6028 LICENSING PROCESS

6028.1 The licensing process includes the following:

1. (a) An initial contact between an applicant and the agency;
2. (b) The agency's provision of in-depth information about foster care in accordance with § 6026.2;
3. (c) The opportunity for an applicant to assess his or her potential for foster parenting, including the number and characteristics of the foster children for whom the applicant is best suited;
4. (d) The opportunity for the agency to study and assess a prospective household's potential for foster children, including the number and characteristics of the foster children for whom the household is best suited;
5. (e) The applicant's completion of a foster parent application, using a form provided or approved by CFSA;
6. (f) The applicant's completion of forms consenting to the release of confidential information;
7. (g) The applicant's completion of orientation in accordance with § 6026.1 and of thirty (30) hours of pre-service training in accordance with § 6026.2;
8. (h) A home study in accordance with § 6027.3;
9. (i) The agency's decision to recommend the licensure or denial of the applicant as a foster parent; and
10. (j) CFSA's decision to approve or deny the applicant as a foster parent.

6028.2 The in-depth information about foster care provided by an agency to an applicant shall include, but is not limited to:

1. (a) The definition and goals of foster care;
2. (b) The differences between foster parenting, parenting one's own child, and adoption of a child;
3. (c) The circumstances which may result in a child being placed in foster care;
4. (d) The characteristics of children needing foster care placement, including problems and needs;
5. (e) The characteristics of parents whose children are placed in foster care, their problems, needs, rights, and responsibilities, including visitation;
6. (f) The roles and responsibilities of a foster parent to a foster child, the foster child's parents, the agency, and the foster parent's own family;
7. (g) The roles and responsibilities of the agency to the foster parent, foster child, and their families;

(h) The impact foster care may have on the foster parent and her or his family;

(i) The impact that separation and placement have on a foster child, the foster child's family, and the foster parent and her or his family;

(j) The nature and purpose of the agency's planning documents, including the permanency plan, the case plan, and the service agreement;

(k) Explanation of the hierarchy of permanency plan options, which is in the following order:

(1) Return home to parents;

(2) Placement with relatives;

(3) Adoption; and

(4) Independent living;

(l) The foster home requirements as set forth in this chapter of the DCMR;

(m) The option to be considered as an adoptive home for children who have been placed in the foster home and for whom the permanency plan is adoption;

(n) The legal, procedural, financial, medical, and educational aspects of foster care;

(o) An overview of the processes, both within CFSA and by the Court, for the review of foster care cases and the foster parent's role in these processes;

(p) CFSA's policy on discipline and control as set forth in § 6018, including alternatives to physical discipline; and

(q) The requirement that a foster parent attend thirty (30) hours of pre-service training in accordance with § 6026.2 and at least fifteen (15) hours per year of subsequent in-service training in accordance with § 6026.5.

6028.3 The home study shall include:

(a) The applicant's submission of a completed application, using a form provided or approved by CFSA;

(b) At least two (2) home visits by the agency with the prospective foster parent, one of which may be unannounced, with at least one of the visits including:

(1) The entire household;

(2) A discussion of training; and

(3) A tour of the house;

(c) Obtaining and reviewing at least three (3) written personal references selected from relatives, neighbors, and employers or co-workers, if applicable;

(d) If a school-aged child is in the care of the applicant and resides in the prospective

foster home, obtaining and reviewing written references from personnel of the child's school;

(e) Discussing CFSA rules on discipline and control as set forth in § 6018, and child abuse and neglect as set forth in § 6024, including the risk of physical or sexual victimization by another child and the responsibility of the foster parent for the safety of all children in her or his care;

(f) Obtaining verification of income;

(g) Obtaining verification of marital status;

(h) Conducting the criminal records check as set forth in § 6008;

(i) Conducting the child protection register check as set forth in § 6009;

(j) Obtaining a fire department inspection;

(k) For homes in which a foster child under six (6) years of age may be placed, obtaining a lead-based paint certificate indicating no risk from lead-based paint; and

(l) Obtaining verification of current vaccinations for any pets in the home, as applicable.

6028.4 If CFSA is not the agency:

(a) The agency shall notify the applicant in writing, and within one hundred twenty (120) days of the receipt of a signed foster parent application, of its decision whether to recommend that the applicant be approved as a foster parent.

(b) The agency shall submit a recommendation that the applicant be approved as a foster parent to CFSA within ten (10) business days of the notice required by paragraph (a) of this subsection.

(c) Within fourteen (14) days of its receipt of the recommendation, CFSA shall review the agency recommendation, application, and accompanying documentation, and notify the applicant and agency in writing of its decision to approve or deny the application.

6028.5 If CFSA is the agency, it shall notify the applicant in writing and within one hundred twenty (120) days of the receipt of a signed foster parent application, of its decision to issue or deny the application.

6028.6 CFSA shall issue a license within three (3) business days of its decision to issue the license.

6028.7 A license shall renew for one (year) from the date of the license, unless sooner revoked, suspended or renewed, if there is:

(a) Documentation of completed in-service training in accordance with § 6026.5;

(b) A satisfactory criminal records check for each resident of the foster home who is eighteen (18) years of age or older in accordance with § 6008;

(c) A satisfactory child protection register check for each resident of the foster home who is eighteen (18) years of age or older in accordance with § 6009;

(d) A clean hands certification signed by the foster parent within ninety (90) days preceding the expiration date of the current license;

(e) Documentation from a physician that the foster parent and any other household member eighteen (18) years of age or older has had a complete medical examination within twenty-four (24) months (including a tuberculosis screening) and has no medical conditions that would contraindicate the foster parent's appropriateness to serve as a foster parent;

(f) Documentation from a physician, for every household member under eighteen (18) years of age who is not a foster child, that the household member has had a complete medical examination consistent with the standards for the Early Periodic Screening and Diagnostic Testing (EPSDT) schedule (including up- to-date immunizations, a tuberculosis screening, and, if the household member is under six (6) years of age, a blood lead screening); and

(g) A current vaccination record for every pet in the foster home.

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