have a tax-exempt status as a non- profit religious institution in accordance with Section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as amended, or the real property owned and exclusively occupied by the religious institution must be exempt from location taxation; and  ii. The agency must not be in violation of state law regarding the abuse or neglect of any child served by such home who has been adjudicated by the youth court as an abused or neglected child. iii. Nothing in this rule will prohibit a congregate care child caring agency or child placing agency operated by or conducted under the auspices of a religious institution from obtaining a license pursuant to this article.  e. Placement of custody under a power of attorney executed under Mississippi law.