As used in this part:

1. (1) "Adoption agency" means a child placement agency that places, plans for, or assists in the placement of an unrelated minor in a household of one (1) or more persons who have been approved to accept a child for adoption;
2. (2) "Adoptive home" means a household of one (1) or more persons that has been approved by a licensed child placement agency to accept a child for adoption;

3. (3) "Adverse action" means any petition by the Department of Human Services before the Child Welfare Agency Review Board to take any of the following actions against a licensee or applicant for a license:

   1. (A) Revocation of license;
   2. (B) Suspension of license;
   3. (C) Conversion of license from regular or provisional status to probationary status;
   4. (D) Imposition of a civil penalty;
   5. (E) Denial of application; or
   6. (F) Reduction of licensed capacity;
4. (4) "Alternative compliance" means approval from the Child Welfare Agency Review Board to allow a licensee to deviate from the letter of a rule provided that the licensee has demonstrated how an alternate plan of compliance will meet or exceed the intent of the rule;
5. (5) "Board" means the Child Welfare Agency Review Board;

6. (6) "Boarding school" means an institution that:

   1. (A) Is operated solely for educational purposes; and

   2. (B) Meets each of the following criteria:

      1. (i) The institution is in operation for a period of time not to exceed the minimum number of weeks of classroom instruction required of schools accredited by the Department of Education;
      2. (ii) The children in residence must customarily return to their family homes or legal guardians during school breaks and must not be in residence year-round, except that this provision does not apply to students from foreign countries; and
      3. (iii) The parents of children placed in the institution retain custody, planning, and financial responsibility for the children;

7. (7) "Child" means a person who is:

   1. (A) From birth to eighteen (18) years of age; or
   2. (B) Adjudicated dependent-neglected, dependent, or a member of a family in need of services before eighteen (18) years of age and for whom the juvenile division of a circuit court retains jurisdiction under the Arkansas Juvenile Code of 1989, Arkansas Code § 9-27-301 et seq.;

8. (8) "Child placement agency" means a child welfare agency, not including any person licensed to practice medicine or law in the State of Arkansas, that engages in any of the following activities:

   1. (A) Places a child in a foster home, adoptive home, or any type of facility licensed or exempted by this part;
   2. (B) Plans for the placement of a child into a foster home, adoptive home, or any type of facility licensed or exempted by this part;
   3. (C) Assists the placement of a child in a foster home, adoptive home, or any type of facility that is licensed or exempted by this part; or
   4. (D) Places, plans, or assists in the placement of a child victim of human trafficking in a home or any type of shelter or facility;

9. (9) "Child welfare agency" means any person, corporation, partnership, voluntary association, or other entity or identifiable group of entities having a coordinated ownership of controlling interest, whether established for profit or otherwise, that engages in any of the following activities:

   1. (A) Receives a total number of six (6) or more unrelated minors for care on a twenty-four-hour basis for the purpose of ensuring that the minors receive care, training, education, custody, or supervision, whether or not there are six (6) or more children cared for at any single physical location;
   2. (B) Places any unrelated minor for care on a twenty-four-hour basis with persons other than themselves;
   3. (C) Plans for or assists in the placements described in subdivision (8)(B) of this section; or
   4. (D) Places, plans, or assists in the placement of a child victim of human trafficking in a home or any type of shelter or facility;

10. (10) "Church-related exemption" means:

    1. (A) Any church or group of churches that are exempt from the state income tax levied by the Income Tax Act of 1929, Arkansas Code § 26-51-101 et seq., when operating a child welfare agency, shall be exempt from obtaining a license to operate the facility by receipt from the Child Welfare Agency Review Board of written request therefor, together with the written verifications;
    2. (B) A written request shall be made by those churches desiring exemption to the Child Welfare Agency Review Board, which is mandated under the authority of this part to license all child welfare agencies;
    3. (C) In order to maintain an exempt status, the child welfare agency shall state every two

11. (2) years in written form, signed by the persons in charge, that the agency:

    1. (i) Has met the fire, safety, and health inspections; and

       1. (ii) Is in substantial compliance with published standards that similar nonexempt child welfare agencies are required to meet; and
    2. (D) Visits to review and advise exempt agencies shall be made as deemed necessary by the Child Welfare Agency Review Board to verify and maintain substantial compliance with all published standards for nonexempt agencies;
12. (11) "Emergency child care" means any residential childcare facility that provides care to children on a time-limited basis, not to exceed ninety (90) days;
13. (12) "Emergency family style care" means any child welfare agency that provides twenty-four-hour custodial care in a homelike setting for six (6) or more unrelated children or a child victim of human trafficking on an emergency basis, not to exceed ninety (90) days;

14. (13)

    1. (A) "Emergency residential childcare facility" means any child welfare agency that provides twenty-four-hour custodial care for six (6) or more unrelated children or a child victim of human trafficking on an emergency basis, not to exceed ninety (90) days.

    2. (B) Any child admitted as an emergency placement shall be:

       1. (i) Designated as such; and
       2. (ii) Discharged within ninety (90) days;

15. (14)

    1. (A) "Exempt child welfare agency" means any person, corporation, partnership, voluntary association, or other entity, whether established for profit or otherwise, that otherwise fits the definition of a child welfare agency but that is specifically exempt from the requirement of obtaining a license under this part.

    2. (B) Those agencies specifically exempt from the license requirement are:

       1. (i) A facility or program owned or operated by an agency of the United States Government;

       2. (ii)

          1. (a) (a) Any agency of the State of Arkansas that is statutorily authorized to administer or supervise child welfare activities.
          2. (b) (b) In order to maintain exempt status, the state child welfare agency shall state every two (2) years in written form, signed by the persons in charge, that their agency is in substantial compliance with published state agency child welfare standards.
       3. (c) (c) Visits to review and advise exempt state agencies shall be made as deemed necessary by the Child Welfare Agency Review Board to verify and maintain substantial compliance with the standards;
       4. (iii) A facility or program owned or operated by or under contract with the Department of Corrections;
       5. (iv) A hospital providing acute care licensed pursuant to Arkansas Code § 20-9-201 et seq.;
       6. (v) Any facility governed by the Department of Human Services State Institutional System Board or its successor;
       7. (vi) Human development centers regulated by the Board of Developmental Disabilities Services pursuant to the Arkansas Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Act, Arkansas Code § 20-48-201 et seq.;
       8. (vii) Any facility licensed as a family home, pursuant to the Location Act for Community Homes for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Arkansas Code § 20-48-601 et seq.;
       9. (viii) Any boarding school, as defined in this section;
       10. (ix) Any temporary camp, as defined in this section;

       11. (x)

           1. (a) (a) Any:
16. (1) (1) State-operated facility to house juvenile delinquents; or

17. (2) (2) Serious offender program facility operated by a state designee to house juvenile delinquents.

    1. (b) (b) Those facilities shall be subject to program requirements modeled on nationally recognized correctional facility standards that shall be developed, administered, and monitored by the Division of Youth Services of the Department of Human Services;

       1. (xi) Any child welfare agency operated solely by a religious organization that elects to be exempt from licensing and that complies within the conditions of the exemption for church-operated agencies as set forth in this part;
       2. (xii) The Division of Developmental Disabilities Services; and
       3. (xiii) Any developmental disabilities services waiver provider who is licensed under Arkansas Code § 20-48-208 or the Location Act for Community Homes for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities;

18. (15) "Foster care placement agency" means a child placement agency that places, plans for, or assists in the placement of:

    1. (A) An unrelated minor in a private residence of one (1) or more family members for care and supervision on a twenty-four-hour basis; or
    2. (B) A child victim of human trafficking in a home;

19. (16)

    1. (A) "Foster home" means a private residence of one (1) or more family members that receives from a child placement agency any child who is unattended by a parent or guardian in order to provide care, training, education, or supervision on a twenty-four-hour basis, not to include adoptive homes.
    2. (B) "Foster home" does not include a home suspended or closed by a child placement agency;
20. (17) "Independent living" means a child welfare agency that provides specialized services in adult living preparation in an experiential homelike setting for persons sixteen (16) years of age or older;
21. (18) "Independent living family style care" means a child welfare agency that provides specialized services in adult living preparation in an experiential homelike setting for persons sixteen (16) years of age or older;
22. (19) "Minimum standards" means those rules, as established by the Child Welfare Agency Review Board, that set forth the minimum acceptable level of practice for the care of children by a child welfare agency;

23. (20)

    1. (A) "Placement residential" means a child placement agency that places, plans for, or assists in the placement of:

       1. (i) An unrelated minor into a residential childcare facility; or
       2. (ii) A child victim of human trafficking in any type of shelter or facility.
    2. (B) The agency may be licensed for any or all types of licenses, depending on the types of services it provides;

24. (21)

    1. (A) "Probationary" means a type of license issued to an agency that has not maintained compliance with minimum licensing standards, but the Child Welfare Agency Review Board believes that compliance can be restored and subsequently maintained.
    2. (B) This license may be issued for up to one (1) year, at the discretion of the Child Welfare Agency Review Board;

25. (22) "Provisional foster home" means a foster home opened for no more than six (6) months by the Division of Children and Family Services of the Department of Human Services for a relative or fictive kin of a child in the custody of the Division of Children and Family Services of the Department of Human Services after it:

    1. (A) Conducts a health and safety check, including a Child Maltreatment Central Registry check and a criminal background check, or a check with local law enforcement, of the relative's home; and
    2. (B) Performs a visual inspection of the home of the relative to verify that the relative and the home will meet the standards for opening a regular foster home;

26. (23)

    1. (A) "Psychiatric residential treatment facility" means a residential childcare facility in a nonhospital setting that provides a structured, systematic, therapeutic program of treatment, under the supervision of a psychiatrist, for children who are emotionally disturbed and in need of daily nursing services, psychiatrist's supervision, and residential care, but who are not in an acute phase of illness requiring the services of an inpatient psychiatric hospital.
    2. (B) A psychiatric residential treatment facility is a “regulated facility” under Arkansas Code § 9-28-1301(2);
27. (24) "Relative" means a person within the fifth degree of kinship by virtue of blood or adoption;
28. (25) "Religious organization" means a church, synagogue, mosque, or association of same whose purpose is to support and serve the propagation of truly held religious beliefs;

29. (26) "Residential childcare facility" means any child welfare agency that:

    1. (A) Provides care, training, education, custody, or supervision on a twenty-four-hour basis for six (6) or more unrelated children, excluding foster homes that have six (6) or more children who are all related to each other but who are not related to the foster parents; or
    2. (B) Receives a child victim of human trafficking in any type of shelter or facility;

30. (27) "Residential family style care" means any child welfare agency that:

    1. (A) Provides care, training, education, custody, or supervision in a homelike setting on a twenty-four-hour basis for six (6) or more unrelated minors; or
    2. (B) Receives a child victim of human trafficking in any type of shelter or facility;

31. (28)

    1. (A) "Sexual rehabilitative program" means a treatment program that offers a specific and specialized therapeutic program for children with sexually maladaptive behaviors.

    2. (B) A licensed sexual rehabilitative program may be in a:

       1. (i) Residential childcare facility;
       2. (ii) Therapeutic foster care home; or
       3. (iii) Psychiatric residential treatment facility;

32. (29) "Special consideration" means approval from the Child Welfare Agency Review Board to allow a licensee to deviate from the letter of a rule if the licensee has demonstrated that the deviation:

    1. (A) Is in the best interest of the children; and
    2. (B) Does not pose a risk to persons served by the licensee;

33. (30)

    1. (A) "Substantial compliance" means compliance with all essential standards necessary to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the children in the care of the child welfare agency.

    2. (B) Essential standards include, without limitation, those relating to issues involving:

       1. (i) Fire;
       2. (ii) Health;
       3. (iii) Safety;
       4. (iv) Nutrition;
       5. (v) Discipline;
       6. (vi) Staff-to-child ratio; and
       7. (vii) Space;

34. (31) "Temporary camp" means any facility or program providing twenty-four-hour care or supervision to children that meets the following criteria:

    1. (A) The facility or program is operated for recreational, educational, or religious purposes only;
    2. (B) No child attends the program more than forty (40) days in a calendar year; and
    3. (C) The parents of children placed in the program retain custody, planning, and financial responsibility for the children during placement;

35. (32)

    1. (A) "Therapeutic foster care" means any child placement agency that places, plans for, or assists in the placement of an unrelated minor or a child victim of human trafficking in a therapeutic foster home.
    2. (B) Therapeutic foster care is intensive therapeutic care for children provided in specially trained family homes supported by licensed mental health professionals, as recognized by the Arkansas Medicaid Program.

    3. (C) A therapeutic foster care program is a family-based services delivery approach providing individualized treatment for:

       1. (i) Children;
       2. (ii) Youth; and
       3. (iii) Their families.
    4. (D) Treatment is delivered through an integrated set of services with key interventions and supports that are provided by therapeutic foster parents who are trained, supervised, and supported by qualified program staff.

    5. (E) Therapeutic foster care services shall be provided:

       1. (i) In a separately identified program of a larger agency; or
       2. (ii) By an independent agency;

36. (33)

    1. (A) "Therapeutic foster care — sexual rehabilitative program" means a treatment program that offers a specific and specialized therapeutic program for children with sexually maladaptive behaviors.

    2. (B) A licensed sexual rehabilitative program may be in a:

       1. (i) Residential childcare facility;
       2. (ii) Therapeutic foster care home; or
       3. (iii) Psychiatric residential treatment facility;
37. (34) "Transitional living" means any child welfare agency that provides specialized services in adult living preparation in a structured setting for persons eighteen (18) years of age or older who have been admitted into the agency’s residential program prior to eighteen (18) years of age; and

38. (35) "Unrelated minor" means a child who is not:

    1. (A) Related by blood, marriage, or adoption to the owner or operator of the child welfare agency; and
    2. (B) A ward of the owner or operator of the child welfare agency pursuant to a guardianship order issued by a court of competent jurisdiction.