CHILD WELFARE MANUAL

3.5  Conducting Resource Home Renewal

All licenses and approvals must be renewed prior to the expiration date. If a resource home does not complete all the requirements at least 90 days prior to the expiration, the License/Approval Renewal Letter, CD-102, is sent to the resource family reporting the requirements necessary for the home to be renewed.

If the home continues to not meet renewal requirements, the CD-102 letter should be sent again 60 days prior to the expiration date.

If the home continues to not meet renewal requirements 30 days prior to the expiration date, the CD-102 should be and the home placed on Administrative Hold.

Administrative Hold status does not prevent the license or approval from expiring. It does, however, allow for data entry in the comment section on the Licensure and Approval and Renewal Screen in FACES regarding the facts of why the home is being placed on Administrative Hold.

If there are placements in the home, plans should be initiated for the children to be moved. Foster youth may not be in an unlicensed foster home without a court order. (The only exception is a relative applicant who is pursuing licensure. Foster youth may remain in the unlicensed relative home for 90 days while the applicants are pursuing licensure.)

The license or approval renewal administrative process begins a minimum of 90 days prior to expiration. If license or approval renewal requirements including but not limited to in-service training hours, physical with doctor’s statement, and fingerprints are not complete 90 days prior to expiration, the License/Approval Renewal Letter, CD-102, is sent to the resource family reporting the requirements necessary for the home to be renewed before it is closed due to not meeting license renewal requirements.

If the home continues to not meet renewal requirements, the CD-102 letter should be sent again 60 days prior to the expiration date.

If the home continues to not meet renewal requirements 30 days prior to the expiration date, the CD-102 should be sent again and the home placed on Administrative Hold.

If there are placements in the home, plans should be reviewed and discussed 90 days prior to the expiration date for where the children will be moved. Foster youth may not be in an unlicensed expired foster home without a court order.

The resource development worker should take the following steps to renew the resource provider’s license prior to the end date of the resource parent’s licensure period. Renewal process should begin at minimum 90 days prior to expiration of the license:

1. 1. Consult with current and past case workers for each child currently in the home and who has been in the home in the previous two years to evaluate the ability of the resource parents to deal with foster/relative youth, the agency, and the biological parents.
   2. In compliance with 13 CSR 35-60.030 (3), re-evaluate the performance based competencies taught in the pre-service training:
      1. 1. Protecting and nurturing;
         2. Meeting developmental needs and addressing developmental delays;
         3. Supporting relationships between children and families;
         4. Connecting children to lifetime relationships; and
         5. Working as a member of a professional team.

            Document the resource provider’s demonstration of acquisition of these skills and any concerns regarding delinquency or weakness so they can be addressed on the Professional Family Development Plan, CD-100. The CD-100 must be reviewed and renewed before re-licensure. 

            Document specific examples of how the resource parent(s) demonstrated application of all the elements of Reasonable and Prudent Parenting Standard.

   3. Interview all members of the resource family’s household individually, including biological, adopted, foster, relative children.
   4. Compare physical conditions of the home to the requirements noted in the licensing rules. Complete the Resource Home and Safety Checklist, CS-45.
   5. Provide a copy of the Foster Parent Bill of Rights and Responsibilities, RSMo Section 210.566.
   6. Provide the Resource Parent Acknowledgment and Assurances Form, CD-108, and obtain signature(s).
   7. Provide the Safe Sleep Practices Form CD-117, and obtain signature(s) indicating agreement.
   8. Provide the Resource Parent Discipline Agreement, CD-119, and obtain signature(s) indicating agreement.
   9. Provide a School Reference Request, CS-101e, to the teacher of each child living in the home. No foster youth specific information is to be placed in the resource file. CS-101e forms received regarding foster youth may be placed in the foster youth’s file.
   10. Provide Employee Reference form, CS-101c only if employment has changed since the last assessment, or if there are concerns about employment.
   11. Provide Informed Consent Flyer
   12. If any concerns are identified during quarterly home visits or the interview process for the home assessment amended for license renewal, the Personal Reference Request, CS-101f and/or the Employer Reference Request CS-101c may be utilized. These forms are designed for initial licensure.
   13. Provide a copy of the HIPAA Information for Resource Parents, CD-194, and obtain signature(s).
   14. If any household member smokes, discuss the locations and frequency that foster youth will be exposed to secondhand smoke.  Refer the family to the required pre-service video. Each resource parent completes the training and receives a one hour in-service training credit using code V113, Secondhand Smoke Exposure. Discuss the resource parent(s)’ plan to talk to foster youth about smoking and modeling healthy choices. Complete the Notification of Hazards, CS-101.
   15. Confirm there are no surveillance cameras in areas of the home that violate the privacy of the foster youth, e.g. bathrooms and dressing areas.

   16. Weapons 13 CSR 35-60.040

       Staff must personally view any weapons and their storage to assure compliance with the licensing rules. Staff shall not violate statute 571.500 by requiring a list of the weapons that the resource parent owns or keeps in the home.

       1. Any and all firearms and ammunition not being carried on one’s person shall be stored in locked secured areas or cabinets with keys or other locking mechanisms so as to be inaccessible to children.
       2. Firearms and ammunition on one’s person in the presence of a foster child shall be held in a secure holster and not accessible to children subject to the following: No firearms shall be present in any vehicle transporting foster children unless the firearms are: in a locked glovebox, in a locked container, or in a secure holster inaccessible to children, when carried or concealed on a person possessing a concealed carry permit. (An exception will be made for any person transporting a foster child who must carry a weapon as part of their job responsibilities— i.e., law enforcement officers.) No firearms possessed in violation of a state or federal law or a local government ordinance shall be present at any time in the home, on any household member, or in any vehicle in which the children are riding.
       3. Weapons storage shall be made available for external viewing by Children’s Division staff in order to assure weapons are inaccessible to children.

   17. All medication (prescription, non-prescription or authorized) and alcohol shall be stored so as to be inaccessible to children, taking into consideration the age and mental capacities of the children taking and the youth. If the medications are accessible to foster youth, staff must document either a plan for making the medications inaccessible or an explanation of why the medications are allowed to be accessible by foster youth (i.e. a child is moving toward independent living and is learning self-sufficiency skills).

   18. The Foster/Adoptive Household Member Physical and Mental Health Report, CW-215, is to be completed for each resource parent and biological or adopted child in the home by the physician for license renewal, but not including any current foster youth placements.
   19. Ascertain the resource provider has completed the recommended number of in-service resource parent training hours prior to recommendation for license renewal. 

       STARS Pre-Service training hours may not be counted toward the 30 hours of In-Service training required for license renewal.

       All the following training must be complete for license renewal:

       1. Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation certification , CPR; Three training hours credit using code V252
       2. First Aid; Three training hours credit using code V898
       3. Health Information Portability and Accountability ,HIPAA; One hour of training credit for reading and signing the CD-194 using code V980. The form is read and signed at each license renewal. However, the training credit is only earned for the initial time.
       4. Reasonable and Prudent Parenting Standard; Two training hours credit using code V280. This must be completed within three months of license/approval begin date.
       5. Foster Care bill of Rights: one hour training credit using code V160.
       6. Informed Consent; Two training hours credit using code V150.
       7. Psychotropic Medication Interactive trainings provided annually using training code V170
   20. Establish continued compliance with licensing rules.
   21. The applicant is to complete a new Foster Family Profile, CD-56, if not already completed. The CD-56 should be completed as changes occur in the household. The new CD-56 and family photograph should be placed under separate cover sheet (to be developed locally) and placed in the front of the Resource Provider file. The obsolete CD-56 should be placed in the Family Assessment Section of the Resource Provider file with a notation on the front page of the profile identifying it as obsolete. A current CD-56 is required to be in the file for license renewal. 
   22. There is to be no printed document (CA/N, FACES Call/Case History page, etc.) placed in the file. Document in the home assessment that the CA/N check was completed and the results of the check. 
   23. Criminal History; Staff should not list specifics in the narrative section of the file when documenting criminal history. The narrative should simply reflect one of the following:
       1. The results of the fingerprint based criminal background check (enter date) met eligibility requirements and there have been no reports of criminal activity during the licensure period;
       2. The results of the fingerprint based criminal background check conducted (enter date) met eligibility requirements for licensure, however during the licensure period there have been(enter number) Rap Back  criminal history reports received which require further review and
          • The reports do not include exclusionary information for licensure eligibility,

or

• • • • The information from the reports resulted in the decision to revoke the license.  

        Specific criminal history information may be included in the Resource Home Adverse Action Report, CS-20, when it is the basis for denial or revocation. 

25. If during the re-licensure process it is determined that the award of a foster care license is to be denied or revoked, all supporting documentation for the adverse action shall be retained for utilization during the fair hearing process as outlined in previous paragraph. This documentation shall be placed in the Administrative section of the resource provider case record. The decision to deny or revoke a foster care license must be based on non-compliance and or not meeting competencies with statute and licensing rules. 

1. 1. Request a report on each adult household member from the Family Care Safety Registry (FCSR). The worker can do one of the following:
      1. Access the FCSR on-line with their assigned ID and password (preferred), or
      2. Call the FCSR at 1-866-422-6872.
         1. The resource development worker obtains on-line access by doing the following:
            1. Go to the FCSR home page, www.dhss.mo.gov/fcsr;
            2. Click on the Forms link;
            3. Click on the How to Become a FCSR Internet User link;
            4. Click on the Internet Background Screening Access/Security Request.
            5. Return the completed document by Fax to 573-522-6981, or by mail to: DHSS/Family Care Safety Registry, PO Box 570,Jefferson City, MO 65102
      3. In response the FCSR will assign a USER ID number to the resource development worker to be used exclusively for access to the FCSR. The USER ID and instructions on how to do the password and how to run a background screening will be faxed to the worker. This ID and instructions on how to do the password are autonomous from the worker’s current ID and passwords used for logging on to the state computer system, FACES and PROD. The password is on a 30-day expiration cycle and the worker will have to update it every 30 days, just as with the PROD password. 

         Families who do not have Social Security numbers due to their religious practices (i.e. Amish) are not required to register with the FCSR and note of this should be documented in their record and study.

24. The address of residence of the resource home will be entered at the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s sexual offender list located on the web at: http://www.mshp.dps.missouri.gov/MSHPWeb/Root/index.html. The address search will determine if a sexual offender is registered as residing at the address of the resource home. A copy of the resulting web page must be placed in the background section of the case file.

25. Examine Case.net, the Missouri State Courts Automated Case Management System for any reference to Orders of Protection filed, either for a child or adult. There are limits to the use of Case.net. Case.net is not yet statewide, so will not include all county circuit courts. Also, at this time, public view does not include identifiers such as social security numbers and birth dates; so it is difficult to determine whether the individual for whom you are searching is the same as the one found on Case.net.

In locations where Case.net is not yet available, check with the circuit court for any pertinent information, including a record of Orders of Protection filed, both for a child or an adult.

26.  The DSS Inquiry function located on the FACES Home Page is an available tool that may be used for information gathering.

This same process shall be used for Transitional Living Advocates (TLA), and foster or adoptive parents being assessed for the Division through a contracted agency.

Except for the specific felony convictions listed below, a criminal history, child abuse/neglect history, or other review information does not automatically preclude licensure. Staff should determine the relevance of all such findings to child caring responsibilities, and should seek guidance from supervisors. A supervisor must review and evaluate the background information if there is a record of conviction (other than those listed below) and/or child abuse and if the decision is to approve the home study. The supervisor’s review and decision to approve/disapprove must be documented.

Felony Convictions

Staff may not approve the application of any person in which a record check reveals that a felony conviction for child abuse or neglect, spousal abuse, a crime against children (including child pornography), or a crime involving violence, including rape, sexual assault, or homicide, but not including other physical assault or battery was determined by a court of competent jurisdiction.

Staff may also not approve the application of any person who has had a court of competent jurisdiction determine a felony conviction for physical assault, battery, or a drug-related offense within the past five (5) years.

For the purpose of this policy, a “felony conviction by a court of competent jurisdiction” is defined as a criminal court conviction for a felony offense as defined by law in the jurisdiction that the offense took place.

Household members age 17 and older shall disclose criminal history. Consideration shall be made of felony cases where the individual pled guilty, is found guilty and /or convicted of a criminal offence or pled guilty but received a suspended imposition of sentence instead (SIS).

In the unlikely event that it is determined that the best interest of a child would be served by placement in this setting, written approval must be obtained through supervisory lines to the Regional Office. The Regional Office must review the request and, if in agreement, forward with their recommendation to Central Office for final consideration. Written requests should include a thorough description of the applicant’s situation and why it would be in the child’s best interest for an exception to be granted. If approved by Central Office, IV-E funding may not be used and the worker will be responsible for notifying the Eligibility Specialist who will ensure that state-only funds are used.

If a resource parent commits a felony act as listed previously in this section which results in a conviction or the resource parent admits to committing the act and receives an suspended imposition of sentence (SIS ) federal funds may not be used for foster care maintenance or adoption assistance payments if any of the aforementioned conditions exist. It is imperative that in those circumstances the worker notifies the Eligibility Specialist who will enter the correct fund code for state only funding.

Chapter Memoranda History: (prior to 01-31-07)

CD04-05, CD04-79, CD04-96, CD05-76, CD06-37

Memoranda History:

CD07-36, CD07-54, CD08-55, CD08-56 , CD09-55, CD09-87, CD09-88, CD10-116, CD11-22, CD12-85, CD14-09, CD14-40, CD14-64, CD15-75, CD16-18, CD16-65, CD17-42, CD18-27, CD19-65