Children have certain inherent rights based on their special status as children and their inability to care for themselves. Among these inherent rights are the right to live with their birth/legal family and to receive love, protection, nurturance, and support until they reach the age of majority; the right to be free from harm, neglect, and abuse; to receive an education; to have physical care and medical attention; to enjoy all facets of family life; to be disciplined and to receive religious and moral training, and to grow into well-adjusted young adults.
When a child's right to live with his or her own birth/legal family is in jeopardy, the child has a right to be represented by legal counsel and to have their legal rights protected in any judicial procedure which addresses custody or guardianship. DCFS has certain responsibilities to children who have been removed from the custody of their birth/legal parents.
Responsibilities of DCFS to children in foster care:
1. Place the child in a foster home, provisional foster home, or other substitute care facility that can best serve the child's needs and is the least restrictive environment.
2. Place the child close to birth/legal parents to allow frequent contact.
3. Ensure the child has regular visits with birth/legal parents, siblings, and others with whom there is a significant relationship, unless restricted by court order.
4. Give the child honest information regarding all decisions.
5. Provide the child the basic rights inherent to all children as stated above.
6. Allow the child to participate in case planning, conferences, staffings, and court hearings, etc., whenever possible and age appropriate.
7. Keep a record for each child that includes legal documents (e.g., birth certificate, social security card, court orders).
8. Help the child return to the birth/legal parents' home at the earliest possible time or be legally freed to form new family ties with relatives or adoptive parents.
9. Prepare the child for successful transition to adulthood.
Birth/Legal Parents
Birth/legal parents are the key to long-range planning for the child in foster care. They are central members of the foster care team. The child began with them, identifies with them and, in most instances, has a longing to return to them. The return home of the child is dependent on his birth/legal parents' ability to improve their situation. Otherwise, the birth/legal parents face the possibility of long-range plans being made which may include termination of parental rights. With the exception of parents of children for whom DHS is guardian or birth/legal parents whose rights have been permanently terminated, DCFS has certain responsibilities to the birth/legal parents of children placed in the custody of DHS.
Reponsibilities of DCFS to Birth/Legal Parents:
1. Offer and provide services that will help keep their family together.
2. Let them know they may seek the assistance of an attorney any time a legal action involves their child. Arkansas law requires that defendants have the opportunity to be represented by legal counsel at all stages of court proceedings. If it is determined by the court that a parent or legal guardian, based on their financial resources, is unable to pay for an attorney, the court will appoint an attorney to represent them
3. Let the family know why it was necessary to temporarily remove their child and place him or her with a foster family.
4. Do not judge or criticize the family. Acknowledge that they share in their child's life.
5. Let the family know how they can still be involved in their child's life while he or she is in foster care.
6. Let them know what they must do to have their child return home.
7. Include the family when creating the case plan.
8. Give the family every possible support and service for achieving the goals of the case plan to help their child return home.
9. Return their child home when the necessary changes or conditions required by the court have been made.
Responsibilities of birth/legal parents:
1. Provide any and all important information about their child and family to DCFS.
2. Tell their FSW about any special needs their child has, including health conditions, school information, and important family customs or cultural practices.
3. Participate in staffings and court hearings.
4. Work with FSW to create a case plan.
5. Participate in the services to support the case plan goals offered to the family and work on achieving the goals of the case plan.
6. Be involved in their child's medical appointments or social or religious activities.
7. Keep in contact with FSW and keep him or her updated on progress in achieving the goals of the case plan.
8. Maintain contact and communication with their child. Keep appointments to visit with their child.
9. Let DCFS know as soon as possible if they wish to give up parental rights.
Foster Parents and Provisional Foster Parents
It is the responsibility of foster parents and provisional foster parents to provide 24 hour nurturing care to children in foster care. They also have a responsibility to help the child develop a good self image and have positive feelings about their past, present, and future.
As temporary substitute parents, foster parents are close to the child in foster care on a day-to-day basis. This closeness allows the foster parents to function as a vital member of the foster care team. As such, the foster parents are in an excellent position to evaluate the child's current needs and ensure that those identified needs are being met by the foster family or through resources in the community.
As team members with a unique perspective of the child, foster parents can contribute a special knowledge to DCFS and to the birth/legal parents including information about the child's behavior, relationships with playmates, and other members of the foster family and adjustment to school and to the neighborhood.
By observing the child's relationship with their birth/legal parents and the child's reactions to visitation, foster parents can enhance the DCFS work with the birth/legal parents. In some instances, the foster parent may also serve as a mentor to the birth/legal parents. This mentoring relationship may be the first opportunity the parent has had to observe and learn effective parenting skills.
Responsibilities of DCFS to Foster Parents:
1. Provide pre-service training and continuing education.
2. Provide all available information concerning the child and the birth/legal family situation to enable them to make an informed decision about the ability or inability to provide care for the child and participate in the case.
3. Involve them as team members in pre-placement activities and case planning as well as staffings and court proceedings.
4. Ensure they have a clear understanding of their role as well as the role of other team members in achieving case goals.
5. Provide them with a board payment for food, clothing, and shelter for children in their care.
6. Allow them to continue their own family patterns and routine, as much as possible.
7. Allow them to request the removal of a child from their home, with notice.
8. Give advance notice, whenever possible, when a child is to be removed from their home.
9. Promptly inform them of any complaint against their home or of any condition or problem in the home which adversely affects their status as foster parents and provide guidance and support toward resolution of the condition or problem. (See section on Complaints Against Foster Family Other Than Child Maltreatment.)
10. Provide access to a grievance procedure when differences arise with DCFS which have not been resolved to their satisfaction. (See section on Foster Parent Grievance Procedure.)
11. Inform them of DCFS programs, services, and policies, which relate to foster care.
Responsibilities of foster parents to DCFS, the child, and the child's family:
1. Participate in foster parent pre-service training and continuing education programs designed to enhance their ability to care for children in foster care.
2. Help develop an individualized training plan and follow the plan.
3. Follow the policies and the decisions of DCFS and accept the supervision of DCFS; Cooperate with monitoring and investigations, and provide information required to verify compliance with rules.
4. Assist the child and DCFS in planning and achieving the child's return to their parents' home or to a permanent placement.
5. Communicate with the attorney ad litem about the status and needs of the child so that the attorney can present to the court a complete and accurate picture of the client.
6. Attend and participate in case planning and case plan reviews.
7. Provide a nurturing family life experience for the child including guidance, intellectual stimulation, affection, and appropriate discipline.
8. Provide the level of supervision, care, and treatment necessary to ensure the safety and well being of each child placed into their home, taking into account the child's age, individual differences and abilities, surrounding circumstances, hazards, and risks.
9. Establish well defined rules; set expectations and limits consistent with the child's age, and clearly establish there will be consequences for inappropriate behavior; discipline with kindness and understanding; train and teach the child using positive techniques that stress praise and encouragement, rather than using negative techniques.
10. Protect the child by locking up all dangerous objects and substances.
11. Store all medications in a secure location and follow the instructions on the label when giving them to the child. Understand the possible side effects of all medications and keep a log of all medications given to the child.
12. Provide for enrollment and regular school attendance when age-appropriate in an accredited school and encourage the expression of the child's strengths and special talents. Provide the child regular activities to promote the physical, social, intellectual, spiritual, and emotional development of the children in their care.
13. Attend school conferences concerning a foster child, and notify DCFS of any situations that may affect the case plan or require agency involvement.
14. Notify DCFS promptly of serious illness, injury, or unusual circumstances affecting the health, safety, or welfare of the foster child.
15. Provide each child their own clothing that is clean, well-fitted, seasonal, appropriate to age and sex, and comparable to community standards.
16. Allow foster children to acquire and keep personal belongings.
17. Cooperate with DCFS in arranging for routine medical and dental care as well as making sure the child receives appropriate care during any illness. Accompany the child on all medical appointments.
18. Provide routine transportation for each child.
19. Protect the child from exposure to second-hand smoke and take every precaution to ensure his or her health and safety.
20. Maintain a record of health care and immunization records via the Medical Passport.
21. Keep a lifebook for the child that includes periodic photographs of the child; a record of the child's memberships, activities, and participation in extracurricular school or church activities; trophies, awards, ribbons, etc.
22. Speak positively of the child's birth/legal family.
23. Maintain absolute confidentiality of private information about each foster child and the birth/legal family.
24. Fully cooperate with DCFS's efforts to achieve the case plan goals for each foster child, including visitation.
25. Maintain open communication with all team members, including communication with the child's birth/legal family when contact between foster parents and the family is part of the case plan.
26. Give advance notice to DCFS of any major changes that affect the life and circumstances of the foster family, including change of residence, whenever possible.
27. Show support and help prepare the child for any move that he or she must make (back to their family, to a relative's home, another foster home, an adoptive home, or independent living).
28. Keep the terms of the Initial Foster Home Agreement and Addendum
Foster parents are prohibited from using corporal punishment on a child in foster care. Methods of discipline that are unacceptable for use by foster parents with the child include, but are not limited to:
1. Cruel, severe, or humiliating actions, such as washing mouth with soap;
2. Taping or obstructing child's mouth;
3. Placing painful or unpleasant tasting or hot substances in child's mouth;
4. Placing a child in dark areas;
5. Humiliation in public;
6. Physical punishment inflicted in any manner, such as hitting, pinching, pulling hair, slapping, kicking, twisting the arms, forced fixed body positions, spanking, etc.;
7. Denial of meals, clothing, shelter;
8. Interference with any case plan requirements, or any denial of basic rights;
9. Denial of visits, telephone, or mail contact with family members;
10. Assignment of extremely strenuous exercise or work;
11. Locked isolation of any kind; and
12. Punishment of any kind for bedwetting or poor toilet habits. If a child is experiencing problems with enuresis, a therapist should be engaged to help with this issue.
Credits
Amended Nov. 25, 2010.
Current with amendments received through February 15, 2024. Some sections may be more current, see credit for details.
