New Mexico Administrative Code › Title 8 - SOCIAL SERVICES › Chapter 26 - FOSTER CARE AND ADOPTION › Part 2 - PLACEMENT SERVICES › Section 8.26.2.12 - ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF RESOURCE PARENTS

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 13, July 16, 2024
A. Resource parents are considered integral
				members of a professional team dedicated to the critical responsibility of
				providing safety, permanency and well-being for children who have been abused
				or neglected. As such, resource parents shall be active participants in case
				planning for children in foster care. The resource parent shall work closely
				with PSD staff to implement the service plan for each child in foster care
				including visitation for each child in foster care.
B. Resource families support the preservation
				of connections for children in foster care in their care. Preserving
				connections may include the development of a long-term supportive relationship
				with children in foster care and their resource families even after the child
				has been discharged from care.
C.
				Resource families shall adhere to applicable PSD policy and procedure,
				including the reasonable and prudent parent standard.
D. Resource parents shall not use words,
				language, gestures, either directed at the child in foster care or made within
				their sight or hearing, which disparage the child's parents, relatives or the
				child's cultural heritage. Resource parents shall encourage the child to
				recognize and accept such strengths and achievements of their family as
				honestly identified.
E. Prohibited
				forms of discipline, for all children residing in the home, shall include, but
				are not limited to the following: corporal punishment such as shaking,
				spanking, hitting, whipping, or hair or ear pulling; isolation; forced to
				exercise; denial of food, sleep or approved visits or contact with parent;
				verbal assaults which subject the child to ridicule or which belittle the child
				or the child's family based on: race; ethnicity; creed; color; age; religion;
				sex or gender; gender identity; gender expression; sexual orientation; marital
				status or partnership; familial or parental status; pregnancy and breastfeeding
				or nursing; disability; genetic information; intersex traits; medical
				condition, including HIV/AIDS; citizenship or immigration status; national
				origin; tribal affiliation; ancestry; language; political affiliation; military
				or veteran status; status as a survivor of domestic violence, sexual assault or
				stalking; and housing status, including homelessness; or any other factor. The
				child shall not be excluded from the resource family and shall not be
				threatened with exclusion from the resource home as punishment. The child shall
				not be locked in a room or closet.
F. The resource parent may serve as the
				child's educational decision maker to protect the their educational rights and
				act as the student's advocate in the educational decision making process if
				appointed by the court.
G. When
				appointed by the New Mexico department of health family, infant and toddler
				program director, the resource parent may serve as a the child's decision maker
				to represent the special needs of a child in all matters related to the early
				intervention and evaluation assessment and treatment for the child in the event
				the parent is unable or unwilling to act in that capacity.
H. Resource parents shall return all of a
				child's belongings when the child moves to another placement, including the
				return home.
I. Resource parents
				shall not release a child in foster care to anyone without the authorization of
				PSD, except when pursuant to the reasonable and prudent parent standard defined
				at
				8.26.2.7 NMAC.
				Children in foster care may also be surrendered to the custody of a law
				enforcement officer.
J. Resource
				parents shall adhere to all statutes and regulations applicable to the
				provision of foster care, including but not limited to child labor laws, public
				health laws, mandatory school attendance, and motor vehicle laws.
K. Resource parents shall provide PSD with
				any documents they obtain with respect to the child's legal status, health
				needs or care, service planning, school progress or other relevant
				documents.
L. Resource parents
				shall maintain copies of all educational and medical documents related to the
				child in a traveling medical and educational file that shall remain with the
				child if the child is moved.
M.
				Resource parents, in cooperation with PSD staff, shall create or maintain a
				life book for each child in their care that shall remain with the child if the
				child is moved.
N. The resource
				parent shall maintain the confidentiality of all information regarding the
				child and the child's family pursuant to the New Mexico Children's Code
				32A-4-33 NMSA 1978. The unlawful public disclosure of such confidential
				information is a misdemeanor under New Mexico criminal law.
O. Resource parents shall immediately report
				any signs, symptoms, indications or risk of abuse or neglect to any child to
				PSD statewide central intake (SCI) or law enforcement.
P. Pursuant to the reasonable and prudent
				parent standard, resource parents may consent to the use of their own personal
				vehicle by a child, and shall assume all civil and financial liabilities
				applicable to the child's operation of a motor vehicle. Resource parents shall
				provide to PSD written documentation that all requirements have been met,
				including insurance coverage for any vehicle driven by the child in foster
				care.
Q. Resource parents shall
				complete the resource parent report form provided by PSD regarding the child's
				well-being and progress and submit it to their PSD worker monthly.