Arkansas Administrative Code › Agency 016 - DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES › Division 15 - Children and Family Services › Rule 016.15.19-008 - Referrals on Children Born with and Affected by FASD or PDE

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 6, June, 2024
POLICY II-F: SUBSTANCE EXPOSED INFANT REFERRAL AND
				ASSESSMENTS
01/2020
The Division of Children and Family Services (DCFS) believes in
				coordinating with other state agencies and community partners to help
				strengthen and support families in an effort to prevent child abuse and
				neglect. The goal of prevention of child abuse and neglect extends to all
				families. However, as guided by the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act
				(CARA), along with the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) it
				amended, the Division is specifically tasked with collaborating across systems
				to address the needs of substance exposed infants to prevent future child
				maltreatment of this vulnerable population.
DCFS, in coordination with other state agencies and community
				partners, strives to address the needs of substance exposed infants primarily
				through two (2) approaches:
A.
			 Addressing the needs of substance exposed infants who are defined as neglected
			 pursuant to A.C.A.
			 12-18-103(14)(B)(i)(a)
			 -(b) (i.e., Garrett's Law referrals) and the needs of their families via an
			 investigative response. For more information regarding this approach, please
			 see Policy II-D: Investigation of Child Maltreatment Reports.
B. Implementing a referral process for
			 healthcare providers involved in the delivery and care of infants to report,
			 for the purpose of an assessment not related to a child maltreatment
			 investigation, infants who have not been neglected as defined in A.C.A.
			 12-18-103(14)(B)(i)(a)
			 -(b), but who are born with and affected by:
1) A Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
			 (FASD);
2) Maternal substance abuse
			 resulting in prenatal drug exposure to an illegal or legal substance;
			 or
3) Withdrawal symptoms resulting
			 from prenatal drug exposure to an illegal or a legal substance.
"Affected by" means:
1) An infant exhibits a condition or
			 conditions associated with the mother's use of alcohol during pregnancy or a
			 healthcare provider has an articulated concern that the infant suffers from a
			 fetal alcohol spectrum disorder;
2)
			 An adverse effect or effects in physical appearance or functioning that are
			 either diagnosed or otherwise observed and are a result of the mother's use of
			 a legal or illegal substance during pregnancy; or
3) An infant exhibits withdrawal symptoms in
			 physical appearance or functioning as a result of the mother's use of a legal
			 or illegal substance during pregnancy.
"Infant" means any child thirty (30) days old or less.
The remainder of this policy and related procedures are
				specific to approach B, herein after referred to collectively as prenatal
				substance exposure referrals and assessments.
Healthcare providers involved in delivery or care of infants
				are required to make prenatal substance exposure referrals to the Arkansas
				Child Abuse Hotline. The Arkansas Child Abuse Hotline will accept prenatal
				substance exposure referrals. Upon receipt of a prenatal substance exposure
				referral from a health care provider, the Arkansas Child Abuse Hotline will
				assign the referral to DCFS for a Referral and Assessment (R and A). The
				Request for DCFS Assessment Screen accommodates instances where an individual
				is not reporting maltreatment but is requesting an assessment and appropriate
				services for the family based on an assessment of the family's strengths and
				needs.
Prenatal substance exposure referrals will be assigned to the
				appropriate county-level Differential Response (DR) staff (though prenatal
				substance exposure referrals are separate and apart from differential response
				allegations). For a prenatal substance exposure referral to be considered
				initiated, DR staff must make face-to-face contact with the infant or at least
				one (1) parent of the infant within seventy-two (72) hours of receipt of the
				referral from the hotline. If the infant and parent/caregiver are not seen
				together at the initiation, then DR staff must make face-to-face contact with
				the individual not seen at initiation within five (5) calendar days of receipt
				of the referral as well any other adult household members within the same five
				(5) calendar day timeframe. During each contact with the
				parent(s)/caregiver(s), DR staff are responsible for engaging the family in an
				assessment of strengths and needs and developing a plan of safe care for the
				family. The plan of safe care will be designed to ensure the safety and
				well-being of an infant following the release of the infant from the care of a
				healthcare provider and include content that addresses the health and substance
				use disorder treatment needs of the infant and affected family or
				caregiver.