214 R.I. Code R. 214-RICR-30-00-1.10

Current through November 7, 2024

Section 214-RICR-30-00-1.10 - Safety Assessment and Plan

A. A safety assessment is completed during each child protective services investigation to determine if a child or youth can remain safely in the home, guide and document decision making in the removal or return of a child to the child's family during investigations, and guide decision making on child safety factors that if not addressed, pose an immediate safety threat to a child.

B. A child is considered safe when the safety assessment determines the child in his or her current living arrangement is not in immediate danger of harm and no interventions are necessary to ensure the child's safety. If the child is not safe, immediate interventions must be taken to ensure the child's safety. Safety interventions are responsive to the present danger of harm to the child and identify risks of future harm.

C. The safety plan contains one or both of the following elements depending on the individual safety needs of each child in the family:

1. In-Home Safety Plan is developed when the protective capacity of the parent or caregiver can be enhanced or supported to create safety for the child.

2. Out-of-Home Safety Plan is developed if reasonable efforts have been unsuccessful in preventing the removal of the child from the home, or:

a. Existing protective capacity of the parent or caregiver cannot be enhanced or supported to provide for the child's safety; or

b. There is no parent or caregiver to provide for the child's safety needs.

D. The safety plan is implemented and active if threats to child safety exist and caregiver protective capacities are insufficient to assure a child is protected.

E. The safety plan is the initial stage of the family assessment process and contains information that must be reviewed at critical points through the Department's involvement with the family and documented in the family's service plan.

F. Each safety plan:

1. Specifies any foreseeable danger threats.

2. Identifies how the foreseeable danger will be managed including:

a. by whom;

b. under what circumstances and agreements;

c. with specification of time requirements, availability, accessibility, and suitability of those involved.

3. Considers caregiver capacities and acknowledgement of safety threats and caregiver acceptance and willingness for the plan to be implemented.

4. Includes how the plan will be monitored by Department staff across divisions.

G. The assessment of present and impending danger and subsequent decisions are made while considering the child's need for permanency and well-being and occur throughout the duration of the family's involvement with the Department, specifically at critical decision points including, but not limited to:

1. Initial opening to the Department;

2. Change in family circumstances;

3. Change in placement of child(ren); and

4. Reunification and case closure.

1.10.1Placement Assessments

A. Upon entry into foster care or a change in placement for children who are in the Department's out of home care due to a report or suspicion of abuse and neglect will undergo an assessment. The assessment includes but is not limited to the assessments utilized by the Department or the clinical opinion of a licensed health care professional in an Assessment and Stabilization Center, mental health inpatient facility or a facility of equivalent level or type.

B. An assessment is not required in accordance with the above if:

1. The placement move is to a placement at an equivalent level of need; or

2. The placement change is occurring because the placement is no longer available for reasons unrelated to the changing needs of the child (such as at the foster parents' request, due to a closure of the placement or other unavailability); or

3. The placement change is occurring to a child not in the Department's legal custody and out-of-home placement due to a report or suspicion of abuse or neglect (in voluntary custody due to mental health or behavioral health needs) or the child is open to the Department for juvenile justice, as distinct from an allegation of abuse or neglect, and the placement change is occurring because of a juvenile justice reason or children's behavioral health reason, not because of the allegation of abuse or neglect that brought the child into Department care; or

4. The change in placement occurs pursuant to an order of the Rhode Island Family Court.

C. Assessments are completed in partnership with the Department's primary service worker, child (if age appropriate), parent(s)/caregiver(s), formal providers, informal providers and natural supports to the family.

1.10.2Service Plan

A. The Department utilizes a comprehensive assessment and service planning process for each child and family receiving services from the initial point of contact throughout case closure.

B. The comprehensive assessment and service planning process identifies, considers, and weighs factors that affect child safety, permanency, and well-being. This process recognizes patterns in behavior over time and examines family strengths and protective factors to identify resources to support the family's ability to safely provide for the well-being of their children.

C. If a child is placed in out of home care, each service plan for the child includes specific information to determine the appropriateness of and necessity for out-of-home placement. In addition, the Department must place siblings who have been living with each other prior to placement or who enter placement at or within thirty (30) days of each other together, unless:

1. The Department determines that doing so would be harmful and/or not be in the best interest of one or more of the siblings; or

2. One of the siblings has treatment needs that need to be met in a specialized placement or facility; or

3. The size of the sibling group makes such placement impossible due to the licensing regulations restricting such placement to a single home based on the size of the sibling group not as a result of a lack of licensed capacity for a group of that size; or

4. It is in the best interest of one or more of the siblings to be placed in a kinship placement in which the other sibling(s) cannot be placed; or

5. Specific placements are made by an order of the Rhode Island Family court.

D. The service plan must include:

1. A plan for assuring that the child receives safe and proper care and that appropriate services are provided to parents, child and foster parents;

2. The health and education records of the child, to the extent available and accessible;

3. Where appropriate, for a child age fourteen (14) or over, a written description of the program and services which will help prepare the youth for the transition toward a self-sufficient and productive adult life; and

a. includes a document that describes the rights of the youth with respect to education, health, visitation, court participation, credit reports, and the right to stay safe and avoid exploitation and the right for youth eighteen (18) and older to receive upon discharge; an official or certified copy of their birth certificate, social security card, health insurance information, medical records, driver's license or state issued identification card, and official documentation necessary to prove the youth was previously in foster care.

b. includes a signed acknowledgement by the youth that the youth has been provided with a copy of the document and that the rights contained in the document have been explained to the youth in an age-appropriate way.

c. any revision or addition to the service plan must be developed in consultation with the youth and, at the option of the youth, with up to two (2) members of the case planning team who are chosen by the youth and who are not a foster parent of, or caseworker for, the youth.

(1) The Department may reject an individual selected by the youth to be a member of the case planning team at any time if the Department has good cause to believe that the individual would not act in the best interests of the youth.

(2) One individual selected by a youth to be a member of the youth's case planning team may be designated to be the youth's advisor and as necessary, advocate, with respect to the application of the reasonable and prudent parent standard to the youth.

4. Each youth, age fourteen (14) and older, in foster care receives an annual credit report until discharged from foster care. The Department will assist with any inaccuracies in the credit report.

5. In the case of a child with respect to whom the permanency plan is adoption, guardianship or another planned permanent living arrangement (APPLA), documentation of the steps the Department is taking to find an adoptive family or other permanent living arrangement.

E. The Service Plan is time-limited, individualized and strength-based and addresses:

1. How the family will mobilize their strengths and protective capacities to mitigate behaviors identified through the assessment process that contributed to child maltreatment and Department involvement.

2. Necessary behavior changes linked to risk factors that affect safety, permanency, and child well-being. The service plan identifies the mutual responsibilities and expectations of each parent, child, the Department, formal, and natural supports, towards achieving the identified permanency goal.

3. Conditions of probation and the major factors that affect community safety for youth involved in Juvenile Corrections.

4. Action steps, in language the family can understand, to provide detail on the services and supports that are available to assist the family to reach the behavior change goal.

F. Department staff must make every effort to personally interview family members, including children, in the family's home, when appropriate.

1. Ongoing communication and visits with the family, including individual, parent/ child and/or family interviews are utilized to continuously gather information and assess family dynamics and functioning relating to present and impending danger.

2. Coordinated meetings occur with formal providers, informal providers and natural supports to the family throughout the Department's involvement to capture comprehensive information about the family and to ensure ongoing family engagement. Meetings occur at a location appropriate to the family's needs.

G. The primary service worker obtains signatures on the service plan to confirm that all parties participated in the development, review and revision of the plan and were provided the opportunity to agree or disagree with the content. Each party signing the service plan is notified of his or her right to disagree with the content of the plan and appeal implementation of the plan.

1. The primary service worker explains the Department's appeal procedure to the parents and child, to the extent of his/her ability to understand, at each signing of the service plan.

2. The following individuals sign the service plan:

a. Parents/guardians;

b. Children fourteen (14) years of age or older;

c. Primary service worker(s) and supervisor(s);

d. Foster parents or provider agency representatives who are involved in the development of the service plan and are directly responsible to provide the services prescribed in the service plan;

e. Department staff person, other than the primary service worker, who is involved with the family;

f. Pre-adoptive parents in cases where parental rights have been terminated and the child is in a pre-adoptive home where the foster parents have initiated the adoption process; and

g. Up to two (2) participants selected by the youth to participate in the service planning process.

H. Timeframes for completion, review, and approval of the service plan:

1. The initial service plan is completed by the assigned primary service worker within sixty (60) calendar days of removal from the home or assignment to the FSU.

2. If adjudication occurs on a Dependency, Neglect and/or Abuse petition prior to the timeframe above, the service plan is developed and submitted to the Family Court within thirty (30) days of the adjudication.

3. After the development of the initial service plan, subsequent service plans will be developed and completed by the primary service worker every six (6) months or within thirty (30) days of a change in the permanency goal.

4. For a child active in FSU where child abuse or neglect is subsequently indicated, the primary service worker makes any needed changes in an existing service plan within thirty (30) days of the completed investigation.

5. For a young adult enrolled in the Voluntary Extension of Care program, the initial service plan is completed within sixty (60) days of assignment to the Youth Development and Support division and submitted to the Family Court at every permanency hearing.

I. Once a service plan is incorporated into a court order, any change in the plan must be put before the Family Court in the form of a motion filed in advance of the court date. This motion is filed in conjunction with Department legal staff with notice provided to other involved parties.

J. Each service plan includes a visitation plan if the child is in an out of home placement including details specific to the following:

1. Parent/Guardian Visits;

2. Sibling Visits;

a. If the sibling visits are to occur during parental visits it will be documented in the case plan.

K. Each service plan includes an educational/medical statement, which contains health and education information that must be provided to the foster care provider when a child enters placement. Required information includes:

1. Name and address of health and educational providers;

2. Grade level performance;

3. School records;

4. Educational stability:

5. Record of immunizations;

6. Known medical conditions;

7. Medication;

8. And any other relevant health and education information concerning the child.

L. Each service plan includes a permanency goal specific to the family's situation including a projected date for achieving the identified permanency goal. The Department confers with the family to review the permanency plan of each child in placement at least every six (6) months. Permanency goals include:

1. For a child remaining at home, the permanency goal is maintaining the child at home.

a. The child's safety must be assured.

b. The service plan describes the services offered and provided to prevent removal of the child from the home including the individual services provided to each parent and child.

2. For a child in placement, the initial permanency goal is reunification in nearly all situations with specific exceptions as approved by the Family Court.

a. Family reunification is the planned process of reconnecting children in out-of-home care with their families by means of a variety of services and supports to the children, their families, and their foster parents or other service providers.

b. Service planning is directed toward addressing those behaviors associated with present and impending danger factors that led to the child being removed from his or her home.

c. The Department assesses and refers the family to the appropriate array of services to achieve reunification in the shortest time possible with consideration for the child's safety and well-being.

d. The service plan is designed to achieve:

(1) A safe placement for the child in the least restrictive (most family-like) setting available;

(2) Ensuring the proximity of the child's placement to the home of the parents; and

(3) Placement consistent with the best interests and special needs of the child.

3. When reunification is not viable, adoption by relatives, foster parents, or a licensed adoptive resource is the preferred permanency goal. The service plan must document the steps to finalize a placement, including child-specific recruitment efforts to facilitate an orderly and timely in-state and interstate permanent placement.

4. If the Department and the Family Court have determined that reunification and adoption are not viable permanency options and that it is in the best interest of the child to be placed with a kinship guardian, the service plan permanency goal is changed to guardianship.

a. The service plan documents the steps the Department has taken to determine that it is not appropriate for the child to be returned home or adopted. The service plan also addresses:

(1) The reasons for any separation of siblings during placement;

(2) The reasons why a permanent placement with a fit and willing relative through a kinship guardianship assistance arrangement is in the child's best interests;

(3) The ways in which the child meets the eligibility requirements for a kinship guardianship assistance payment;

(4) The efforts the Department has made to discuss adoption by the child's relative foster parent as a more permanent alternative to legal guardianship and, in the case of a relative foster parent who has chosen not to pursue adoption, documentation of the reasons; and

(5) The efforts made by the Department to discuss with the child's parent(s) the kinship guardianship assistance arrangement, or the reasons why the efforts were not made.

5. Another Planned Permanent Living Arrangement (APPLA) includes: Permanent Placement with a Fit and Willing Relative, Planned Living Arrangement/ Independent Living and Planned Living Arrangement/Other.

a. APPLA is a permanent placement for the youth that identifies a lifelong connection.

b. APPLA must only be considered for youth who are sixteen (16) years of age or older.

c. The APPLA placement must follow the reasonable and prudent parent standard ensuring the youth has regular, ongoing opportunities to engage in age or developmentally appropriate activities.

d. The service plan documents:

(1) The steps to finalize a placement including child-specific recruitment efforts to facilitate an orderly and timely in-state and interstate permanency placement when the permanency goal is or becomes APPLA.

(2) Who will be the permanent connection for that youth, if identified, and how the Department is working to maintain that connection.

e. APPLA is appropriate only when the Family Court has been provided with documentation that compelling reasons exist which make all other permanency options unacceptable. These reasons are re-examined at each Administrative Review and every permanency hearing to assess whether a more preferred permanency option is possible such as for the child to:

(1) return home;

(2) be placed for adoption;

(3) be placed with a legal guardian; or

(4) be placed with a fit and willing relative.

f. A fit and willing relative can provide APPLA and termination of parental rights does not have to occur within the allotted period if a compelling reason is provided to the Family Court.

(1) A relative may be fit and willing to care for the child without being prepared to consider legal guardianship or adoption.

(2) When determining if placement with a fit and willing relative is appropriate, the worker must consider the relationship between the child and parent(s), the child and relative(s) and the relative(s) and the child's parent(s).

(3) A compelling reason is documented and provided to the Family Court addressing the established relationships and why neither adoption nor guardianship is a viable permanency option.

214 R.I. Code R. 214-RICR-30-00-1.10

Adopted effective 12/27/2018