General Requirements for Traditional and Therapeutic Foster Home Services – A

General Requirements for Traditional and Therapeutic Foster Home Services – A Partner Provider must satisfy these general requirements for licensing foster homes in addition to all other specific requirements. A Foster Home provides temporary care for a child who is in the custody of MDCPS and cannot return safely to his/her own home for some period. A Foster Home may also be a prospective adoptive home under the dual licensure policy of MDCPS. All Foster Homes must complete the same licensure requirements for foster or adoptive services. 1. A Partner Provider which provides Foster Home services must develop and follow written policies and procedures for these services. These policies and procedures must comply with the standards contained herein, as well as all other applicable MDCPS policies. Questions regarding the applicability of a MDCPS policy should be directed to the MDCPS Congregate Care Unit: Congregate.Care@mdcps.ms.gov 2. A Partner Provider that establishes and maintains a license for a Therapeutic Foster Home shall have Therapeutic Foster Care Specialists whose specific responsibilities must include at least the following: a. Recruitment and training of therapeutic foster parents: i. Partner Providers shall ensure that parents and families are trained in Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI). ii. Partner Providers shall ensure that parents and families are trained in verbal de-escalation techniques via a recognized model approved by MDCPS. b. Conducting interviews and other necessary work to appropriately place individual children/youth with prospective Traditional/Therapeutic Foster Parents. 3. Traditional and Therapeutic foster homes must be licensed within 120 days of receipt of initial inquiry. 4. A Partner Provider must maintain regular contact with Therapeutic Foster Care families and provide documentation of those contacts in the person’s record: a. The Partner Provider staff will conduct visits, at least, two (2) times a month when there are foster children placed in the home. One of those visits must be in the foster home to observe the members of the family together with the child. The other visit must include an interview with the child without the foster parent(s) present. b. Monthly contacts can be conducted by telephone or email when there are not foster children placed in the home. All visits must be documented in the child’s file and available upon request to the MDCPS Congregate Care Unit. 5. A Partner Provider must maintain regular contact with Traditional Foster Care Families and provide documentation of those contacts in the person’s record: a. The Partner Provider staff will conduct monthly in-home visits when there are foster children placed in the home. Monthly contacts can be conducted by telephone or email when there are not foster children placed in the home. b. More frequent contacts (in-home, telephone, email) may be required if there is a concerning issue facing the foster child/family or if there is an active Corrective Action Plan. 6. Ensure that the foster parents participate in Foster Parent Support Groups at least monthly.