Placement of Children in Close Proximity to Their Home
I. Introduction
A. Purpose
This policy requires the placement of children as close as possible to their home. It also provides for exceptions to the requirement.
B. General Principles
This policy has been developed to comply with the following operating principles set forth in the R.C. Consent Decree:
VII.49. "Class members from Jefferson, Mobile, Montgomery, Madison, Houston, Tuscaloosa, Etowah, Calhoun, Walker, Lee, and Dallas counties shall be placed within their home county when removed from their homes. Class members from other counties shall be placed within the region in which their home county is located. Exceptions to this principle are to be permitted only in exceptional circumstances with the written permission of the Director of the Division of Family and Children's Services or his/her designee. DHR shall promulgate a policy, acceptable to both parties, that describes when such exceptional circumstances are present."
C. Children Covered by Policy
This policy regarding close proximity applies to all children in the custody or responsibility of a conversion county who have been removed from their home and placed in foster care {e.g., home of relatives (kinship care) or neighbors, foster family home, therapeutic foster family home, group home, shelter home, child care institution, hospital or other residential facility}. This policy also applies to children in the custody or responsibility of a conversion county who are placed in a non-conversion county.
D. Proximity
of Placement Policy for Children Placed with Child Placing
Agencies
Any licensed child placing agency that approves foster homes serving children in the custody or responsibility of DHR is to develop written policy regarding proximity of placements. These agencies may adopt the policy developed by the Department or develop their own policy, as long as it is consistent with Department policy and provides children no less rights than are provided in DHR policy. The agency's proximity policy is to be approved by State DHR. It is to be explained by the agency in clear, understandable language to all children placed by DHR and to their parents. A copy of the policy is to be given to parents upon request.
E. Glossary
Child's Home - The physical environment or location of the family unit in which the child resides or was residing with a caretaker in a significant relationship prior to removal or placement in DHR custody or care.
Decree Goals - The goals of the system of care: to protect children from abuse and neglect and to enable them to live with or near their families, achieve stability and permanency in their living situations, achieve success in school, and become stable, gainfully employed adults.
Emergency Situation - A situation where the child is at imminent risk of serious harm and action to protect the child must be taken before a child and family planning team can be convened to develop an ISP or revise an existing ISP.
Family - A biological, adoptive or self-created unit of people residing together consisting of an adult(s) and child(ren) with the adult(s) performing duties of parenthood for the child(ren). Persons within this unit share bonds, culture, practices and a significant relationship. Biological parents, siblings, or others with significant attachments to the child living outside of the home are included in the definition of family.
Foster Care Provider - A provider of out-of-home care for a child in any of the following settings: the home of relatives (kinship care) or neighbors, a foster family home, a therapeutic foster family home, a group home, a shelter home, a child care institution, a hospital or other residential facility.
Foster Parent - A foster care provider delivering care in any of the following settings: the home of a relative (kinship care) or neighbor, a foster family home, or a therapeutic foster family home.
Home County - County in which the child's home is located.
Parent - A father or mother, an individual appointed as legal custodian or guardian or an individual acting as a father or mother. This may include but is not limited to a relative rearing a child for an absent family member, a godparent assuming a parent's role when the parent is deceased, etc.
Placement in Close Proximity to Home - A placement that permits the child to remain in his or her neighborhood or community and attend his or her same school, or if that is not feasible, a placement in the child's home county that (a) permits frequent visiting between the child and his or her family, (b) permits parents to retain a level of parenting responsibility sufficient to sustain a strong relationship with the child and to support attainment of the permanency goal, and (c) permits the child to remain in his home school, when permitted by school authorities.
Relative - A relationship created between persons by blood, marriage or legal action (adoption or paternity) to any degree.
Residential Provider- A foster care provider other than a foster parent, including a provider delivering care in any of the following licensed or license-exempt settings: group home, child-placing agency, child care institution, DYS facility, DMH facility.
Safety - Protection from physical injury or sex-related abuse.
Safety Plan - A plan for protecting a child in an emergency situation, developed in partnership with the family and the age appropriate child when possible.
F. Court Orders
Court orders must be followed.
Sometimes there will be an existing court order (often from a divorce proceeding) in place at the time an ISP is being developed for a child and family. The existing order must be followed until modified or lifted. However, DHR must seek to have the order lifted or modified if it substantially inhibits attainment of the child's permanency goal, or imposes requirements inconsistent with R.C.
Sometimes, after an ISP has been developed, the court will order additional services, lift restrictions, or impose additional restrictions. These court orders must be followed. However, DHR must seek to have the order lifted or modified if it substantially inhibits attainment of the child's permanency goal, or imposes requirements inconsistent with R.C.
If the court refuses to modify or lift an order as requested, the county DHR will inform the Division of Family and Children's Services. If the Division concurs that the court order is inconsistent with R.C., the Division will take appropriate action.
II. Making Placements in Close Proximity to the Child's Home
A. General Policy
Children shall be placed in their own neighborhood or community in a placement that sustains the child's existing relationships with family, friends, teachers and neighbors. Such placements will permit children to remain in their same school. Placement in the neighborhood is preferred over placement in the community.
If it is not feasible to place a child in his or her neighborhood or community, the child shall be placed within his or her home county in a placement that (a) permits frequent visiting between the child and his or her family, (b) permits parents to retain parenting responsibility sufficient to sustain a strong relationship with the child and to support attainment of the permanency goal, and (c) permits the child to remain in his or her home school, when permitted by school authorities.
To implement this policy, DHR will aggressively recruit foster family and adoptive homes from the child's and family's array of relatives, friends, neighbors and others in the community, and DHR will support such homes as necessary. Services shall be provided to enable foster care providers to care for children in close proximity to home, including children with disabilities. Services that may be needed to sustain a placement close to home include: respite for foster families, in-home child care and housekeeping, and individualized wraparound services for the child, the child's family and the foster family.
Aggressive recruitment and support of foster care providers committed to keeping children in close proximity to their home must be a component of each county department's plan for resource development and retention.
B. Selecting a Placement
Normally, the selection of a placement will be made in partnership with the family, age appropriate child, and the child and family planning team as part of the development or revision of a strengths and needs based ISP.
In an emergency situation (e.g., when a child is at imminent risk of serious harm and a placement must be made to protect the child before a child and family planning team can be convened), placement decisions will be made as part of the child's safety plan which will be developed by the DHR worker in partnership with the family and age appropriate child when possible. The child and family planning team will review placement decisions within 72 hours of placement (an ISP must be developed by a child and family planning team within 72 hours of placement). A child must be placed in close proximity to his or her home during the 72 hour period unless the child's need for safety cannot feasibly be met by such a placement.
Agreement regarding placement decisions will be reached with the family and age appropriate child unless the child's need for safety cannot be met in a placement agreeable to the child and family.
C. Selecting a Placement for a Child Who Requires Specialized Services
A child with a physical, emotional, or mental condition who requires specialized services shall be placed in close proximity to his or her home. Services must be provided to allow the child to be placed in the home of relatives (kinship care) or neighbors, a foster family home, a therapeutic foster family home, or an independent living placement that is in close proximity to home. When children cannot be maintained in such a setting with wraparound and other services, consideration may be given to referring the child to a residential facility to accomplish specific therapeutic objectives. In general, children admitted to residential facilities will have specific objectives to accomplish, and they will be placed in close proximity to their home in a family like setting or in independent living when they have accomplished those objectives.
Often, no residential facility will be available in the child's home county. In this case, the child may be referred to a residential facility outside the county, but only if the facility meets the child's needs for therapy and ongoing access to his or her family, as well as the family's need for participation in the child's treatment.
D.
When Children May Be In Placements That Are Not In Close Proximity to
Their Home
Children may be placed out of close proximity to their home only under the following circumstances:
1. The placement will provide greater access to the child's family (for example, an out-of-county placement would be closer or more accessible to the child's home), or
2. The placement is in the home of a relative and offers the best potential for preserving family ties, or
3. A placement in close proximity to home would pose a significant threat to the safety of the child or others, even if services were provided, or
4. The placement is necessary to keep siblings together, and will permit adequate contact between the children and their family, or
5. The placement is necessary to attainment of the child's permanency goal (for example, the plan is foster parent adoption and the foster parents move out of county), or
6. The placement is necessary to afford the child with a physical, emotional, or mental condition access to specialized services in order to accomplish specific therapeutic objectives, and said services cannot feasibly be made available in close proximity to the child's home. The placement must meet the child's therapeutic needs, his or her need for ongoing access to family, and the family's need for participation in the child's treatment.
A placement based on exception 6 above must be approved by the SOC Director or, in his or her absence, by the Director of the Division of Family and Children's Services. When the child and family planning team requests approval for an exception, sufficient information shall accompany the request (including the child's ISP, the name and description of the proposed placement, and the rationale for recommending the exception) to permit the SOC or Division Director to make an informed decision.
The Quality Assurance system will collect data regarding the extent and basis for placements made pursuant to exceptions 1-5 above.
E. Application of This Policy To Children in Out of Home Care Prior to the
Issuance of the Policy
During the process of county conversion, ISPs will be developed for all children in placement (in either family-like settings or residential facilities), including those who are not in placements in close proximity to their home. The child and family planning team will consider whether children should be moved to a placement in close proximity to their home. Children shall be moved to a placement in close proximity to their home unless moving the child will jeopardize his or her opportunity for achieving Decree goals including permanency goals.
When deciding whether to move the child in close proximity to home, due consideration shall be given to the following:
the preferences of the child and family;
the attachments of the child to his or her family and home neighborhood and home community;
the child's permanency goal; and
the strengths of the child's existing placement, including the attachment of the child to the current foster care provider and the willingness of the current provider to aggressively maintain frequent and meaningful contact between the child and his or her family and community.
F. Contact
With Family and Friends When Not Placed in Close Proximity to
Home
When a child is not placed in close proximity to home, visiting and telephone and mail communication with family and friends will be intensified to provide as much contact as possible, including normalized activities between the child and family.