Rhode Island Code of Regulations › Title 214 - DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN, YOUTH AND FAMILIES › Chapter 30 - CASE MANAGEMENT › Subchapter 00 - N/A › Part 1 - Case Management › Section 214-RICR-30-00-1.1 - Purpose

Current through June 14, 2024
A. The Rhode Island Department of Children,
				 Youth and Families (hereinafter the Department) is mandated by federal and
				 state law and Department policy to make reasonable efforts to prevent a child's
				 removal from his/her home, to reunify the child and family, and to make and
				 finalize an alternate permanent placement when the child and family cannot be
				 reunited. The Department utilizes a comprehensive assessment and service
				 planning process for each child and family receiving services from the initial
				 point of contact throughout case closure. This process is guided by principles
				 of family-centered, culturally competent practice and utilizes standardized
				 tools at various points throughout the Department's involvement with a family.
				 Family represents the focus of all work and family members are engaged through
				 the development and implementation of any plan. The family is defined broadly
				 and includes biological parents, adoptive families, kin, fictive kin, legal
				 guardians, and foster families.
B.
				 The Department's assessment and service planning process identifies, considers,
				 and assesses factors that affect child safety, permanency and well-being. This
				 process recognizes patterns in behavior over time and examines family strengths
				 and protective factors to identify resources to support the family's ability to
				 protect the child(ren). A child is considered safe when evaluation of all
				 available information leads to the conclusion that the child in his or her
				 current living arrangement is not in immediate danger of harm and no
				 interventions are necessary to ensure the child's safety. If the child is not
				 safe, immediate interventions must be taken to ensure the child's safety.
				 Safety interventions are responsive to the present and impending danger of harm
				 to the child and are not expected to impact identified risks of future harm.
				 Impending danger address the likelihood of future maltreatment; meanwhile,
				 present danger concerns require immediate interventions to ensure that children
				 are protected, risk of future harm is addressed over time with services that
				 result in long-term positive behavioral changes.
C. Every child under the Department's
				 supervision must have a written service plan. Each service plan for a child
				 placed in substitute care must include specific information to determine the
				 appropriateness of and necessity for out-of-home placement. The Department
				 places siblings removed from their home in the same foster care, adoption or
				 guardianship placement unless there is an acceptable exception. If siblings
				 cannot be placed together, the Department facilitates visitation or ongoing
				 contact, unless it is contrary to the safety or well-being of any of the
				 siblings. The Department must develop a transition plan for youth leaving the
				 Department's care which is a written description of the programs and services
				 that will help the youth prepare for the transition from foster care to
				 successful adulthood.