North Carolina Administrative Code › Title 10A - HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES › Chapter 70 - CHILDREN'S SERVICES › Subchapter G - CHILD PLACING AGENCIES: FOSTER CARE › Section .0500 - MINIMUM LICENSING STANDARDS › Section 70G .0503 - PLACEMENT SERVICES

Current through Register Vol. 39, No. 2, July 15, 2024
(a) The agency
				  shall assist the parents or guardian to assume or resume their parental roles
				  and responsibilities as specified in the out-of-home family services agreement
				  or person-centered plan.
(b) The
				  agency shall assist the parents or guardian to gain access to the services
				  necessary to accomplish the goals and objectives specified in the out-of-home
				  family services agreement or person-centered plan.
(c) The agency shall encourage contacts
				  between parents or guardian and children after placement, in accordance with
				  the visitation and contact plan.
(d) The agency shall have a signed agreement
				  with the parents, guardian, or legal custodian of the child in care that
				  includes the expectations and responsibilities of the agency and the parents,
				  guardian, or legal custodian for carrying out the steps to meet the out-of-home
				  family services agreement or goals of the person-centered plan, the financial
				  arrangements for the child in care, and visitation and contact plans.
(e) The agency shall select the most
				  appropriate form of family foster care or therapeutic foster care for the child
				  consistent with the needs of the child, parents, and guardian. The agency shall
				  provide for any services the child may need and, when placing the child, shall
				  select the least restrictive and most appropriate setting closest to the
				  child's home.
(f) The agency shall
				  document any need to place a child in a family foster home or therapeutic
				  foster home that is beyond a radius of 150 miles from the agency and the
				  child's parents or guardian.
(g)
				  The agency, when selecting care, shall maintain the child's connections to
				  their neighborhood, community, faith, extended family, tribe, school, and
				  friends.
(h) The agency shall
				  involve the parents or guardian in the selection of the placement. In
				  accordance with
				  G.S.
				  7B-903.1(d), when the
				  supervising agency intends to change a child's placement, it shall give the
				  parent or guardian notice of its intention unless precluded by emergency
				  circumstances. Where emergency circumstances exist, the supervising agency
				  shall notify the parent or guardian within 72 hours of the placement
				  change.
(i) Each family foster home
				  or the therapeutic foster home in which a foster child is placed shall be
				  licensed by the Division of Social Services.
(j) The agency social worker for the child
				  shall become acquainted with the child and family prior to placement, except
				  when a child is placed on an emergency basis or if the child is an
				  infant.
(k) The agency social
				  worker shall help the child understand the reasons for placement and prepare
				  him or her for the new environment. The social worker shall, except when
				  placing under emergency conditions, arrange at least one preplacement visit for
				  the child and shall be available to the child, the parents or guardian, and the
				  foster parents for supportive services.
(l) The agency shall supervise the care of
				  the child and shall coordinate the planning and services for the child and
				  family, as stated in the out-of-home family services agreement or
				  person-centered plan.
(m) Children
				  in family foster homes and therapeutic foster homes shall have a monthly
				  face-to-face contact by the social worker or case manager or more if specified
				  in the out-of-home family services agreement or person-centered plan. The
				  parents or guardian of children in family foster care and therapeutic foster
				  care shall have a monthly face-to-face contact by the social worker or case
				  manager unless the out-of-home family services agreement or person-centered
				  plan indicates a different schedule of face-to-face contacts.
(n) The agency social worker or case manager
				  shall meet with the children and the parents, guardian, or legal custodian,
				  either separately or together based on the out-of-home family services
				  agreement or person-centered plan, to assess and work on the following:
(1) progress in resolving problems which
				  precipitated placement;
(2) parent
				  and child relationship difficulties;
(3) adjustment to separation;
(4) adjustment to placement;
(5) achievement of out-of-home family
				  services agreement goals or person-centered plan goals; and
(6) the reasonable and prudent parent
				  standard.