1. (a) To provide for the health, safety, and well-being of a child in care, the physical environment of a permitted kinship care home shall:

   1. (1) Be maintained in a manner and condition which meets the child’s basic needs;
   2. (2) Provide unobstructed entrances and exits;
   3. (3) Have access to basic utilities which meet the child’s needs;
   4. (4) Have access to safe water for drinking and bathing;
   5. (5) Be free from reported and observable health and sanitation risks and safety hazards;
   6. (6) Have sleeping arrangements that provide each child in care with their own bed and age-appropriate privacy;
   7. (7) Prohibit co-sleeping and bed sharing with a child in care from birth through age 12 months old;
   8. (8) Have a working telephone for incoming and outgoing calls available in the home and made accessible to the child in care for emergencies and for personal calls as directed by the licensing agency;
   9. (9) Subject to (b) below, have a working smoke detector with alarm, maintained according to the manufacture’s recommendations, on each level of the home; and

   10. (10) Subject to (b) below, have a working carbon monoxide detector with an alarm, maintained according to the manufacturer’s recommendations, on each level of the home in which there are sleeping areas if the home has:

       1. a. An attached garage;
       2. b. A wood stove or fireplace; or
       3. c. A gas or propane powered appliance, including but not limited to a boiler, furnace, stove, clothes dryer, water heater, space heater, or fireplace.
2. (b) In the case of an unplanned or emergency circumstance necessitating immediate placement of a child in a kinship care home, if the home does not meet the smoke detector requirement in (a)(9) above or the carbon monoxide detector in (a)(10) above, or both, the applicant shall develop a plan with the licensing agency to meet the requirement within 2 business days of such placement and document the plan for compliance with the licensing agency in the “safety of placement” comments section on page 5 of Form 1601 “Kinship Caregiver Agreement” (September 2025).
3. (c) If there are firearms, ammunition, or weapons in the home or property, they shall be secured with a gun lock or in a locked cabinet and be inaccessible to the child in care for the duration the child is placed in the home.

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