1. (a)

   1. (1) Removal from the home and subsequent out-of-home placement are traumatic events for children.
   2. (2) One way this trauma may be minimized is by maintaining family ties in out-of-home placements.
   3. (3) Moreover, the Division of Children and Family Services believes that strengths of families and supporting these strengths contribute to life-long permanent relationships for children.
   4. (4) This belief is supported by research demonstrating that children who maintain positive family ties while in out-of-home placement achieve better short-term and long-term outcomes.
   5. (5) If court orders differ from the requirements outlined in this policy and related procedures regarding visits and contact with family members, the division will comply with court orders accordingly.

2. (b) Contact with parents.

   1. (1)

      1. (A) In order to maintain and strengthen the parent-child relationship, visits and other forms of contact with parents and their children in out-of-home placements are essential.
      2. (B) Visits between parents, including noncustodial and putative parents as applicable, and their children will occur at least weekly based upon the child’s best interest.
      3. (C) More frequent visits are encouraged, as appropriate.
      4. (D) A positive drug or alcohol screen in and of itself will not result in the postponement and/or withholding of visits between a parent and child in Department of Human Services custody unless:

3. (i) The parent is under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol at the time of the scheduled visit and has observable behavior indicating impairment of parenting capacity; or

   1. (ii) A court order specifies that a parent’s positive screen will result in the withholding of parent-child visits.

   2. (2)

      1. (A) There is a legal presumption that visits may be unsupervised unless evidence has been provided to and the court has made a ruling that unsupervised visitation is not in the best interest of the children involved.
      2. (B) The burden is upon division staff to provide evidence regarding why visits must be supervised or may be unsupervised.

   3. (3)

      1. (A) If the court orders supervised visitation, the parent from whom custody of the child has been removed will receive a minimum of four (4) hours of supervised visitation per week.
      2. (B) The court may order less than four (4) hours of supervised visitation if the court determines that the supervised visitation is not in the best interest of the child or will impose an extreme hardship on one (1) of the parties.

   4. (4)

      1. (A) Visits that have been ordered to be supervised may be graduated to unsupervised depending on the dynamics of the case.
      2. (B) Any division staff member as well as approved student interns and volunteers may supervise visits.
      3. (C) However, the appropriate supervisor will individualize each assignment to supervise visits.
      4. (D) When making the assignment, the supervisor will consider the family’s history, current level of functioning, and any other applicable factors as well as the skill set of the individual selected to supervise the visit.

   5. (5)

      1. (A) The preferred location for visits is the parent’s home or, if that is not possible, in the most home-like setting possible.
      2. (B) Office visits are a last resort.
      3. (C) Visits are encouraged to include any variety of quality family time activities such as visiting a library/story time at a library, playing at a park, making and enjoying a meal together, etc., as appropriate for an individual family.

   6. (6)

      1. (A) While children are in out-of-home placements, the division, in conjunction with foster parents and placement providers, will update parents regarding their children’s lives including providing information regarding, without limitation:

         1. (i) Status of physical, behavioral, and emotional health;
         2. (ii) Progress in school;
         3. (iii) Involvement in extracurricular activities; and
         4. (iv) Achievements.
      2. (B) Parents will be invited to participate in their children’s school, faith-based, and extracurricular activities as appropriate.

   7. (7)

      1. (A) The specific plan for visits between a child in out-of-home placement and his or her parents, as appropriate, will be included in the case plan.
      2. (B) As the family prepares for reunification, the frequency and/or length of visits will increase while the level of supervision will decrease accordingly.
      3. (C) The case plan will be updated as needed to reflect changes regarding visits and other contact.

   8. (8)

      1. (A) Foster parents and approved relative and fictive kin volunteers may communicate directly with biological parents when appropriate and in the child’s best interest to:

         1. (i) Give updates on the child’s progress;
         2. (ii) Inform them of the child’s school and extracurricular activities; and
         3. (iii) Share photos.

      2. (B) Foster parents and approved relative and fictive kin volunteers are also encouraged to consider supporting the parent-child relationship in other ways such as:

         1. (i) Helping the child write letters to his or her parents;
         2. (ii) Creating life books with the children to then share with the biological parents; and
         3. (iii) Presenting a positive view of the child’s parents to the child to the extent possible.
   9. (9) In addition, since foster parents can model positive parenting skills that may help the biological parents to achieve reunification, foster parents may consider hosting parent-child visits, if appropriate and acceptable to all individuals involved.

   10. (10) When assessing the appropriateness of foster parents and approved relative and fictive kin volunteers communicating directly with biological parents, holding parent-child visits in the foster parent home, or transporting the child to parent-child visits, the division will ensure the foster parents and approved relative and fictive kin volunteers thoroughly understand all court orders related to parent-child contact and consider:

       1. (A) Various family dynamics;
       2. (B) Progress of the case at that point in time; and
       3. (C) Experience and other skills sets of the foster family or approved relative and fictive kin volunteers.

   11. (11)

       1. (A) Division staff members will discuss with foster parents, approved relative and fictive kin volunteers and biological parents the level of comfort that both sets of parents have with foster parents or approved relative and fictive kin volunteers providing transportation to parent-child visits or, as applicable to foster parents hosting/supervising parent-child visits.

       2. (B) Staff will not expect foster parents to host/supervise parent-child visits and/or transport to parent-child visits:

          1. (i) During the first placement they have as foster parents; and
          2. (ii) During the first month of any open foster care case regardless of the number of times they have served as foster parents.
       3. (C) Exceptions to the above guidelines may be made if the foster parents express an interest in assisting with parent-child visits under these conditions.
       4. (D) Even when foster parents state they are willing to assist with parent-child visits during the first placement they have as foster parents or during the first month of any open foster care case, the FSW will make a decision regarding the foster parents’ involvement with parent-child visits after carefully assessing each individual case and the dynamics involved.
       5. (E) Even after the first month of an open foster care case, if foster parents desire to assist with parent-child visits, the FSW will continue to assess on a case-by-case basis the appropriateness of foster parent involvement for each foster care placement.

   12. (12)

       1. (A) The division will assist the foster parents and approved relative and fictive kin volunteers and biological parents in establishing appropriate expectations and boundaries regarding communication and interaction (e.g., frequency and specific times the biological parent may call and/or visit the foster home).

       2. (B) Any direct interaction between the biological parents and foster parents or approved relative and fictive kin volunteers in no way relieves the division of its duty to ensure the biological parents remain current on all aspects of their case and their children.

          1. (c) Contact with siblings.

   13. (1)

       1. (A) Sibling relationships are emotionally powerful and critically important not only in childhood, but over the course of a lifetime with sibling relationships likely to be the longest relationships most people experience.
       2. (B) Siblings include those individuals who would be considered a sibling under state/tribal law if it were not for the disruption in parental rights, such as a termination of parental rights or death of a parent.

   14. (2)

       1. (A) For children in out-of-home placements, sibling relationships can provide a significant source of continuity, stability, and comfort while in foster care.
       2. (B) As such, when it is in the best interest of each of the children and barring extenuating circumstances, siblings are entitled to be placed together in out-of-home placements.

   15. (3)

       1. (A) Siblings may be placed separately only if:

          1. (i)
4. (a) (a) Allegations of abuse between siblings are under investigation and/or have been founded.

5. (b) (b) An assessment must be conducted by a mental health professional within five (5) days of placing siblings in different placements due to the abuse allegations between the siblings that are under investigation and/or have been founded.

   1. (c) (c) The siblings may continue in the separated placements if the assessment by the mental health professional supports continuing the separated placements because placing the siblings together would be detrimental to the health, safety, or well-being of one (1) or more of the children as related to the abuse allegations and/or investigation findings;

      1. (ii) An assessment by a mental health professional determines that placing the siblings together would be detrimental to the health, safety, or well-being of one (1) or more of the children; or

         1. (iii) The division presents evidence to the court that there are no available placements that can take the entire sibling group.
      2. (B) If children must be separated, the division will attempt to place them in close proximity in order to facilitate regular and meaningful contact.
      3. (C) The division will ensure the reasons for the separation of siblings into different foster homes or other approved placements are regularly reassessed and targeted recruitment efforts continue to reunite the siblings.
      4. (D) The case plan must include when siblings will be reassessed to determine if they can be reunited at a later point in time.
      5. (E) If the reassessment determines reunification is appropriate, the plan for placing siblings together will be documented in the case plan as well.

   2. (4)

      1. (A) In an effort to maintain sibling connections for those siblings who are placed separately, the siblings’ case will be reviewed by the court at least once every ninety (90) days to determine whether there have been reasonable efforts to reunite the siblings and to allow regular and meaningful contact with the siblings.
      2. (B) If the court approves a paper review, the ninety-day court reviews of separated siblings may be satisfied by such a review and a hearing is not required.

   3. (5)

      1. (A) In addition, siblings who must be placed separately will have consistent and meaningful contact at least weekly when possible.
      2. (B) While face-to-face visits in home-like settings or other family-friendly locations are preferred and encouraged, other forms of communication such as phone calls, emails, and Skype or FaceTime (or similar program) conversations are permissible, as age and developmentally appropriate, to meet the weekly contact requirement.
      3. (C) However, siblings who are placed separately will have at least biweekly face-to-face visits unless a FSW supervisor grants a visit waiver.
      4. (D) The plan for sibling visits and other contact will be outlined in the case plan.
      5. (E) Visits or other forms of contact with siblings will not be withheld by the division or any placement provider as a behavioral consequence unless there are documented safety concerns for one (1) or more of the siblings.

   4. (6)

      1. (A) Siblings also have the right to remain actively involved in each other’s lives.
      2. (B) Aside from regularly scheduled visits, the division, foster parents, approved relative and fictive kin volunteers, and other placement providers will work together to allow siblings to share celebrations including birthdays, holidays, graduations, and other meaningful milestones when possible.
      3. (C) The division, foster parents, approved relative and fictive kin volunteers, and other placement providers will also collaborate to ensure siblings attend each other’s extracurricular events such as athletic events, musical performances, and faith-based events when reasonable and practical.

   5. (7)

      1. (A) The division will ensure siblings are included in one another’s case plan staffing decisions and permanency planning decisions as age and developmentally appropriate.
      2. (B) Siblings will also be notified when another sibling has a change in placement or exits foster care as age and developmentally appropriate.
      3. (C) When a sibling leaves foster care, that sibling will be allowed, as appropriate, to maintain contact with a sibling who remains in an out-of-home placement.

      4. (D) The division will also strive to help children in foster care maintain relationships with their siblings who are not in out-of-home placements or who have been adopted or placed in permanent custody or guardianship.

         1. (d) Contact with relatives and other fictive kin.
   6. (1) In an effort to ensure foster care supports the permanency and well-being of the children in department custody, children may have an opportunity to visit or have other forms of contact with noncustodial parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, other relatives, and fictive kin provided the visits are in the best interest of the children.
   7. (2) It is the responsibility of the division to explore the willingness and appropriateness of identified relatives and fictive kin interested in being involved in the lives of children in out-of-home placements.

6. (e) Contact after termination of parental rights.

   1. (1) If it is in the child’s best interest, visits with relatives may continue after termination of parental rights (TPR).
   2. (2) Visits after TPR will continue until an adoptive placement is made or the out-of-home placement case is closed.
   3. (3) The division will encourage adoptive parents to consider allowing contact between biological relatives and fictive kin with their adopted children, as appropriate.
   4. (4) Continuation of visits with relatives does not include the parents for whom the agency has obtained TPR.

Codification Notes: This section as promulgated prior to codification into the Code of Arkansas Rules provided as follows: "01/2020"