Agency Employees and Court Personnel – Employees of MDCPS and Youth Court

Agency Employees and Court Personnel – Employees of MDCPS and Youth Court personnel can be licensed by an MDCPS contracted agency as non-relative foster parents for a child who is not related to the potential foster parent OR a child who is legally freed for adoption. The Deputy Commissioner of Clinical Support and the Office of Legal Counsel shall be consulted in these cases to assess for potential conflicts and barriers. The criteria are: 1. Employees cannot foster a child(ren) who is on their caseload and/or in their jurisdiction. 2. Court personnel who want to foster cannot be in the same court jurisdiction of the child(ren) that they will foster or the siblings to that child(ren). In such instances, an MDCPS attorney will file a motion to recuse in all cases where it is warranted. If any court personnel refuse to recuse themselves following a motion to do so, MDCPS may consider not placing/removing a child. 3. All employees/court personnel who are approved non-relative foster parents follow the same policies and procedures, regardless of their employment position. 4. The child’s MACWIS file will be restricted so the employee/court personnel cannot access the case file. 5. The Safety/Wellbeing Specialist/Supervisor and Assistant Deputy Commissioner over the appropriate unit and Service Area will decide whether to place the child in the home of the MDCPS employee/court personnel. 6. Any reports of maltreatment or concerns made while fostering will be addressed with no prejudice or special treatment of the employee/court personnel. 7. MDCPS may recommend closure of the home and removal of the child at any time due to reasonable suspicion of child abuse/neglect or for violating the foster parent agreement. 8. For MDCPS employees and court personnel considering licensure for relative/fictive kin children refer to the Relative/Fictive Kin Licensure Policy.