Arkansas Administrative Code

9 CAR § 40-416. Administering other client drug and alcohol screens. The Division of Children and Family Services employee will: (1) Refer to vendor information for screen (e.g., K2 strip, ALCO screen) collection procedures and interpreting results; (2) Under normal circumstances…

9 CAR § 40-417. Maintenance and reordering of drug and alcohol screens. (a) The county office will: (1) Store the drug screen kits at room temperature (do not leave drug screen kits in vehicles for storage purposes as this will impair the effectiveness of the drug kits); (2) Main…

9 CAR § 40-418. Services case opening for infants born to juveniles in the physical custody of the Division of Youth Services. (a) The Division of Children and Family Services is responsible for coordinating services with the Division of Youth Services to ensure that infants born…

9 CAR § 40-419. Coordination of services, care, and case opening for infants born to juveniles in the physical custody of the Division of Youth Services. (a) The Division of Children and Family Services responsibilities and duties: (1) To ensure the well-being of an infant born t…

9 CAR § 40-420. Service case opening for infants if abortion results in live birth. The Division of Children and Family Services is responsible for the immediate and on-going care of infants born alive as the result of an attempted abortion if before the abortion, the pregnant wo…

9 CAR § 40-421. Coordination of services, care, and case opening for infants if abortion results in live birth. (a) To ensure the well-being of an infant, when abortion results in live birth, the Family Service Worker (FSW) will: (1) Place an immediate hold on the infant, regardl…

9 CAR § 40-422. Services case opening for cases involving incarcerated parents. (a) The Division of Children and Family Services is responsible for coordinating services with the Department of Corrections and Arkansas Sheriff’s Association to ensure the immediate and on-going ass…

9 CAR § 40-423. Coordination of services, hearings, and visitation for incarcerated parents. (a) In order to ensure adequate communication with and provision of services to incarcerated parents, the Family Service Worker (FSW) will: (1)(A) Attempt to locate incarcerated parents a…

9 CAR § 40-424. Services case opening for cases involving active duty service members. (a)(1) The Division of Children and Family Services is responsible for coordinating services with Little Rock Air Force Base to ensure the immediate and on-going assessment and provision of ser…

9 CAR § 40-425. Coordination of services for active duty service members. (a) To ensure coordination of services for active duty service members, both on and off base, the Family Service Worker (FSW) will: (1)(A) Review the initial case connect contact to determine if Little Rock…

9 CAR § 40-501. Family assessments. (a) Overview. (1)(A) The assessment of a family’s strengths and needs is the basis for developing individualized goals and identifying services and supports to meet the family’s needs. (B) The family shall be a primary source of information for…

9 CAR § 40-502. Family assessments using the FAST and CANS. (a) The Family Service Worker will: (1) Explain the general purpose of the FAST or CANS to the family, as applicable; (2)(A) Meet several times with the parents, caregivers, children, service providers, and extended fami…

9 CAR § 40-503. Services case plan. (a)(1) The case plan is a written document that is a discrete part of the case record between the family and the Division of Children and Family Services that outlines a plan of services and supports and articulates needed changes in order to e…

9 CAR § 40-504. Case plan. (a) The Family Service Worker will: (1) Review the: (A) Most current FAST or CANS, as appropriate, for the child and family; (B) Investigation allegation; (C) Findings from the allegation; and (D) Reason for removal, if applicable; (2) Assign actionable…

9 CAR § 40-505. Policy — Case staffings. (a) A case staffing is a meeting of all involved parties for the purpose of assessing the current status of the child and family strengths and needs and developing or updating the case plan accordingly. (b) Case staffings will address all …

9 CAR § 40-506. Procedure — Case staffings. (a) The Family Service Worker will: (1) Invite supervisors, parents, or guardian, and if there is court involvement, Court- Appointed Special Advocate (CASA, if applicable), all parties’ attorneys, foster parents, caretaker, age-appropr…

9 CAR § 40-601. Services to preserve families in their homes. (a)(1) Services to preserve families and protect children encompass a comprehensive continuum of services designed to address the life needs of the child and the family. (2) These services include concrete services suc…

9 CAR § 40-602. Services to preserve families in their homes. The Family Service Worker will: (1)(A) Go to “Workload”, “Case” in CHRIS and complete the automated “Family Strengths and Needs Assessment” found within the “Case Plan”, “Assessment”, section of CHRIS on the “Family” a…

9 CAR § 40-603. Policy — Family service worker contacts. (a) The Division of Children and Family Services shall maintain a level of contact with the family adequate to: (1) Protect the health and safety of the child; (2) Protect the child from further child maltreatment; and (3) …

9 CAR § 40-604. Procedure — Family service worker contacts. (a) The Family Service Worker will: (1)(A) Visit the child and family in the home to address their assessed needs. (B) If there is a reason why the visit did not occur in the home, document the reason in the case record.…

9 CAR § 40-605. Family Support Fund. (a) The Division of Children and Family Services will ensure that staff has prompt access to the Family Support Fund to prevent children from entering or remaining in foster care due to the parents’ financial inability to: (1) Meet the childre…

9 CAR § 40-606. Child involved in protective services case who is missing. (a)(1) Occasionally there are instances when a child or youth involved in an open protective services case may run away or otherwise go missing. (2) In all instances of missing children who are part of an …

9 CAR § 40-607. When a child is reported missing from a family with an open protective services case. (a) The following applies to situations in which the child: (1) Has been taken from his or her parents, caretakers, or both, without authorization; and (2) Has run away independe…

9 CAR § 40-608. When a child involved in a protective services case who has been missing is located. (a) When a child involved in an open protective service case who has been missing is located, the FSW Caseworker will: (1) Encourage the parents to have the child examined by his …

9 CAR § 40-701. Out-of-home placement criteria. (a)(1) The State of Arkansas is not a voluntary placement state. (2) The removal of a child from his or her home must occur pursuant to a judicial order placing custody of the child with the Department of Human Services. (3) After t…

9 CAR § 40-702. Initial out-of-home placement determination. The Family Service Worker (FSW) will: (1) Contact the Office of Chief Counsel attorney immediately if there is any indication that the child is a member of an Indian tribe; (2)(A) Consider placement with appropriate rel…

9 CAR § 40-703. Out-of-home placement of underaged juvenile offender, juvenile offender, or sexual offender. (a)(1) If the child being placed has been identified as an exempted-from-finding underaged juvenile offender, or a juvenile offender, or a sexual offender, the child must …

9 CAR § 40-704. Placement of infants born to incarcerated mothers. (a)(1) The Division of Children and Family Services will accept referrals from the Department of Corrections social worker seeking to find appropriate placements for infants born to incarcerated mothers. (2) If th…

9 CAR § 40-705. Out-of-home placement by sheriff or police chief in emergency situations. In an emergency situation, a sheriff or police chief may place children in the Division of Children and Family Services foster homes only when the following criteria have been met: (1) The s…

9 CAR § 40-706. Out-of-home placement support. The Family Service Worker (FSW) will: (1)(A) If an initial clothing order is needed, discuss with the resource parent to determine which clothing items are needed, and issue the authorized amount of clothing allowance using the DHS-1…

9 CAR § 40-707. Concurrent planning. (a)(1) The Division of Children and Family Services will ensure timely permanency for children entering out-of-home placement. (2) Concurrent planning includes working towards the goal of returning the child to the parents while concurrently w…

9 CAR § 40-708. Consideration of relatives and fictive kin for children in foster care. (a)(1) The Division of Children and Family Services believes that safe and appropriate relatives and fictive kin are the best placements for children who must be removed from their homes to en…

9 CAR § 40-709. Trial home visit with noncustodial parents. (a) The Family Service Worker will: (1) Immediately ask the child, child’s parent or parents or legal guardian or guardians from whom custody was removed, and any available relatives or fictive kin to provide information…

9 CAR § 40-710. Provisional foster home placement for children in foster care. (a) The Family Service Worker will: (1) Ask the child’s parent or parents or legal guardian or guardians from whom custody was removed to provide information on appropriate relatives and fictive kin to…

9 CAR § 40-711. Relative and fictive kin custody for children in foster care. (a) The Family Service Worker will: (1) Ask the parent or parents or legal guardian or guardians from whom custody was removed to provide information on appropriate relatives to include, as available (i…

9 CAR § 40-712. Maintaining family ties in out-of-home-placements. (a)(1) Removal from the home and subsequent out-of-home placement are traumatic events for children. (2) One way this trauma may be minimized is by maintaining family ties in out-of-home placements. (3) Moreover, …

9 CAR § 40-713. Parent-child contact for children in out-of-home placements. (a) The Family Service Worker will: (1) Within five (5) working days of placement, assess and determine what, if any, evidence must be provided to the court to establish that supervised visitation is nec…

9 CAR § 40-714. Sibling contact for children in out-of-home placements. (a) The Family Service Worker will: (1)(A) Include in the case plan the reasons for the separation, if applicable, as well as the steps that will be taken to reunify the siblings in a single placement, if app…

9 CAR § 40-715. Other relative and fictive kin child contact in out-of-home placement. (a) The Family Service Worker will: (1) Assess and determine the frequency and length of contact with other relatives and fictive kin to recommend to the court; (2)(A) Arrange for contact with …

9 CAR § 40-716. Initial and general health services for children receiving out-of-home placement services. (a)(1) The Division of Children and Family Services shall ensure that all necessary medical services are provided to children receiving out-of-home placement services in ord…

9 CAR § 40-717. Initial health screening for children receiving out-of-home placement services. The Family Service Worker or Health Services Specialist will: (1) Ensure that each child who enters the custody of the Department of Human Services shall receive an initial health scre…

9 CAR § 40-718. Foster parent involvement in health care for children receiving out-of-home placement services. (a) The foster parents will: (1) Accompany the child to all medical appointments; and (2) Inform the Division of Children and Family Services of any scheduled medical v…

9 CAR § 40-719. Gathering and maintaining health records for children receiving out-of-home placement services. The Family Service Worker or Health Services Specialist will: (1) Gather each child’s healthcare history from healthcare providers who have evaluated or treated: (A) Th…

9 CAR § 40-720. Medical passport for children receiving out-of-home placement. The Family Service Worker or Health Services Specialist will: (1)(A) Develop and maintain the medical passport. (B) The medical passport will consist of the: (i) CFS- 352: Medical, Dental, Vision, Hear…

9 CAR § 40-721. Comprehensive health assessment and health plan for children receiving out-of-home placement services. (a)(1) A comprehensive health assessment of each child shall be completed. (2) The assessment shall be conducted under the supervision of: (A) A physician; and (…

9 CAR § 40-722. Comprehensive health assessment and Arkansas Children’s Hospital. (a) Comprehensive health assessment. The Family Service Worker or Health Services Specialist will: (1) Arrange to have the comprehensive health assessment completed within sixty (60) calendar days o…

9 CAR § 40-723. Health plan for children receiving out-of-home placement services, consent for treatment, and life sustaining treatment. (a) The FSW or Health Services Specialist will: (1) Sign any necessary consent for medical or dental treatment (excluding mental health service…