1. (a) “Adult household member” means an individual, age 18 years or older, who resides either full or part-time in the home, and who does not have a license or permit to operate a kinship care home.
2. (b) “Applicant” means an individual who is applying for a kinship care home permit or license.
3. (c) “Case plan” means the written plan developed by the staff of the division for children, youth and families (DCYF) with the involved family, pursuant to RSA 170-G:4, III, 42 USC 671, and 42 USC 675.
4. (d) “Central registry” means the state registry that maintains all founded reports of child abuse and neglect, pursuant to RSA 169-C:35 and He-C 6430.

5. (e) “Child in care” means:

   1. (1) A child who is placed or might be placed in a kinship care home by the department. This term includes “child” in the following circumstances:

      1. a. “Child” as defined in RSA 170-E:25, I, namely “any person under 21 years of age, or up to the age of a child with a disability as defined in RSA 186-C:2, I and is receiving special education or special education and related services as identified by the child's school district”. The term includes “youth”; or
      2. b. For the purposes of compliance with RSA 126-U:7-a, “child” as defined in RSA 126-U:1, I, namely, “a person who has not reached the age of 18 years and who is not under adult criminal prosecution or sentence of actual incarceration resulting therefrom, either due to having reached the age of 18 years or due to the completion of proceedings for transfer to the adult criminal justice system under RSA 169-B:24, RSA 169-B:25, or RSA 169-B:26. The term also includes a person in actual attendance at a school who is less than 22 years of age and who has not received a high school diploma.”
6. (f) “Criminal records” means records of criminal convictions maintained by or accessible through the New Hampshire state police or the equivalent authority within another state.
7. (g) “Department” means the New Hampshire department of health and human services.
8. (h) “DCYF representative” means an employee of the department’s division for children, youth, and families who has training and experience in managing matters of child protection or juvenile justice cases referred to the department pursuant to RSA 169-B, RSA 169-C, RSA 169-D, RSA 170-B, RSA 170-C, and RSA 463.
9. (i) “Division for children, youth and families (DCYF)” means the organizational unit of the department that provides services to children and youth referred by courts pursuant to RSA 169-A, RSA 169-B, RSA 169-C, RSA 169-D, RSA 170-B, RSA 170-C, RSA 170-H, and RSA 463.
10. (j) “Health care” means medical, dental, and psychiatric diagnostic and treatment services.
11. (k) “Home study” means the evaluation and written assessment of the kinship care home, the applicant, and all household members which is conducted as part of the application process, and includes a determination of the suitability of the applicant and home for the child’s placement.
12. (l) “Home visit” means an announced or unannounced meeting with the applicant or kinship care home caregiver in the applicant’s or kinship caregiver’s home.
13. (m) “Household member” means “household member” as defined by RSA 169-C:3, XIV-a, namely, “any person living with the parent, guardian, or custodian of the child from time to time or on a regular basis, who is involved occasionally or regularly with the care of the child.”
14. (n) “Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC)” means the federally approved agreement between all states which governs the placement of children in care across state lines to ensure the safety and stability of those children, as codified in RSA 170-A, and available at https://aphsa.org/icpc-resources/.
15. (o) “Kin” means “kin” as defined in RSA 170-E:25, VIII, namely, “a child or children who for which there is a connection or history between a child or their parents and another responsible adult, including but not limited to related adults.”
16. (p) “Kinship care home” means “kinship care home” as defined in RSA 170-E:25, II(g)(1).
17. (q) “Kinship care home caregiver” means an individual who possesses a valid kinship care home permit or license and who is authorized to operate a kinship care home. This term includes “kinship caregiver”.
18. (r) “License” means an authorization to operate a kinship care home in accordance with the terms and conditions of the license, RSA 170-E, and this part.
19. (s) “Licensee” means an individual who possesses a valid kinship care home license.
20. (t) “Licensing agency” means DCYF or a “child-placing agency” as defined in RSA 170-E:25, III.
21. (u) “Order to comply” means a written citation provided by the licensing agency to a kinship care home caregiver that identifies a violation of the administrative rules and requires a corrective action plan to rectify the violation within a specified timeframe.
22. (v) “Parent” means “parent” as defined in RSA 169-C:3, XXI, namely “mother, father, adoptive parent, stepparent, but such term shall not include a parent as to whom the parent-child relationship has been terminated by judicial decree or voluntary relinquishment.”
23. (w) “Permit” means a temporary authorization to operate a kinship care home for a period not to exceed 6 months when temporarily unable to conform to the qualification for a license, in accordance with the terms and conditions of the permit, RSA 170-E, and this part.
24. (x) “Permit holder” means an individual who possesses a valid kinship care home permit.
25. (y) “Pre-licensing training” means the educational curriculum and programs for applicants provided by the licensing agency in accordance with He-C 6447.14.
26. (z) “Reasonable and prudent parent standard” means the “reasonable and prudent parent standard” described in RSA 170-G:20 and as defined pursuant to 42 USC 675(10)(A) of the Social Security Act.
27. (aa) “Registration of criminal offenders” means the list of sexual offenders or offenders against children that is maintained by the New Hampshire department of safety as specified in Chapter Saf-C 5500 and made publicly available at http://business.nh.gov/nsor/.
28. (ab) “Related” means “related” as defined in RSA 170-E:25, XII, namely, “any of the following relationships by blood, marriage, or adoption: parent, grandparent, brother, sister, stepparent, stepgrandparent, stepbrother, stepsister, uncle, aunt, niece, nephew, first cousin or second cousin.”
29. (ac) “Sending agency” means a public agency in another state that retains all legal and financial responsibility for a child in care who is sent to New Hampshire pursuant to ICPC Regulation 1, 2, or 7 for placement with a kinship caregiver.

Source. #14390, eff 9-24-25, EXPIRES: 9-24-35