Code of Maryland Regulations › Title 07 - DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES › Subtitle 02 - SOCIAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION › Chapter 07.02.25 - LDSS Foster Home Requirements › Section 07.02.25.06 - Resource Home Study Process

Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 14, July 12, 2024
A. The selection of a family for home study shall be made on the basis of the family's flexibility in the type of child they can parent and the needs of children coming into out-of-home placement rather than the chronological order in which a family contacted the local department.
B. The home study process shall include an opportunity for prospective resource parent or parents to assess their potential for resource parenthood.
C. The home study process shall provide an opportunity for a local department to study and assess a family's potential for resource parenthood.
D. A home study shall provide in-depth information about foster care and adoption to a prospective resource parent, which includes:
(1) The definition and goals of foster care and adoption;
(2) The differences between foster parenting, parenting one's own child, and adoption of a child;
(3) The problems which require a child being placed in foster care;
(4) The characteristics of children needing foster care placement and adoption, including problems and needs;
(5) The characteristics of birth parents, their problems, needs, rights, and responsibilities, including visitation;
(6) The role and responsibilities of resource parents to the child, the birth parents, the local department, and the resource parent's own family;
(7) The role and responsibilities of the local department to the resource family, the birth family, and the foster children;
(8) The impact foster care and adoption may have on the applicant's own family;
(9) The impact that separation and placement have on the child, the birth family, and the resource family;
(10) The nature and purpose of the local department's planning documents, including the permanency plan, the case plan, and the service agreement;
(11) The minimum requirements for resource homes, as set forth in Regulations .04-.05 of this chapter;
(12) The knowledge of different types of resource home options, including emergency foster care or regular foster care;
(13) Understanding that the priorities of permanency plan options are in the following order:
(a) Return home to birth parents,
(b) Placement with relatives,
(c) Adoption,
(d) Independent living, in which the child is learning to be self-sufficient and responsible for living arrangements,
(e) Another Planned Permanent Living Arrangement:
(i) A permanency plan that addresses the individualized needs of the child, including the child's educational plan, emotional stability, physical placement, and socialization needs, and
(ii) Includes goals that promote the continuity of relations with individuals who will fill a lasting and significant role in the child's life.
(14) The option to be considered as an adoptive home for children who have been in continuous care in the foster home for at least 1 year;
(15) The legal, technical, procedural, financial, medical, and educational aspects of child placement;
(16) An overview of the Citizens Review Board for Children and other review processes and the resource parents' role in these processes;
(17) The Department's discipline policy, as stated in Regulation .20 of this chapter;
(18) The requirement that resource parents attend 27 hours of pre-service dual-approval training and at least ten hours per year of continuing training as approved and made available by the Administration.