214 R.I. Code R. 214-RICR-30-00-1.12

Current through December 3, 2024

Section 214-RICR-30-00-1.12 - Visitation

A. The Department supports regular, planned contact between a child in placement and his or her family. Contact must begin as soon as possible after the child is separated from his/her family. Contact is defined as:

1. Primary - regular, planned face-to-face visits between parent and child in a variety of settings;

2. Secondary - telephone and/or mail contact between parent and child; and

3. Tertiary - visits, phone calls, and/or mail contact between the child and siblings, other family members, or significant others.

B. Visitation between a parent and child must begin within ten (10) days after the child is removed from his or her home. Exceptions to this are situations when the child's physical and/or emotional health is endangered or situations when the nature of the family's problems (reason the child came into care) in some way limits initial visitation (e.g. Serious abuse, parent in prison, parent hospitalized).

C. Each child in placement must have a written visitation plan, included in the service plan, which is consistent with the specified permanent planning goal. This visitation plan will specify the duration, frequency, location, and limitations of the parent/child visitation schedule.

D. Contact and visitation is both a right and a responsibility of the parent. The parent bears the primary responsibility to maintain the formulated visitation schedule including transportation for himself/herself.

1. The parent(s) failure to maintain contact/visitation may constitute grounds for termination of parental rights.

E. The primary service worker or his/her designee supervises the initial visit after placement to assess the parent/child interaction, assess any possible risk to the child, and to aid the parent(s) and child in determining the focus of the visitation.

F. Subsequent visits are supervised if it is determined that there is any physical and/or emotional risk to the child.

G. Within thirty (30) days of the child being placed in foster care, a parent/child visitation schedule must be arranged which is focused on the individual needs, limitations, strengths, and weaknesses of the family members and which allows for the maximum amount of parent/child contact with the minimum of risk of physical and/or emotional harm to the child.

H. The Department defines regular, ongoing visitation as primary (face-to-face) contact between the parent and child a minimum of once every two (2) weeks starting after the formulation of the service plan unless there are documented reasons that this would not be in the child's best interest.

I. All reasonable efforts must be made to institute and maintain every two (2)-week visitation and to progress towards a more frequent standard in the shortest possible timeframe.

J. The two (2)-week visitation schedule may not be applicable to those placement sites where a special visitation plan is a regulation of the facility/agency and an important element in the case plan.

1.12.1Relative Visitation

A. If siblings are unable to be placed together, the primary service worker discusses with the children on how and when they will see each other. Siblings will be afforded necessary time to be with each other prior to separation.

B. Siblings who are placed in foster care should maintain contact with each other to have continuity in their relationships:

1. Sibling visits should be seen as part of the overall Case Plan. If sibling visits are to be at the time of the parent visit, it should be documented in the Case Plan;

2. Sibling visits are an integral part of the assessment of family relationships and the determination of the feasibility of established goals; and

3. The determination of the appropriateness of continued sibling visitation is independent of the proceedings for termination of parental rights.

C. For relatives or significant others who request visitation or for the child who requests visitation with these relatives or significant others, the parent(s), if available, must be informed. An assessment must be made as to the quality and degree of the relationship of the child and the proposed visitor prior to the placement, the current motivation for the proposed visit(s), and the impact such visiting will have on the child.

D. For a putative father who may wish to visit his child in placement, a visitation plan cannot be developed until paternity has been adequately verified by the courts. The primary Service worker assures that the putative father is made aware of the need for this verification. Any visitation plan would then be made in conjunction with a viable Case Plan/Agreement. Fathers should be allowed visits after paternity has been established.

E. Visitation between a child and a parent who is hospitalized for medical or psychiatric reasons is contingent upon the regulations of the hospital, the goal and objectives of the Case Plan, condition of the parent, degree of risk to the child, and the ability of the child to understand the nature and/or seriousness of the parent's illness. With increased physical or emotional risk to the child, visitation must be limited even more.

1.12.2Out-of-State Visitation

A. For parents who live out of state, the extent of visitation is contingent upon the feasibility of reunification and the reasons why the parent is residing out-of-state. No child may visit out-of-state unless the out-of-state parental home has been assessed and approved through the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children.

B. For children in out-of-state placements, visitation is contingent upon the goal and objectives of the Case Plan/Agreement and the regulations/visiting plan of that particular agency or facility.

214 R.I. Code R. 214-RICR-30-00-1.12

Adopted effective 12/27/2018