SECTION 749.2491. May I verify a foster home to provide different services?

(a) You may verify a foster home to provide different services as long as a child placement staff completes an assessment of the home that includes a review of the following:

(1) The number, ages, and needs of children to be placed in the home;

(2) The foster home's capacity to provide each different service and supervise all children appropriately;

(3) The needs of any children currently in the home; and

(4) The foster parents' experience and ability to provide each service.

(b) The child placement staff must sign, date, and document this assessment in the foster home record. The different services permitted must be listed on the verification certificate.

(c) Child placement management staff must review and approve the documentation prior to the placement of a child. You must document the review and approval in the record.

(d) For each placement of a child into a home verified to provide multiple types of services, a child placement staff must ensure there will be no conflict of care. Examples of conflicts in care are placements that:

(1) Place one child at serious risk for harm by another child;

(2) Significantly compromise the care and supervision of any child in care;

(3) Require a level of expertise by the foster parents and/or caregivers that they do not possess; or

(4) Create an environment that is appropriately restrictive for one child but inappropriate for another.

(e) A child needing treatment services may only be placed in a foster home that is verified to provide the treatment services needed by that child. If the treatment service needs of any of the children in a foster home changes and the home is not verified to provide that particular treatment service, the foster parent must notify the child placement staff and a new assessment of the home must be completed, signed, and dated by the child placement management staff. If the foster home is not approved to provide the services after the assessment, then the child must be moved to a placement that can provide the needed services.

Source Note: The provisions of this §749.2491 adopted to be effective January 1, 2007, 31 TexReg 7469; amended to be effective September 1, 2010, 35 TexReg 7522; transferred effective March 9, 2018, as published in the Texas Register February 16, 2018, 43 TexReg 909