110 CMR 7.113 - Reassessment and License Renewal of Foster/Pre-adoptive Parents and Foster/Pre-adoptive Homes

(1) The Department shall annually re-assess foster/pre-adoptive parents and foster/pre-adoptive homes whether unrestricted, kinship or other child-specfic, in accordance with the procedure set forth in 110 CMR 7.113(1)(a). Every two years a license renewal will be conducted in place of the annual reassessment.

(a) The Department shall send re-assessment materials to the foster/pre-adoptive parent 45 working days prior to the re-assessment due date:

(b) The Department will thereafter:

1. interview the foster/pre-adoptive parents and other household members in the foster/pre-adoptive home;

2. obtain information from any Department social worker who has had a child in his/her caseload placed in the home in the previous year, and include information from any foster child then placed in the home, and thereafter enter a written summary of the interview results in the foster/pre-adoptive parent file;

3. review the foster/pre-adoptive parent file to examine written correspondence between the Department and the foster/pre-adoptive parent during the preceding year to review the Child Placement Agreements for children in the home in the year preceding the reassessment, to determine the foster/pre-adoptive parent's compliance with training requirements established by the Department; and determine the nature and extent of the foster/pre-adoptive parent's involvement in the implementation and review of the service plan for children placed in the home during the preceding year;

4. prepare a written evaluation of the foster/pre-adoptive parent(s) which may include a general description of the foster/pre-adoptive parent's performance in providing foster/pre-adoptive care; identification of the foster/pre-adoptive parent's particular strengths and weaknesses in providing foster/pre-adoptive care; and recommendations for eliminating weaknesses and capitalizing on strengths identified;

5. request criminal record and Central Registry checks and other background checks as required by Department Background Record Check Policy and 110 CMR 18.00 et seq. for all household members, other than foster children;

6. contact references seem by Department staff as useful to the re-evaluation;

7. review and update of the foster/pre-adoptive parent professional development plan;

8. review of the physical standards for foster/pre-adoptive homes, as set forth in 110 CMR 7.105 and Department Family Resource Policy, to ensure the home continues to meet these standards;

9. notify the foster/pre-adoptive parent, at least 15 working days prior to the re-assessment due date, of any issues that need resolution to continue the foster/-pre-adoptive parent license;

10. develop with the foster/pre-adoptive parent a plan to meet the identified outstanding issues needing resolution and a time frame for completion.

(c) Within ten working days after completing the re-assessment, the Department shall reach one of the following decisions shall notify the foster/pre-adoptive parents and shall enter a copy of the notification in the foster/pre-adoptive parent file:

1. The foster/pre-adoptive parent and foster/pre-adoptive home license is continued on the same terms, and with the same conditions, as existed prior to the re-assessment. For kinship or child-specific placement this means the child currently in the home remains.

2. The foster/pre-adoptive parent and foster/pre-adoptive home license is continued on terms, and with conditions, different from those which existed prior to the re-assessment, which new and different terms and conditions shall be set forth in writing. For kinship or child-specific placements this may mean that the home was licensed for a different or additional specific child.

3. The foster/pre-adoptive parent and/or the foster/pre-adoptive home license will not continue unless specific changes in circumstances or conditions are effected within a specified time period, not to exceed 14 days, and that if such changes are not effected within the time allotted, the child or children currently placed in the foster/pre-adoptive home will be removed from the placement, and the placement will cease to the approved.

4. For an unrestricted foster/pre-adoptive parent the license continues but the home's status is changed to a child-specific home.

5. The foster/pre-adoptive parent and/or the foster/pre-adoptive home are not re-approved, and all foster children residing in the home shall be removed.

(d) In any case in which the Department is delayed in completing the annual re-assessment, the unrestricted foster/pre-adoptive parent(s) and home shall continue to be licensed, until the Department completes the re-assessment and sends notice of its decision to the foster/pre-adoptive parent(s).

If the foster/pre-adoptive parent(s) appeal the revocation of their license via the fair hearing process, the license shall remain in effect until the fair hearing decision is issued.

(e) The foster/pre-adoptive parents shall receive a copy of the written evaluation upon request.

(2) The Department may, six months after a foster/pre-adoptive home is first licensed, conduct a review of the foster/pre-adoptive home whether unrestricted, kinship or child-specific. The review held under 110 CMR 7.113(2) may include, but not be limited to, the procedures set forth in 110 CMR 7.113(1). At the conclusion of the review the Department shall reach one of the decisions set forth in 110 CMR 7.113(1)(d). The Department shall send written notice to the foster/pre-adoptive parent of the outcome of the review.

(3) The Department shall conduct a license renewal study of all foster/pre-adoptive parent(s) and foster/pre-adoptive homes every two years, prior to the expiration date of the existing license, provided, however, that an existing license shall continue in full force and effect until the Department reaches decision as a result of the license renewal study and notifies the foster/pre-adoptive parent(s), in writing, of that decision. The license renewal study shall substitute for the annual re-assessment during the year that the license renewal study is conducted.

License renewal studies shall be conducted in accordance with the procedures set forth in 110 CMR 7.113(1)(a) and (b) and Department Family Resource Policy #2006-01 as well as the following:

(a) obtain and review a school reference for each school age child living in the foster/ pre-adoptive home and for any child participating in pre-school or a child care program;

(b) when necessary, obtain and review an employer reference for each foster/pre-adoptive parent and head of household whose employment status has changed since the last annual reassessment;

(c) when necessary, obtain and review a medical reference for each household member. Within ten working days after completing a license renewal study, the Department shall reach one of the decisions set forth in 110 CMR 7.113(1)(c), and shall notify the foster/pre-adoptive parent(s) of the decision in writing and shall enter a copy of the notification in the foster/pre-adoptive parent(s)' file.

(4) Whenever the Department has revoked or not renewed a license for a licensed foster/pre-adoptive parent(s), as a result of an annual or limited re-assessment, the Department shall remove all children from the foster/pre-adoptive home, unless the Department determines that it is in the child(ren)'s best interest to remain in the foster/pre-adoptive home. If the Department determines that it is in the child(ren)'s best interest to remain in the foster/pre-adoptive home, the home shall become a child specific home and subject to the same terms and conditions as any home approved under 110 CMR 7.108.

(5) The rights of foster/pre-adoptive parent(s) to appeal Department decisions under 110 CMR 7.113 or 7.113A are set forth in 110 CMR 10.06.

Notes

110 CMR 7.113