OAR 413-070-1000. Placement with a Fit and Willing Relative as a Permanency Plan

(1) Placement with a fit and willing relative is a permanency plan for a child or young adult in the care and custody of the Department. (2) The Department may consider placement with a fit and willing relative as a permanency plan for a child or young adult in the care or legal custody of the Department based on the individual safety, permanency, and well-being needs of the child or young adult, when: (a) A person who meets the requirements of OAR 413-070-1010 requests to be considered a fit and willing relative; and (b) The Department has determined; (A) The child or young adult is unable to safely return to the home of a parent; (B) There are no current Department actions to identify or assess a relative of the child or young adult who has expressed an interest in being an adoptive resource, or adoption is not in the best interests of the child or young adult; and (C) There are no current Department actions to identify or assess a relative of the child or young adult who has expressed an interest in being a guardian, or guardianship is not in the best interests of the child or young adult. (3) When considering placement with a fit and willing relative as the permanency plan, the caseworker must: (a) Consult with and seek input from the child or young adult 14 years of age or older and, at the option of the child or young adult, up to two members of the case planning team who are chosen by the child or young adult as described in OAR 413-040-0010(3)(c); (b) Consult with and seek input from the child or young adult as developmentally appropriate, regardless of the age of the child or young adult; (c) Discuss with the child or young adult as developmentally appropriate, regardless of the age of the child, how the placement with the relative could affect the child’s or young adult’s contact with his or her siblings. (d) Assess the parents’ acceptance of the fit and willing relative permanency plan, and their preference for continued contact with the child or young adult; and (e) Document in the electronic information system of the Department how the requirements of subsections (a) to (c) of this section were met.