Virginia Administrative Code › Title 22 - SOCIAL SERVICES › Agency 40 - DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES › Chapter 211 - FOSTER AND ADOPTIVE HOME APPROVAL STANDARDS FOR LOCAL DEPARTMENTS OF SOCIAL SERVICES › Section 22VAC40-211-10 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
The following words and terms when used in this chapter shall
				  have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates
				  otherwise:
"Adoptive parent" means any provider selected and approved by
				  a parent or a local department for the placement of a child with the intent of
				  adoption.
"Adult" means any person 18 years of age or older.
"Applicant" means an individual or couple applying to be
				  approved as a foster or adoptive home provider or to provide respite
				  services.
"Background checks" means a sworn statement or affirmation
				  disclosing whether the individual has a criminal conviction, is the subject of
				  any pending charges within or outside the Commonwealth of Virginia, and is the
				  subject of a founded complaint of abuse or neglect within or outside the
				  Commonwealth; criminal history record information; child abuse and neglect
				  central registry check; and any other requirement as set forth in §
									63.2-901.1
				  of the Code of Virginia.
"Caretaker" means any individual having the responsibility of
				  providing care for a child and includes the following:
(i) parent or other person legally responsible for the
				  child's care;
(ii) an adult who by law, social custom, express or implied
				  acquiescence, collective consensus, agreement, or any other legally
				  recognizable basis has an obligation to look after the well-being of a child
				  left in his care; and
(iii) persons responsible by virtue of their positions of
				  conferred authority.
"Central registry" means a subset of the child abuse and
				  neglect information system and is the name index with identifying information
				  on an individual named as an abuser or neglector in founded child abuse or
				  neglect complaints or reports not currently under administrative appeal,
				  maintained by the department.
"Child" means any natural person under 18 years of
				  age.
"Child-placing agency" means any person who places children
				  in foster or adoptive homes or independent living arrangements pursuant to
				  §
									63.2-1819
				  of the Code of Virginia or a local board of social services that places
				  children in foster homes or adoptive homes pursuant to §
									63.2-900,
				  63.2-903,
				  or
				  63.2-1221
				  of the Code of Virginia. Officers, employees, or agents of the Commonwealth, or
				  any locality acting within the scope of their authority as such, who serve as
				  or maintain a child-placing agency, shall not be required to be
				  licensed.
"Child abuse and neglect information system" means the
				  computer system that collects and maintains information regarding incidents of
				  child abuse and neglect involving parents or other caretakers. The computer
				  system is composed of three parts: the statistical information system with
				  nonidentifying information, the central registry of founded complaints not on
				  appeal, and a database that can be accessed only by the department and local
				  departments that contains all nonpurged child protective services reports. This
				  system is the official state automated system.
"Commissioner" means the commissioner of the department, his
				  designee, or authorized representative.
"Corporal punishment" means punishment administered through
				  the intentional infliction of pain or discomfort to the body through actions
				  such as, but not limited to, (i) striking, or hitting with any part of the body
				  or with an implement; (ii) pinching, pulling, or shaking; or (iii) any similar
				  action that normally inflicts pain or discomfort.
"Department" means the State Department of Social
				  Services.
"Dually approved" means applicants have met the required
				  standards to be approved as a foster and adoptive family home provider.
"Foster care placement" means placement of a child through
				  (i) an agreement between the parents or guardians and the local board of social
				  services where the legal custody remains with the parents or guardians or (ii)
				  an entrustment or commitment of the child to the local board of social services
				  or licensed child-placing agency.
"Foster parent" means an approved provider who gives 24-hour
				  substitute family care, room and board, and services for children or youth
				  committed or entrusted to a child-placing agency.
"In-service training" means the ongoing instruction received
				  by providers after they complete their preservice training.
"Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children" means a
				  uniform law that has been enacted by all 50 states, the District of Columbia,
				  and the U.S. Virgin Islands that establishes orderly procedures for the
				  interstate placement of children and sets responsibility for those involved in
				  placing those children.
"Kinship foster parent" means a relative or fictive kin who
				  gives 24-hour substitute family care, room and board, and services for children
				  or youth committed or entrusted to a child-placing agency.
"Local department" means the local department of social
				  services of any county or city in the Commonwealth.
"Normalcy" means allowing children and youth in foster care
				  to experience childhood and adolescence in ways similar to their peers who are
				  not in foster care by empowering foster parents and congregate care staff to
				  use the reasonable and prudent parent standard as referenced in
				  42
				  USC §
										675(10)(A) when
				  making decisions regarding extracurricular, enrichment, and social
				  activities.
"Parent" means the birth or adoptive parent of a
				  child.
"Preservice training" means the instruction received by
				  providers during the initial approval process.
"Provider" means an approved foster, adoptive, or kinship
				  foster parent, or an individual approved to provide respite services.
				  Individuals who wish to provide only respite services must meet all standards
				  in this chapter unless there is a noted exception for respite providers.
"Respite care" means the provision of the service of
				  temporary care for children on an emergency or planned basis for the purposes
				  of providing placement stability, supporting the achievement of timely
				  permanency, and promoting connections to relatives. Respite care services shall
				  not exceed 14 consecutive days.
Statutory Authority: §§
											63.2-217
					 and
					 63.2-319C
					 ode of Virginia.