6003.1 The agency shall:

1. (a) Provide the foster parent with accurate information about the foster child, including the reason the foster child is in foster care, within three (3) business days after placement;
2. (b) Provide the foster parent with medical records, including immunization records, for the foster child, within three (3) business days of placement;
3. (c) Help the foster parent to understand her or his rights and responsibilities;
4. (d) Include the foster parent in the development of any service agreements for each foster child in her or his care;
5. (e) Inform the foster parent of the foster child's permanency plan, keep the foster parent updated as to the progress of the achievement of that plan, and allow the foster parent to provide input into the plan;
6. (f) Explain payment criteria, including foster care board and care payments, clothing allowance, and any supplemental expenditures made to meet the foster child's needs;
7. (g) Evaluate the foster parent's ability to provide for the needs of the household on a case by case basis. If a foster parent has a financial problem, CFSA or the agency may assist the foster parent in accessing assistance through community resources;
8. (h) Provide appropriate supportive services, when available, that will enable the foster parent to meet the unique needs of the foster child and deal effectively with problems inherent in the foster child's adjustment to care;
9. (i) Respond as soon as possible to crisis situations that may arise from the foster child's placement in the foster home;
10. (j) Assist the foster parent in preparation for the separation of the foster child from foster care placement;
11. (k) Explain and provide pre-service and in-service training;
12. (l) Assist the foster parent in the selection, preparation, and completion of inservice foster parent training;
13. (m)
14. (1) Re-evaluate the foster parent and foster home every two years in accordance with §6029 of this chapter, and whenever there are changes that may affect:
    1. (i) The health, safety or well-being of the child; or
    2. (ii) The foster home; and
15. (2) Recommend either renewal, suspension, or revocation of the license as appropriate;

(n) Act in accordance with § 6024 when abuse or neglect is suspected in a foster home; and

(o) Obtain and maintain all pertinent records on the foster parent and each foster child for whom the foster parent has cared.

6003.2 The foster child's social worker shall maintain regular contact with the foster parent and the foster child. For a foster child placed in a foster home:

(a) During the first four (4) weeks after a foster child is placed in the foster home, the social worker shall visit the foster child in the foster home as frequently as is necessary to assure the foster child's adjustment to the placement but no less frequently than once a week.

(b) After the fourth week, the social worker shall visit the foster child as frequently as is necessary but no less frequently than twice a month. At least one (1) of the monthly visits by the social worker shall take place in the child's foster home. The other monthly visit may be at the child's school, day care or elsewhere.

(c) Every visit shall include a private visit with the foster child outside the presence of the foster parent except in those cases where the foster child is less than eighteen (18) months of age; and

(d) The contacts shall be more frequent when, in the social worker's professional judgment, it is appropriate.

SOURCE: Final Rulemaking published at 48 DCR 6617 (July 27, 2001); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 51 DCR 8609 (September 3, 2004); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 54 DCR 11051 (November 16, 2007).