Part 40. Policy and Procedure Manual

9 CAR § 40-766. Private licensed placement agency (PLPA) resource homes. (a)(1) A private licensed placement agency (PLPA) is a child placement agency licensed by the child welfare agency review board to recruit, train, approve, and support their own resource homes. (2) A PLPA re…

9 CAR § 40-767. Referrals for private licensed placement agency (PLPA) resource homes. (a) If the Family Service Worker (FSW) determines a private licensed placement agency (PLPA) resource home to be the most appropriate placement for a child, he or she will: (1) Complete CFS-367…

9 CAR § 40-768. Private licensed placement agency (PLPA) resource home transitioning to the Division of Children and Family Services resource home. (a) If a current private licensed placement agency (PLPA) resource home wishes to become a Division of Children and Family Services …

9 CAR § 40-769. Former private licensed placement agency (PLPA) resource home reopening as DCFS resource home. For former PLPA resource homes that express interest in opening as a Division of Children and Family Services resource home, the Resource Worker will: (1) Request a refe…

9 CAR § 40-770. Foster Care Driving Program and Car Insurance Reimbursement Program for youth in out-of-home placement. (a)(1) An important rite of passage for many young adults is learning to drive and earning their driver’s license. (2) The Division of Children and Family Servi…

9 CAR § 40-801. Resource home definitions and roles. (a)(1) The development of quality resource homes is a process essential for ensuring the safety and well-being of children in care while concurrently supporting children’s permanency goals. (2) The Department of Human Services,…

9 CAR § 40-802. Resource home recruitment and retention. (a)(1) The Division of Children and Family Services will recruit enough resources families to ensure that all children are placed in the least-restrictive, most family-like setting that meets each child’s individual needs. …

9 CAR § 40-803. Resource parent recruitment. (a)(1) All staff should participate in recruitment efforts. (2) While the following is not a comprehensive list, staff will: (A) Actively seek out relatives and fictive kin as emergency placement options for every child entering foster…

9 CAR § 40-804. Retention of foster homes. (a) All Division of Children and Family Services staff will: (1) Ensure good communication among all team members, as well as mutual respect, understanding, and honesty; (2) Keep resource parents informed of division programs, services, …

9 CAR § 40-805. Information meetings. The Resource Unit staff or designee will: (1) Address the following topics at the information meeting: (A) Overview of foster care; (B) Demographics and characteristics of children in care; (C) Types of resource homes needed in the county; (D…

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 …

9 CAR § 40-807. Denial of a resource home applicant. If at any point during the home assessment the Division of Children and Family Services determines that an applicant does not meet the standards or any other criteria of a quality resource home, the division will deny approval …

9 CAR § 40-808. Denial as a result of negative results of a background check. The Resource Worker or designee will: (1) Share the results with the applicant and inform them of their ineligibility to attend training; (2)(A) For denials related to criminal background check record r…

9 CAR § 40-809. Denial as a result of the in-home consultation visit. (a) The Resource Worker will: (1)(A) Inform the family of their noncompliance with any identified standard or policy and determine if the family is willing or able to implement a safeguard measure in a timely m…

9 CAR § 40-810. Denial as a result of the home assessment. The Resource Worker Supervisor or designee will: (1) Send a denial letter to all applicants who are not approved and document in provider contact information screen in the Division of Children and Family Services informat…

9 CAR § 40-811. Resource home monitoring and reevaluation. (a)(1) In order to ensure continued quality of all the Division of Children and Family Services resource homes, the division will monitor resource homes at least quarterly and conduct a complete reevaluation of each resou…

9 CAR § 40-812. Resource home reopening. (a)(1) In order to secure the best placement for each child in foster care, the Division of Children and Family Services seeks to maintain a large pool of quality resource homes. (2) For this reason, the division will consider reopening re…

9 CAR § 40-813. Reopening a resource home. (a) For former resource homes that have been closed and express interest in reopening, the Resource Worker will: (1) Complete new background checks (i.e., Child Maltreatment Central Registry check, applicable out-of-state child maltreatm…

9 CAR § 40-814. Alternate care for children in out-of-home placement. (a)(1) Alternate care for children in out-of-home placement may be used to assist resource parents when circumstances requiring supervision by an appropriate adult other than the resource parents exist. (2) The…

9 CAR § 40-815. Providing information to and gathering information from resource parents. (a)(1) Resource parents will be considered as team members working with other child welfare professionals for the family. (2) Complete information, such as a child’s health and education rec…

9 CAR § 40-816. Division of Children and Family Services contact with children in out-of-home placements. (a)(1) Regular, quality contact between the Division of Children and Family Services (the division) and a child in an out-of-home placement can be one source of vital constan…

9 CAR § 40-817. Supervision of children in out-of-home placements. (a) The Family Service Worker will: (1)(A) Regularly inform the child and placement provider when visits will take place (though unannounced visits are allowable when necessary). (B) Keep all scheduled visit appoi…

9 CAR § 40-818. Division contact with biological parents, legal custodians, and legal guardians involved in out-of-home placement cases. (a) Regular communication and quality interaction between the Division of Children and Family Services and the biological parents, the legal cu…

9 CAR § 40-819. Caseworker contacts with biological parents. The Family Service Worker will: (1) Conduct the first face-to-face visit with the biological parents within five (5) days of the child entering an out-of-home placement in order to: (A) Introduce himself or herself, if …

9 CAR § 40-820. Child maltreatment allegations concerning out-of-home placements. (a) Overview. (1)(A) All child maltreatment allegations concerning any person in a resource home will be investigated in accordance with Arkansas Code § 12-18-602 of the Child Maltreatment Act, Arka…

9 CAR § 40-821. Initial report response. (a) When any initial report of child maltreatment is made and concerns any person in a resource home, the Crimes Against Children Division investigator will begin an investigation within twenty-four (24) hours for Priority I allegations or…

9 CAR § 40-822. Response to unsubstantiated findings. (a) If the child maltreatment allegation is unsubstantiated, the FSW Resource Worker will: (1) Collaborate with the FSW Investigator and the child’s or children’s FSW Caseworker to write a request to the Resource Family Review…

9 CAR § 40-823. Response to true determination pending due process. (a) If the child maltreatment allegation is determined to be true, the FSW Caseworker will: (1) Reassess the corrective action plan for the resource home, if applicable, in collaboration with the FSW Resource Wor…

9 CAR § 40-824. Response to true determination overturned on administrative appeal when the resource home is still open. (a) The FSW Caseworker will: (1)(A) Arrange and hold a staffing with the FSW Supervisor, Resource Worker, and Resource Worker Supervisor within three (3) busin…

9 CAR § 40-825. Response to true finding overturned on administrative appeal when the foster home has previously been closed. (a)(1) If the resource home has been closed and requests the Division of Children and Family Services to reopen the home, the FSW Resource Worker will arr…

9 CAR § 40-826. Response to true determination upheld on administrative appeal. (a)(1) If the true determination is upheld by the administrative hearing, the resource home may remain open for any of the children currently placed in the home if it can be shown that it is in the be…

9 CAR § 40-827. Changes in out-of-home placement. (a)(1) The Division of Children and Family Services recognizes that stable placements for children in Department of Human Services custody result in a lesser amount of trauma to and better long-term outcomes for children who must …

9 CAR § 40-828. Foster parent request for placement change. (a) If a request for removal is made by the foster parent, the Family Service Worker will: (1)(A) Remove the child immediately without holding a staffing if the request for removal from the foster parent meets the defini…

9 CAR § 40-829. Nonemergency changes in out-of-home placement. (a) The Family Service Worker will: (1) Conference with supervisor as necessary regarding change in placement; (2) Provide written notice to the child’s birth parent or parents at least two (2) weeks prior to any plac…

9 CAR § 40-830. Emergency changes in out-of-home placement. (a) The Family Service Worker will: (1) Notify the FSW supervisor immediately of the emergency placement change; (2)(A) Notify the child’s birth parent or parents, Office of Chief Counsel attorney, and attorney ad litem …

9 CAR § 40-831. Financial support to resource parents. (a) The Division of Children and Family Services provides foster care maintenance payments for a child in foster care to help defray the costs of providing: (1) Food; (2) Shelter; (3) Clothing; (4) Daily supervision; (5) Stan…

9 CAR § 40-832. Financial support to foster parents. (a)(1) The Division of Children and Family Services shall pay foster parents a monthly board rate according to the following chart. (2) These rates are effective for board payments of November 2009 and after: Birth through 5 ye…

9 CAR § 40-833. Requesting a special board rate. (a) The Family Service Worker will: (1) Check documentation of the child’s special need or needs and the additional activities required of the foster parents to meet the need or needs; (2) Complete the CFS-304: Justification of Spe…

9 CAR § 40-834. Child missing from an out-of-home placement. (a)(1) Occasionally there are instances when a child or youth may leave an out-of-home placement without authorization. (2) Any of these instances will result in immediate action from the placement provider as outlined …

9 CAR § 40-835. When a child is reported missing from an out-of-home placement. (a) After receiving notification of the child’s disappearance by the placement provider, the primary Family Service Worker (FSW) Caseworker will: (1)(A) Notify the child’s custodial or noncustodial pa…

9 CAR § 40-836. When a child missing from an out-of-home placement is located. (a) When a child missing from an out-of-home placement is located, the primary Family Service Worker will: (1) Ensure the child has a physical exam by his or her primary care physician, if possible, wi…

9 CAR § 40-901. Transitional Youth Services. (a)(1) The purpose of Transitional Youth Services (TYS) is to better prepare youth in Division of Children and Family Services custody, who are in an out-of-home placement or whose adoption or guardianship is finalized at sixteen (16) …

9 CAR § 40-902. Referral for transitional services. (a) The Family Service Worker will: (1)(A) Complete the CFS-001: Referral for Transitional Services & Support on all youth entering foster care between fourteen (14) and eighteen (18) years of age. (B) The CFS-001: Referral for …

9 CAR § 40-903. Youth transitional plan and life plan. (a) The Family Service Worker will: (1) Develop a transitional plan with all youth in foster care between fourteen (14) and twenty-one (21) years of age, and for all youth who turn fourteen (14) years of age while in foster c…

9 CAR § 40-904. Interagency support for youth with disabilities. (a) In order to promote continuity of care for youth with disabilities, the Adult Protective Services Unit of the Department of Human Services, the Division of Children and Family Services, the Division of Youth Ser…

9 CAR § 40-905. Extended foster care. (a)(1) Even after reaching the legal age of majority (that being eighteen (18) years of age), all youth need additional support and access to an array of resources as they continue their transition into adulthood. (2) As such, youth who are e…

9 CAR § 40-906. Extended foster care. The Family Service Worker, with support from the Transitional Youth Services Coordinator, will: (1) Explain and complete CFS-009: Extended Foster Care Agreement with the youth when the youth decides to participate in extended foster care and …

9 CAR § 40-907. TYS sponsors. (a) The Family Service Worker, with support from the TYS Coordinator, will: (1)(A) Assist the youth in locating and choosing a sponsor who is not the person from whom the youth was removed. (B) Before finalizing a sponsor for a youth, a Division of A…

9 CAR § 40-908. After care services and support. (a)(1) After care funds may provide assistance and services to youth who have left foster care because they have attained eighteen (18) years of age and who have not attained twenty-one (21) years of age. (2) The youth must have be…

9 CAR § 40-909. After care and follow-up. (a) If the youth is still in foster care, the Family Service Worker will: (1)(A) Work with the youth requesting after care support. (B) Request will be made via CFS-004: Request for After Care Support; (2) Send CFS-004: Request for After …