Arkansas Code of 1987 (2023) › Title 9 - FAMILY LAW (§§ 9-2-101 — 9-34-204) › Subtitle 3 - MINORS (§§ 9-25-101 — 9-34-204) › Chapter 28 - PLACEMENT OR DETENTION (§§ 9-28-101 — 9-28-1304) › Subchapter 4 - CHILD WELFARE AGENCY LICENSING ACT (§§ 9-28-401 — 9-28-416) › Section 9-28-402 - Definitions

As used in this subchapter:
(1)
"Adoptive home" means a household of one (1) or more persons that has been approved by a licensed child placement agency to accept a child for adoption;
(2)
"Adverse action" means any petition by the Department of Human Services before the Child Welfare Agency Review Board to take any of the following actions against a licensee or applicant for a license:
(A)
Revocation of license;
(B)
Suspension of license;
(C)
Conversion of license from regular or provisional status to probationary status;
(D)
Imposition of a civil penalty;
(E)
Denial of application; or
(F)
Reduction of licensed capacity;
(3)
"Alternative compliance" means approval from the Child Welfare Agency Review Board to allow a licensee to deviate from the letter of a rule, provided that the licensee has demonstrated how an alternate plan of compliance will meet or exceed the intent of the rule;
(4)
"Board" means the Child Welfare Agency Review Board;
(5)
"Boarding school" means an institution that is operated solely for educational purposes and that meets each of the following criteria:
(A)
The institution is in operation for a period of time not to exceed the minimum number of weeks of classroom instruction required of schools accredited by the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education;
(B)
The children in residence must customarily return to their family homes or legal guardians during school breaks and must not be in residence year round, except that this provision does not apply to students from foreign countries; and
(C)
The parents of children placed in the institution retain custody and planning and financial responsibility for the children;
(6)
"Child" means a person who is:
(A)
From birth to eighteen (18) years of age; or
(B)
Adjudicated dependent-neglected, dependent, or a member of a family in need of services before eighteen (18) years of age and for whom the juvenile division of a circuit court retains jurisdiction under the Arkansas Juvenile Code of 1989, §
9-27-301
et seq.;
(7)
"Child placement agency" means a child welfare agency, not including any person licensed to practice medicine or law in the State of Arkansas, that engages in any of the following activities:
(A)
Places a child in a foster home, adoptive home, or any type of facility licensed or exempted by this subchapter;
(B)
Plans for the placement of a child into a foster home, adoptive home, or any type of facility licensed or exempted by this subchapter;
(C)
Assists the placement of a child in a foster home, adoptive home, or any type of facility licensed or exempted by this subchapter; or
(D)
Places, plans for the placement, or assists in the placement of a child victim of human trafficking in a home or any type of shelter or facility;
(8)
"Child welfare agency" means any person, corporation, partnership, voluntary association, or other entity or identifiable group of entities having a coordinated ownership of controlling interest, whether established for profit or otherwise, that engages in any of the following activities:
(A)
Receives a total number of six (6) or more unrelated minors for care on a twenty-four-hour basis for the purpose of ensuring the minors receive care, training, education, custody, or supervision, whether or not there are six (6) or more children cared for at any single physical location;
(B)
Places any unrelated minor for care on a twenty-four-hour basis with persons other than themselves;
(C)
Plans for or assists in the placements described in subdivision (8)(B) of this section; or
(D)
Receives, places, plans, or assists in the placement of a child victim of human trafficking in a home or any type of shelter or facility;
(9)
(A)
"Class A violation" means a violation of an essential standard, including any of those governing fire, health, safety, nutrition, staff-to-child ratio, and space.
(B)
Operation of an unlicensed child welfare agency shall also be a Class A violation unless specifically exempted as provided in this subchapter;
(10)
"Class B violation" means any other violation of a standard that is not a Class A violation;
(11)
"Emergency child care" means any residential childcare facility that provides care to children on a time-limited basis, not to exceed ninety (90) days;
(12)
"Exempt child welfare agency" means any person, corporation, partnership, voluntary association or other entity, whether established for profit or otherwise, that otherwise fits the definition of a child welfare agency but that is specifically exempt from the requirement of obtaining a license under this subchapter. Those agencies specifically exempt from the license requirement are:
(A)
A facility or program owned or operated by an agency of the United States Government;
(B)
(i)
Any agency of the State of Arkansas that is statutorily authorized to administer or supervise child welfare activities.
(ii)
In order to maintain exempt status, the state child welfare agency shall state every two (2) years in written form signed by the persons in charge that their agency is in substantial compliance with published state agency child welfare standards.
(iii)
Visits to review and advise exempt state agencies shall be made as deemed necessary by the Child Welfare Agency Review Board to verify and maintain substantial compliance with the standards;
(C)
A facility or program owned or operated by or under contract with the Division of Correction;
(D)
A hospital providing acute care licensed pursuant to §
20-9-201
et seq.;
(E)
Any facility governed by the Department of Human Services State Institutional System Board or its successor;
(F)
Human development centers regulated by the Board of Developmental Disabilities Services pursuant to the Location Act for Community Homes for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, §
20-48-601
et seq.;
(G)
Any facility licensed as a family home pursuant to the Location Act for Community Homes for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, §
20-48-601
et seq.;
(H)
Any boarding school as defined in this section;
(I)
Any temporary camp as defined in this section;
(J)
Any state-operated facility to house juvenile delinquents or any serious offender program facility operated by a state designee to house juvenile delinquents. Those facilities shall be subject to program requirements modeled on nationally recognized correctional facility standards that shall be developed, administered, and monitored by the Division of Youth Services;
(K)
Any child welfare agency operated solely by a religious organization that elects to be exempt from licensing and that complies within the conditions of the exemption for church-operated agencies as set forth in this subchapter;
(L)
The Division of Developmental Disabilities Services; and
(M)
Any intellectual or other developmental disabilities services waiver provider licensed under §
20-48-208
or the Location Act for Community Homes for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, §
20-48-601
et seq.;
(13)
(A)
"Fictive kin" means a person selected by the Division of Children and Family Services who:
(i)
Is not related to a child by blood, marriage, or adoption; and
(ii)
Has a strong, positive, and emotional tie or role in the:
(a)
Child's life; or
(b)
Child's parent's life if the child is an infant.
(B)
The Director of the Division of Children and Family Services or his or her designee shall approve a fictive kin for an infant;
(14)
(A)
"Foster home" means the home of an individual or family:
(i)
That is licensed or approved as a foster home under the terms of this subchapter; and
(ii)
Where a child in foster care is placed into the care of an individual who is licensed or approved to be a foster parent under this subchapter.
(B)
"Foster home" does not include an adoptive home or a home suspended or closed by a child placement agency;
(15)
"Independent living home" means any child welfare agency that provides specialized services in adult living preparation in an experiential setting for persons sixteen (16) years of age or older;
(16)
"Minimum standards" means those rules as established by the Child Welfare Agency Review Board that set forth the minimum acceptable level of practice for the care of children by a child welfare agency;
(17)
"Provisional foster home" means a foster home opened for no more than six (6) months by the Division of Children and Family Services for a relative or fictive kin of a child in the custody of the Division of Children and Family Services after it:
(A)
Determines that placement with the proposed fictive kin or relative is in the best interest of the child;
(B)
Conducts a health and safety check, including a Child Maltreatment Central Registry check and either a criminal background check or a check with local law enforcement, of the relative's home or home of the fictive kin; and
(C)
Performs a visual inspection of the home of the relative or fictive kin to verify that the relative or fictive kin and the home meet the standards for opening a regular foster home;
(18)
"Psychiatric residential treatment facility" means a residential childcare facility in a nonhospital setting that provides a structured, systematic, therapeutic program of treatment under the supervision of a psychiatrist, for children who are emotionally disturbed and in need of daily nursing services, psychiatrist's supervision, and residential care but who are not in an acute phase of illness requiring the services of an inpatient psychiatric hospital;
(19)
"Qualified nonprofit organization" means a charitable or religious institution that is exempt from federal income taxation under Section 501(a), Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as an organization described by Section 501(c)(3), that assists a parent, guardian, or legal custodian of a child with the process of entering into an authorization agreement in the form of a power of attorney for voluntary respite care, including without limitation identifying an appropriate voluntary respite care placement for each child subject to the agreement and assisting a parent, guardian, or legal custodian in locating and contacting a voluntary respite care provider;
(20)
"Relative" means a person within the fifth degree of kinship by virtue of blood, marriage, or adoption;
(21)
"Religious organization" means a church, synagogue, or mosque or association of same whose purpose is to support and serve the propagation of truly held religious beliefs;
(22)
"Residential childcare facility" means any child welfare agency that provides care, training, education, custody, or supervision on a twenty-four-hour basis for six (6) or more unrelated children, excluding foster homes that have six (6) or more children who are all related to each other but who are not related to the foster parents;
(23)
"Special consideration" means approval from the Child Welfare Agency Review Board to allow a licensee to deviate from the letter of a rule if the licensee has demonstrated that the deviation is in the best interest of the children and does not pose a risk to persons served by the licensee;
(24)
(A)
"Substantial compliance" means compliance with all essential standards necessary to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the children in the care of the child welfare agency.
(B)
Essential standards include, but are not limited to, those relating to issues involving fire, health, safety, nutrition, discipline, staff-to-child ratio, and space;
(25)
"Temporary camp" means any facility or program providing twenty-four-hour care or supervision to children that meets the following criteria:
(A)
The facility or program is operated for recreational, educational, or religious purposes only;
(B)
No child attends the program more than forty (40) days in a calendar year; and
(C)
The parents of children placed in the program retain custody and planning and financial responsibility for the children during placement;
(26)
"Unrelated minor" means a child who is not related by blood, marriage, or adoption to the owner or operator of the child welfare agency and who is not a ward of the owner or operator of the child welfare agency pursuant to a guardianship order issued by a court of competent jurisdiction;
(27)
(A)
"Voluntary respite care" means a temporary placement arrangement facilitated by a qualified nonprofit organization that engages in certain placement activities similar to a child placement agency or child welfare agency.
(B)
"Voluntary respite care" does not include placements provided by a person or an entity that otherwise qualifies as an exempt child welfare agency as that term is defined in subdivision (12) of this section;
(28)
"Voluntary respite care provider" means a person, approved by a qualified nonprofit organization, who enters into a written agreement with a parent, guardian, or legal custodian of a minor whereby:
(A)
The parent, guardian, or legal custodian voluntarily decides to place the minor into voluntary respite care and actively participates in the process of placing the minor into voluntary respite care;
(B)
The placement of a minor into voluntary respite care is made for the purpose of assisting a family in crisis by providing a temporary arrangement for the twenty-four-hour care of the minor;
(C)
The parent, guardian, or legal custodian of the minor retains the authority to terminate the voluntary respite care at any time and may immediately regain physical custody of the minor; and
(D)
The voluntary respite care provider does not engage in an activity described in subdivision (8)(A) or subdivision (8)(D) of this section;
(29)
(A)
"Childcare institution" means a public or private placement or care setting for children.
(B)
Except as otherwise provided by subdivision (29)(C) of this section, "childcare institution" includes without limitation a group home, residential treatment center, shelter, or other congregate care setting, that is licensed or approved by the following:
(i)
If the public or private placement or care setting is located in this state, by the Child Welfare Agency Review Board;
(ii)
If the public or private placement or care setting is located out-of-state, by the authority in the state of origin of the public or private placement or care setting that is responsible for licensing or approving a childcare institution;
(iii)
If the public or private placement or care setting is on or near an Indian reservation, by the tribal authority of the Indian reservation; or
(iv)
If the public or private placement or care setting is located in the service area of a Tribal Title IV-E agency, by the Tribal Title IV-E agency.
(C)
"Childcare institution" does not include a foster home, detention facility, forestry camp, training school, or other facility operated primarily for the detention of children who are determined by a court to be delinquent;
(30)
"Public childcare institution" means a childcare institution that accommodates no more than twenty-five (25) children at a time and is operated by a state or local government entity; and
(31)
"Operation" means a child welfare agency or exempt child welfare agency that is open and actively engaged in at least one (1) of the activities described in subdivisions (8)(A)-(D) of this section.
Amended by Act 2023, No. 363,§ 27, eff. 8/1/2023.
Amended by Act 2023, No. 363,§ 26, eff. 8/1/2023.
Amended by Act 2021, No. 772,§ 1, eff. 7/28/2021.
Amended by Act 2021, No. 269,§ 1, eff. 7/28/2021.
Amended by Act 2019, No. 315,§ 722, eff. 7/24/2019.
Amended by Act 2019, No. 1035,§ 4, eff. 7/24/2019.
Amended by Act 2019, No. 1035,§ 5, eff. 7/24/2019.
Amended by Act 2019, No. 663,§ 3, eff. 7/24/2019.
Amended by Act 2019, No. 381,§ 2, eff. 7/24/2019.
Amended by Act 2019, No. 381,§ 1, eff. 7/24/2019.
Amended by Act 2019, No. 910,§ 2204, eff. 7/1/2019.
Amended by Act 2019, No. 910,§ 2203, eff. 7/1/2019.
Amended by Act 2017, No. 700,§ 4, eff. 8/1/2017
Amended by Act 2017, No. 700,§ 3, eff. 8/1/2017
Amended by Act 2017, No. 319,§ 1, eff. 3/2/2017
Amended by Act 2015, No. 1138,§ 2, eff. 7/22/2015
Amended by Act 2015, No. 1138,§ 1, eff. 7/22/2015
Amended by Act 2013, No. 1275,§ 1, eff. 8/16/2013
Amended by Act 2013, No. 478,§ 4, eff. 8/16/2013
Acts 1997, No. 1041, § 2; 2005, No. 1766, § 1; 2005, No. 2234, § 1; 2007, No. 634, § 1; 2009, No. 723, § 1; 2011, No. 522, §§ 1-5