Arkansas Administrative Code › Agency 016 - DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES › Division 15 - Children and Family Services › Rule 016.15.15-006 - Policy VII-J Division Contact with Biological Parents, Legal Custodians, and Legal Guardians Involved in Out-Of-Home Placement Cases

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 6, June, 2024
Regular communication and quality interaction
				between the Division of Children and Family Services (DCFS) and the biological
				parents, the legal custodian, or legal guardian from whom the child was removed
				(hereinafter to be referred to only as biological parents) throughout the life
				of an out-of-home services case are critical to sustaining parental engagement
				and providing appropriate support to help the family work toward achieving
				reunification.
Early engagement with biological parents
				whose children have been removed from the home is a first step to the overall
				success of the case. The family may often view the Division's involvement as an
				unwelcome intrusion. This perception may result in a wide of range of reactions
				from the family including, but not limited to, defensiveness, hostility,
				resistance, and ambivalence. Nonetheless, the Division must examine the
				underlying cause of the parents' behavior and try to empathize with the parents
				by striving to engage them in the assessment and case planning process from the
				beginning of the out-of-home placement case.
When a Family Service Worker (FSW) is
				assigned to an out-of-home placement case, he or she will conference with the
				investigator or on-call worker who removed the child from the home within 72
				hours of case assignment. The goal of this conference is to gather all
				pertinent information the investigator may have regarding the family and
				reasons for removal. The FSW assigned to the out-of-home placement case will
				use this information, along with other relevant sources to include any past
				agency involvement with the family as documented in CHRIS, to begin completing
				the initial Child Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) for the family and case
				plan (see Policy IV-A: Family Assessments and Policy IV-B: Services Case Plan
				and related procedures for more information).
Within five days of the child's entry into
				the out-of-home placement, the FSW who is primary (i.e., the FSW investigator
				if not yet assigned to an FSW case worker or the FSW foster care case worker if
				the assignment has been made) will attempt to reach the biological parents by
				phone to schedule the first visit with the biological parents in their
				residence to update the biological parents on the status of the case at that
				point and begin the assessment and case planning process. FSWs are encouraged
				to make this visit as early during the five days following removal as possible.
				Scheduled visits are preferred, but unannounced visits are acceptable as
				necessary. If the parents are not at their residence when the FSW attempts the
				initial visit, the primary FSW will continue to attempt a face-to-face meeting
				with the biological parents as soon as possible by trying to reach the parents
				by phone to schedule a visit and/or making unannounced visits to the
				home.
Following the initial face-to-face visit with
				the biological parents, the FSW will meet with the biological parent(s) at
				least weekly in the residence of the biological parent(s) during the first
				month the case is opened. Both announced and unannounced visits are appropriate
				depending on the dynamics of a particular case.
After the first month of the open case, the
				FSW and FSW Supervisor will determine whether the frequency of in-home visits
				with the biological parents will continue to be weekly or be adjusted to
				bi-weekly, or, in limited circumstances for cases progressing extremely well,
				monthly. During these visits, the FSW caseworker
				will
:
A.
Assess parents' progress on case plan services and
			 goals;
B.
Assess parents' new or developing needs, strengths, and/or
			 risks;
C.
Include parents in the ongoing assessment and case planning
			 process;
D.
Respond to parents' questions and concerns;
			 and,
E.
Provide support and guidance to parents as
			 needed
.
If in-home visits with the biological parents
				will be held on a bi-weekly or monthly basis, the Division will also use other
				forms of communication with the family to maintain weekly contact and update
				them on various aspects of their case and their children's progress as
				appropriate. Other forms of communication may include telephone calls, text,
				and email as well as contact with the family through transports and
				family-centered staffings
.
Procedure VII-J1: Caseworker Contacts with Biological
				Parents
01/2016
The Family Service Worker will:
A. Conduct the first face-to-face visit with
			 the biological within five days of the child entering an out-of-home placement
			 in order to:
1)
Introduce him or
			 herself, if not already completed;
2)
Ensure the parents understand
			 the reason for removal;
3)
Collect any information
			 critical to their child's health and well-being not already given to the FSW
			 investigator or on-call worker at the time of removal including but not limited
			 to:
a)
Child's
			 allergies,
b)
Child's medications,
c)
Child's school and/or other
			 educational information,
d)
Behavioral information
			 regarding the child,
e)
Child's likes and
			 dislikes,
f)
Support items for the child such as stuffed
			 animals,
g)
Names and contact information for potential relative and fictive
			 kin placements.
4)
Begin gathering information
			 about the strengths and needs of the family to assist with the completion of
			 the CANS and case plan
.