As an integral part of DCFS delivery system, one can expect support from DCFS in the form of training, in-home contacts, case consultation, board payments, special services to children in one's care, and recognition and acknowledgment of these efforts.

When a foster parent requests that a child in foster care be removed from their home, excluding an emergency that places the child or a family member at risk of harm, the foster parent will be expected to attend a staffing to discuss what services or assistance may be needed to stabilize the placement. The staffing will be held within 48 hours of notification by the foster parent to remove the child from their home. The age-appropriate child in foster care, the child's attorney ad litem and a CASA, if appointed to the case, the parents, or guardian, and all parties' attorneys shall be notified so that they can attend and participate in the staffing and planning for the child's placement. If the placement cannot be stabilized, the foster parent will continue to provide for the child in foster care until an appropriate alternative placement is located, but this shall not be longer than five business days.

Foster parents work primarily with three different DCFS staff positions. These are the Family Service Worker, the Foster Parent Resource Worker, and in some instances, the Foster Parent Ombudsman. To better understand how these staff members work as a team and interact with the goal of providing the best overall experience for children in foster care, the following job descriptions are offered.

The Family Service Worker (FSW) is primarily responsible for working with the child in foster care and his or her biological or legal family. They work to correct problems in the home of the birth/legal parent with the goal of preventing the need for removal and, if removal is necessary, then working to reunify the child and family.

In the course of serving the needs of children in foster care, the FSW will frequently visit the foster home. When he or she visits the home, the main objective is to discuss the case plan, any changes in the plan, or specific problems with the placement. Neither foster parents nor the FSW are expected to have answers to all problems. Foster parents have the child-raising experience. The FSW has the objective knowledge about children in foster care. Together, solutions are found. The Family Service Worker is expected to be neither a formal guest in the home nor a casual acquaintance or a “best friend.” The relationship is most positive when it is pleasantly professional. Problems with the FSW visiting occur when foster parents, and/or child in foster care, do not know the purpose of the visit. Problems also arise when the FSW is seen as a negative authority figure. For example, threatening the child with “if you're not good I'll call the worker”, or perceiving the FSW as someone who will solve all the problems, i.e., “We'll call the worker; she'll take care of everything,” is not productive. This does not support the team approach and it undermines the foster family's authority. Foster parents and the Family Service Worker are partners working together. This partnership works best when each person presents the other to the child as a positive influence in that child's life, each one bringing his or her contribution to the effort taking place on behalf of the child.

The following are some of the responsibilities of the Family Service Worker:

The Foster Parent Resource Worker is responsible for overseeing the operation of all foster homes. Each DCFS service area has an assigned Foster Parent Resource Worker who serves as an advocate for the foster parent. The Resource Worker is responsible for recruiting foster families, facilitating orientations and training sessions, and other licensing and education requirements, both new and on-going. They monitor compliance, provide case management to promote foster home retention, provide support, facilitate corrective action, develop resources, and assess homes that are not in compliance as well as work with those homes and families, and provide other types of general support to care providers within their area.

The Foster Family Resource Worker's assistance to the foster care family includes, but is not limited to the following:

The Resource Worker will work with the foster parents to improve the overall working relations between DCFS and the Foster Parent Association.

The Volunteer Foster Parent Liaison is an experienced foster parent who serves on a voluntary basis as a statewide advocate for other foster parents when they have specific needs or questions about resources. Some of the Volunteer Foster Parent Liaison duties include:

The Volunteer Foster Parent Liaison may be contacted if the foster parent has a complaint; however, the Volunteer Foster Parent Liaison is not part of the official Internal Review of Adverse Action procedure (see the section on Foster Parents Internal Review of Adverse Action for further clarification). In addition, this is not a position that will respond to or mediate specific case issues or personnel issues. Those issues will continue to be handled through the Division chain of command.

To obtain the current Volunteer Foster Parent Liaison name and contact information, please ask your Resource Worker.

The Family Service Worker overseeing the care of individual children in the foster home will make at least weekly visits in the home during the first month of placement. After the first month, the FSW must make weekly contact with the child at school, or during sibling or parental visits, but must continue to visit the home at least monthly. More frequent visitation may be made to the home to help solve any problems that arise.

The visits will be used to relay necessary information to the child and to allow the foster parents to voice their feelings about the placement and subsequent adjustment jointly, as well as, privately, and to ascertain if the needs of that particular child are being met. Each visit will include a private conversation with the child away from the foster parent. Visits may be scheduled or unannounced.

The Resource Worker will visit the home at least quarterly to monitor continued compliance with licensing standards and to check in with you to make sure you are receiving the support you need as a foster parent.

You may also have a visit from a Licensing Specialist from the Placement and Residential Licensing Unit (PRLU) of the DHS Division of Child Care and Early Childhood Education. The role of the Licensing Specialist is to ensure that DCFS is meeting its requirements as a child welfare placement agency rather than evaluating you as an individual foster home.

For foster parenting to be a successful experience, one must have access to the Family Service Worker and Foster Family Resource Worker. If either of these staff members is absent from the office when telephoned, calls will be returned promptly. If a visit is necessary, it will be scheduled.

Telephone numbers of the Resource Worker who may be contacted after hours will be furnished (See section on DCFS County Office contact persons in the back of this Handbook). After-hours contact should be used for emergencies only. Also, information will be provided which may be needed for the child in the home in an emergency situation, such as the child's Medicaid number and Medical Passport. At the time of placement all information known about the child will be provided, such as: expected length of stay, information regarding illnesses, chronic health problems, medication, habits, etc.

Foster parents will have access to a Family Service Worker in their county 24 hours a day, seven days a week. A list of after hours numbers (on-call pager/cell phone numbers) where the local on-call FSW can be reached will be provided. If the after hours call requires a direct contact with the child's FSW, the on-call worker will provide the assigned Family Service Worker's home phone number or will contact the assigned worker and have that worker make contact.

Child care may be authorized and routinely provided for a child in foster care if both parents work outside of the home or if it is determined to be appropriate as part of the case plan or if court-ordered. Appropriate reasons include: 1) socialization, kindergarten readiness, and/or therapeutic benefits for the child; or, 2) to ensure the child may be placed in a foster home in his/her county or in close proximity to his home. The service may be authorized for up to three months at a time and only be provided by DCFS when resources are available.

Child care providers must be on the voucher system and licensed by The Division of Child Care and Early Childhood Education (DCCECE) or on the Voluntary Child Care Registry. If the child was enrolled in child care prior to coming into care, the child should remain in that particular child care facility (provided it is licensed by DCCECE or on the Voluntary Child Care Registry) if at all possible. This in an effort to provide the child with consistency in his/her daily caregivers and reduce the amount of trauma a child experiences when coming into foster care.

If a child was not enrolled in child care prior to coming into care or if a new child care facility must be used, the Division and foster parents shall make every effort to place the child in a high quality child care center. For more information on high quality child care centers, visit the Better Beginnings website at http://www.arbetterbeginnings.com/.

Enrollment in overnight daycares is not allowed. Likewise, late night pick ups (i.e., after 8:00 p.m.) from child care centers that have extended hours are also unacceptable .

Child care may also be provided as a part of an out-of-home placement case to provide assistance to foster parents for non-routine circumstances that relate to the retention and/or support of the foster home such as foster parent training. Child care provided for such purposes may be reimbursed by the Division when funding is available.

Alternate care for children in out-of-home placement may be used to provide assistance to foster parents when circumstances requiring supervision by an appropriate adult other than the foster parents exist, e.g., if both foster parents work, during foster parent training, transporting a child in foster care for medical purposes, need for short-term, temporary care to provide relief to the foster parent from the on-going responsibility of care, etc. Alternate care is as follows:

The Foster Family Support System shall not be used in place of respite care or as an out-of-home placement. The number of children placed in an FFSS member household must meet all Minimum Licensing and DCFS Policy requirements.

All prospective FFSS members must be cleared through the Child Maltreatment Central Registry and a State Police Criminal Record Check. The Division will request any other state where the prospective FFSS member has resided in the preceding five years to check its child abuse and neglect registry. The Division will provide documentation in the case record that the Child Maltreatment Central Registry and State Criminal Record Checks were conducted on the prospective FFSS member.

Documentation of at least one visual inspection of the home for evaluation purposes is required of all prospective FFSS members.

The Division will check the driving record (violation points) for each potential FFSS member. The Arkansas State Vehicle Safety Program sets the maximum number of traffic violation points an FFSS member foster parent may be allowed.

Where there is a need for counseling services for the foster home to prevent disruption and to promote stabilization, counseling shall be provided. Requests for counseling are made to the Family Service Worker, who is responsible for making that referral to the appropriate Community Mental Health Center.

Foster families should have their own transportation available to transport the child to appointments/activities. Transportation costs such as attending staffings, court, visits with parents or siblings, and all medical appointments will be reimbursed. (Other extraordinary costs may be approved on a case by case basis).

Room and board payments include routine travel expenses. As such, transportation will not be reimbursed for shopping for clothes or groceries, taking a child to school, school activities or church (unless prior approval has been obtained based on special circumstances), or child care (unless it is a Medicaid allowable expense).

Extraordinary circumstances might include situations in which a child may wish to attend a church other than that of a foster parent and travelling to his church would require a significant deviation from the route taken to the church attended by a foster parent. The Assistant Director of Community Services will consider for approval all written requests. Approval will be made based on individual situations and will be given only for specified time periods.

Transportation costs are reimbursed to foster parents at a rate determined by the Department. The foster parent completes a travel reimbursement form (TR-1) and submits it to the County Travel Supervisor for approval and processing. When determining miles driven from city to city for mileage reimbursement, please use the Rand McNally online services at http://www.randmcnally.com/.

Requests for travel reimbursement must be submitted on a monthly basis. Requests for reimbursement for medical and independent living transportation must be submitted on separate TR-1 forms.

The foster family will complete a TR-1 for regular travel and a separate TR-1 for Medicaid travel, e.g., when a child is taken to receive services from a medical provider. When the foster parent needs assistance with transportation, the foster parent should contact the Family Service Worker as soon as possible. The FSW, Program Assistant, or a volunteer transporter may be assigned to assist with travel.

The foster family may be reimbursed for transporting youth to life skills training classes and other TYS activities.

The DHS County Office will inform all foster parents about available resources in the community as well as resources in other areas which may be relevant to a particular child. This information will be updated as new services become available.

It will be the responsibility of DCFS to pursue any resource needed for a child which is mutually agreed upon. Foster parent's assistance may be enlisted for this purpose.

The formation of active and independent foster parent associations is encouraged. DCFS will provide support by the appointment of a Resource Worker to the association. A DCFS representative will also be available when called upon to provide information about the Foster Care Program and allow foster parents to voice any concerns they may have with DCFS policies.

Board payments paid to foster parents are not considered taxable income by the Internal Revenue Services. Current tax laws may allow special treatment for foster parents. Because IRS laws are complex and subject to change from year to year, for specific tax advice foster parents should consult with an accountant or tax specialist.

Foster Parent Grievance Procedures

Foster parents have the right to appeal decisions affecting them and the operation of their home. Most problems can be solved at the local level if the foster parents and FSW keep each other informed about matters of interest and importance pertaining to the child. It is most important for foster parents and Family Service Workers to discuss and work out issues and problems as they occur.

All complaints may not be grievable and, while the County Office will make every effort to reconcile every disagreement, some situations may not be reconcilable. Such situations result in decisions being made by the county office based on current policy and procedure, for example closing the foster home due to the advancing age of the foster parents.

Examples of issues that to take through the Grievance Procedure are:

Prior to filing a grievance, foster parents should request an informal discussion of the problem with the FSW and the immediate supervisor. If the problem is not resolved at this point and the issue is grievable, then the foster parents may file a grievance according to the procedures listed below. Any time frame specified within the grievance procedures may be modified by mutual consent and notification to all involved parties.

If, after the foster parents have discussed the grievance with the FSW and supervisor, and if the foster parents believe that DCFS failed to uphold its policies and philosophies, then, the foster parents must state the grievance in writing and submit it to the Area Director of the county where the foster parents live 30 days from the date the grievable action occurred. The Area Director will schedule a meeting with the foster parents within 10 working days of the receipt of the written grievance and attempt to resolve the problem.

If the foster parents are not satisfied with the results of this meeting and if the foster parents have additional information that pertains to their case that was not previously presented to the FSW, supervisor and Area Director, the foster parents may appeal to the Foster Care Unit in Central Office to present their case supported by said new information. A copy of the grievance and written reports of the previous two meetings will be forwarded to the Foster Care Unit. A Grievance Committee hearing will be scheduled within 10 working days. The hearing will be held in the county where the foster parents live.

The Grievance Committee will be composed of three persons: a representative selected by the county office, a representative selected by the foster parent, and a representative selected by Central Office. The foster parents may also select an individual (such as an attorney, friend, or relative) to present the case. The Grievance Committee member selected by the county office will not be from the county where the foster parents live or any individual who is within the direct chain of authority for the resident county. During the hearing, all parties will be given an opportunity to present their case.

The Grievance Committee will submit their findings and recommendations within 20 working days from the date of the Grievance Hearing to the Assistant Director of Community Services.

The foster parents and the county office will be notified, in writing, by the appropriate decision-making personnel of the decision within 10 working days from the date the Grievance Committee's findings and recommendations are submitted.

If corrective action is required by the county office, the corrective action will begin no later than 10 working days after the county office and foster parents are notified of the decision. A written report of completed action will be submitted to Central Office no later than 30 days after corrective action has commenced. If corrective action has not been finalized within the 30 day time frame, an interim report will be submitted by the DCFS county office every 30 days until completed.

If corrective action is required by the foster parents, they must indicate the steps necessary to correct the deficiency within 10 days after notification from the appropriate decision-making personnel. This corrective action plan must receive the approval of the county office supervisor. The foster parents will notify their local county office and Central Office within 60 days of the original findings being received, that all corrective steps have been completed. In the absence of said notification from the foster parents, it will be presumed that the foster parents have elected not to comply with the findings of the appropriate decision-making personnel.

The decision of the appropriate decision-making personnel will be considered final, and no other appeal procedure within DHS is appropriate.