Md. Code Regs. 12 CCR 2509-8-7.710
Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 11, June 10, 2024
All child placement agencies shall comply with the "General Rules for Child Care Facilities" and "Rules and Regulations for Child Placement Agencies" and shall comply with the "Rules Regulating Foster Care Homes" for any homes certified by the Child Placement Agency, "Rules Regulating Host Family Homes" for any host home certified by the Child Placement Agency, and the "Specialized Group Facilities" rules for any Specialized Group Facility sponsored by the Child Placement Agency.
"Arrange for placement" means to act as an intermediary by assisting a parent or guardian or legal custodian to place or plan to place a child with other than persons related to the child for the purpose of foster care or for the purpose of adoption.
"Average sufficient cash reserve" means the computed monthly average cost over the recent ongoing twelve-(12) month period to determine the amounts spent on operating expenses for the agency including, but not limited to, staff salaries; contract reimbursements; employment, unemployment, and other taxes; insurance and retirement benefits; foster care payments; other provider reimbursement fees; health, therapy, transportation and support services for children in care; foreign country fees, office mortgage or rent payments; transportation costs; communications; or, any other expense needed for the agency to function, including a line of credit. The minimum allowable average sufficient cash reserve that an agency must maintain at all times is at least two months' of the average monthly cost.
"Background checks" means a set of required records that are obtained and analyzed to determine whether the history of a prospective foster parent, kinship foster parent, non-certified kin, or adoptive parent meets legal and safety criteria when considering the placement or continued placement of children and in the care of the person(s). The checks include all adults residing in the home. The following individual checks are required pursuant to 19-3-406 C.R.S, 19-3-407 C.R.S, and 26-6-103, C.R.S:
"Bonding" means an insurance bond issued through a financial or insurance entity.
"Certification" means the process by which the county department of social/human services or a child placement agency approves the operation of a foster care home and/or a licensed host family home.
"Child placement" means to coordinate, arrange, and approve the process of a child entering an unrelated home or facility to be cared for on a temporary, long-term, or adoptive basis.
"Child Placement Agency (CPA)", defined at Section 26-6-102(2), C.R.S., means any corporation, partnership, association, firm, agency, institution, or person unrelated to the child being placed, who places, facilitates placement for a fee, or who arranges for placement, any child under the age of eighteen (18) years with any family, person, or institution for the purposes of foster care, treatment and/or adoption. The natural or adoptive parents or legal guardian of any child who places that child for care with any facility licensed as a "family care home" or "child care center," as defined by this section, shall not be deemed to be a CPA.
"Conflict of interest" means a situation that has the potential to undermine the impartiality of an individual because of the possibility of a clash between the individual's self interest or other professional-interest.
"Cradle care home" means a facility that is certified by a child placement agency for the care of a child, or children in the case of multiple-birth siblings, who is twelve (12) months of age or younger, in a place of residence for the purpose of providing twenty-four (24) hour family care for six (6) months or less or children pursuant to Article 5 of Title 19, C.R.S., or while a county department prepares an expedited permanency plan for an infant in its custody.
"Current reference" means a reference dated within one (1) year of the time of application for employment with agency.
"Foster care home" (refer to Section 7.000.2 in 1 CCR 2509-1).
"Generally Accepted Accounting Principles" (GAAP) means the standard framework of guidelines for financial accounting.
"Licensed host family home" is defined as a home that is certified by the county department or a child placement agency as meeting the requirements for providing shelter to homeless youth.
"Licensing" means the process by which the Colorado Department of Human Services approves a facility or agency for the purpose of conducting business as a child care facility or child placement agency.
"Multi-service agency" is an organization that provides additional community services and programs other than foster care and adoption.
"Program director in a multi-services agency" is the person responsible for overseeing the foster care and/or adoption program of the organization.
"Quality improvement program" means a review of the services and outcomes of such services provided to applicants and a procedure for tracking such outcomes to determine if changes need to be made to the system to improve delivery of such services.
"Relative", except as used in the definition of foster care home, means any of the following relationships by blood, marriage, civil union or adoption: parent, grandparent, son, daughter, grandson, granddaughter, brother, sister, stepparent, stepbrother, stepsister, stepson, stepdaughter, uncle, aunt, niece, nephew, or cousin.
"Risk assessment" means a review and assessment by an insurance or financial specialist to determine the liability an agency carries for the services it offers and the work it performs.
"SAFE (Structured Analysis Family Evaluation)" is the tool used to create a home study assessment on a family or individual, who are seeking to provide foster care or adopt a child.
"SAFE Home Study Addendum" is the format used to record and evaluate changes to the home study assessment as new information is known to the agency.
"SAFE Home Study Update" is the format used to document the annual agency review and evaluation of the home study assessment.
"Social and behavioral sciences" includes sociology, psychology, social work, criminal justice, human services, human development, and counseling.
"Specialized Group Facility Supervisor" means the professional, paid staff member of the Child Placement Agency who oversees the services provided and staff of the specialized group facility.
"Unreasonably high" means the fees, wages, or salaries paid to the directors, officers, and employees of the agency are excessively high in relation to the services actually rendered, taking into account the area in which the services are provided and norms for compensation within the community, including factors such as the location, number, and qualifications of staff, workload requirements, budget; and size of the agency or person.
"Well-being plan" means a written plan that lists the temporary changes to the child's or youth's daily routines or treatment plan, due to behavioral, safety, medical, or mental health needs of the child or youth. Such plan shall be signed by members of the treatment team, including the child or youth, and shall be time limited only to the duration needed to ensure the safety of the child or youth. Such plan shall be reviewed daily and overseen by the placement supervisor.
Each CPA whose total annual foster care or adoption expenditures are $100,000 or more shall provide for an annual audit by an independent Certified Public Accountant in accordance with appropriate generally accepted auditing standards. CPAs with less than $100,000 total annual expenditure may submit an audit as described above or may submit compiled or reviewed financial statements, prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. All Hague accredited international adoption agencies shall submit audits as required for Hague accreditation.
The expenditure is reasonable in nature or amount and does not exceed the cost that would be incurred by a prudent person under the circumstances prevailing at the time the decision was made to incur the cost.
The expenditure is of a type generally recognized as ordinary and necessary for the operation of a CPA or the performance of a contract for CPA services.
The individuals concerned acted with prudence in the particular circumstances, considering their responsibilities to the CPA, its employees, clients, foster families, foster children, the public at large, the State and the CPA's responsibilities pursuant to the contract for services, and must not be contrary to Federal or State law.
A CPA has the responsibility to ensure that proper documentation procedures are followed for the funds that they control, and to ensure that only authorized expenditures are made. Lack of appropriate documentation will be considered cause for non-payment or non-reimbursement of expenditures. Expenditures must be adequately documented in writing. Documentation requirements shall include all of the following information:
An expenditure must be recorded in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).
The following list of expenditures shall be a general list of expenditures that would be permissible for CPAs to incur in order to further the goals and objectives of their agencies. This list includes, but is not limited to, the categories described below, and shall be used as a reference for guiding the expenditure of CPA funds.
When a specific expenditure is not listed, yet management deems it to be in the best interests of the CPA to make the expenditure of the funds, then the criteria above for an allowable expenditure shall be followed. The CPA shall document the purpose of the expenditure, as listed at 7.710.21, E, 1, d, so that a "reasonable person" test can be made in the event the expenditure is audited. Each CPA shall allocate expenditures in accordance with its internal policies.
A CPA expenditure shall be unallowable if it does not meet the criteria and documentation requirements as specified under the definition of an allowable expenditure as referenced in Section 7.710.21, E, or is a direct violation of federal law.
Remedy for unallowable expenditures may include any or all of the following solutions:
Intentional mis-use of funds implies that the individual(s) making the expenditure decision had deliberate, willful, and intentional disregard for the fiduciary responsibility for how public funds are to be used for purposes of placing children in foster care or adoptive homes, or arranging for the placement of children in foster care or adoptive homes, considering their responsibilities to the CPA, its employees, clients, foster families, foster children, the public at large, the State Department's and the CPA'S responsibilities pursuant to the contact for services.
These rules do not preclude the State or county department(s) from pursuing other remedies available at law; for example:
Such staff members shall meet the following requirements:
The law states that foster care certificates issued by CPAs are considered licenses; the regulations which are established by the State Department for foster care homes are therefore applicable to any such facility being certified by a licensed CPA. Copies of these rules shall be made available to each applicant for certification and to each foster care home.
"Any applicant who knowingly or willfully makes a false statement of any material fact or thing in this application commits perjury in the second degree as defined in Section 18-8-503, C.R.S., and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished accordingly."
A CPA shall conduct a reference check of each applicant and all adults residing in the home by contacting all of the previous certifying authorities listed on the application or for whom an application was submitted before issuing the certification for that foster care home. The CPA shall sign an affidavit that certification is appropriate.
The cradle care provider must also hold a current infant/toddler CPR and first aid card and complete four (4) hours of on-going training a year on topics related to adoption.
The reasons for the issuance of a provisional certificate must be displayed on the certificate. The provisional certificate will be issued for up to ninety (90) calendar days from the date it is determined that time will be needed to comply with the appropriate kinship foster care home or child specific regulations. Only one original provisional certificate may be issued to a foster care home at one location address.
A renewal notice must be sent to the foster parents at least ninety (90) calendar days prior to the expiration of the certificate.
Child placement agencies are authorized to certify host family homes to provide shelter to homeless youth. All child placement agencies that certify host family homes must follow the rules regulating host family homes as listed at 7.721.
"Adoption exchange" is an agency whose membership includes county departments and child placement agencies and is an organized means of sharing information among agencies about children for whom an adoptive resource is not immediately available and about potential adoptive families for whom an agency does not have a child waiting. The purpose of an exchange is to facilitate permanence as quickly as possible so that a child does not wait while an agency develops a resource.
"Administrative notice procedure" applies only to expedited relinquishments filed under Section 19-5-103.5, C.R.S., and allows the CPA counseling the birth mother to provide notice to the presumed Birth father of an anticipated expedited relinquishment prior to the filing of the relinquishment petition. The notice to the presumed birth father cannot be made more than sixty (60) days prior to the birth of the child.
"Agency adoption" means an adoptive placement in which the CPA is responsible to counsel the birth parent(s), place the child(ren), supervise the placement, and provide reports to the court as required by law. The CPA is granted custody of the child(ren) with the right to place for adoption either as legal risk placement or through relinquishment or termination of parental rights by court order and places the child(ren) for adoption with adoptive parent(s) who have a CPA approved adoptive family assessment.
An "adoption caseworker" must be qualified as a placement worker and may complete family assessments, place a child with a family, provide post placement supervision and training for adoptive parents, all under the direct supervision of a placement supervisor.
"Birth parent counseling", here-in-after referred to as "counseling", means the required decision making counseling that shall be provided to a birth parent(s) or legal parents prior to a decision regarding whether or not to relinquish a child(ren) as required at 7.710.57.
A "birth parent counselor" must be qualified as a placement worker and may have responsibility for relinquishment/decision making counseling with birth parent(s) dealing with an unplanned or crisis pregnancy or the relinquishment of a child, all under the direct supervision of a placement supervisor.
"Closed adoption" means an adoptive placement when the adoptive parent(s) and the birth parent(s) do not share identifying information or communicate with each other before or after the finalization of the adoption.
"Concurrent adoption" means more than one (1) adoption being processed simultaneously either through the same agency or multiple agencies.
"Convention" means the Convention on protection of children and cooperation in respect of intercountry adoption done at the Hague on May 29, 1993.
"Convention adoption" means the adoption of a child resident in a Convention country by a United States citizen or an adoption of a child resident in the United States by an individual or individuals residing in a Convention country when in connection with the adoption the child has moved or will move between the United States and the Convention country.
"Convention country" means a country that is a party to the Convention and with which the Convention is in force for the United States.
"Country of origin" means the country in which a child is a resident and from which a child is emigrating in connection with his or her adoption.
"Designated adoption" means an adoptive placement in which adoptive parent(s) have been designated by the birth parent(s) prior to either parties involvement with a CPA licensed for adoptions. The CPA is responsible for completing the birth parent(s) counseling and to ensure an adoptive family assessment is completed for the designated parent(s). The CPA is granted temporary custody of the child for the purpose of placement.
"Dissolution" means the termination of the adoptive parent(s)' parental rights after an adoption.
"Disrupted adoption" means the interruption of a placement for adoption during the post-placement period.
"Domestic adoptions" means collectively identified or designated adoptions, interstate adoptions, and intrastate adoptions.
"Expedited Relinquishment" means the legal process which a parent desiring to relinquish his or her child under one (1) year of age may follow to obtain an expedited order terminating his or her parent-child legal relationship without the necessity of a court hearing.
"Facilitator" means a person, partnership, corporation, association, firm, agency or institution, other than an adoption exchange, county department or child placement agency, who offers, gives, charges or receives any money or other consideration or thing of value in connection with locating or identifying for purposes of adoption any child, birth parent, expectant natural parent or prospective adoptive parent.
"Foreign national" means a child who was born outside the United States of America (U.S.A.), at the time of placement lacks U.S.A. citizenship, and is a resident outside the U.S.A.
"Foreign visiting children's program" means a program in which children visit Colorado from other countries and may or may not be available for adoption.
"Foster care adoption" means a placement in which the child(ren)'s parental rights have not been terminated at the time of the foster care placement. The placement is made as a long-term foster care placement with the intention of adoption if or when the parental rights are terminated.
"ICPC" means the Interstate Compact for the Placement of Children which is an agreement that has been enacted into law by all fifty (50) states in the United States and the District of Columbia, which controls the lawful movement of children from one state to another for the purposes of adoption. Both the originating state, where the child is born, and the receiving state, where the adoptive parents live and where the adoption of the child will take place, must approve the child's movement in writing before the child can legally leave the originating state. This Compact regulates the interstate movement of both foster children and adoptive children. For further information or to obtain a copy of "Guide to the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children", contact the: American Public Human Services Association, 1133 Nineteenth Street, NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20036. Phone: 202-682-0100; Fax: 202-289-6555.
"Intercountry adoption" means the placement of children emigrating from their country of origin. The placement for the purpose of adoption of foreign national children with approved adoptive parents in Colorado is considered an incoming or immigrating case. The adoption may be finalized in Colorado or in the foreign country depending on the requirements of the foreign country. If the foreign country in this instance is party to the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption, the adoption must be in compliance with the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 and with federal regulations 22 CFR Parts 96, 97, and 98. U.S. children placed in a foreign country for the purpose of adoption is considered an outgoing or emigrating case. If the foreign country is party to the Hague Convention, the adoption must be in compliance with the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 and Federal Regulations 22 CFR Parts 96, 97, and 98.
"Interstate adoption" means a placement of a child into or from Colorado with a person(s) for the purpose of adoption. Placement shall be in conformity with Colorado Revised Statutes, including the Child Care Licensing Act, the Colorado Children's Code and the Interstate Compact on Placement of Children. Services to the child and adoptive family shall be provided under the laws of each state.
"Intrastate adoption" means an adoptive placement of a Colorado child with a person(s) who is a resident of Colorado.
"Legal risk adoption" means an adoptive placement where parental rights have not been relinquished and/or terminated and the child(ren) is not yet legally free for adoption at the time of placement. This includes infants placed directly after birth. The child(ren) is placed in an approved adoptive home. If the adoptive family resides in Colorado, the home shall be certified as a foster home. The placement is with the intention of adoption when or if the child becomes available for adoption. The placement remains a legal risk placement until parental rights have been relinquished or terminated.
"Non-agency adoption" means a placement in which the child(ren) is placed by the birth parent(s) with person(s) unrelated to the child(ren). The placement is made with the intention of adoption. There has been no CPA participation, birth parent counseling, or adoptive family assessment completed before the placement of the child(ren). In order for the adoption to be finalized, the birth parent counseling and approved family assessment shall be completed by a CPA or county department of social services.
"Open adoption" means an adoptive placement where the adoptive parent(s) and the birth parent(s) choose to communicate with each other and share identifying information. The communication and sharing of information may occur before and/or after the finalization of the adoption. The degree of openness is determined by the parties involved.
"Relative adoption" means a placement for the purpose of adoption in which a child(ren) is placed with a person(s) related to the child(ren) as a grandparent(s), aunt, uncle, brother(s), or sister(s).
"Selected agency" means the non-public agency selected by, the State Department, pursuant to Section 19-5-205.5, C.R.S., to perform the administrative review and approval or denial functions required by the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC) and statutes governing foreign adoptions. Agencies selected by the State Department to provide these functions shall hereafter be referred to as "selected agencies".
"Semi-open adoption" means an adoptive placement when the adoptive parent(s) and the birth parent(s) choose to share non-identifying information with each other either before and/or after the finalization of the adoption. The amount of information shared is determined by the parties involved. All information shared is sent to the adoption CPA.
"USCIS" means the United States citizenship and Immigration Services.
For all adoptions to be finalized in Colorado in which a child is placed in Colorado with an adoptive applicant(s) residing in Colorado, the agency must:
For all adoptions of foreign nationals that will be finalized in the child's country of origin and jurisdiction, the agency must:
For all adoptions in outgoing cases, the agency, if acting as the placing agency, must:
No physical examination shall be required of any person who in good faith relies upon spiritual means or prayer in the free exercise of religion to prevent or cure disease unless there is a reason to believe such person's physical condition is such that he/she would be unable to care for a child.
Available information shall be obtained on each child for adoption which shall include, but need not be limited to:
An annual report shall be made to the State Department regarding the adoption services provided by the agency. The report shall be submitted on the State prescribed form within sixty (60) days following the end of the calendar year and shall provide the following information:
Release of identifying information may occur only as listed in current statute or by court order.
Pursuant to Section 19-5-205.5, C.R.S., the State Department is authorized to select a non-public agency to perform the administrative review and approval or denial functions required by the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC) and statutes governing foreign adoptions. The agency selected by the State Department to provide these functions shall hereafter be referred to as "selected agency".
Agencies that perform or assist in obtaining adoptive placements shall hereafter be referred to as "placing agencies." The Interstate Compact defines the persons and agencies who, when they place a child from one state into another state, shall follow ICPC procedures. These persons and agencies are referred to as "sending agencies" (per Section 7.307.2, 12 CCR 2509-4)
The selected agency shall submit such cases to a non-public agency with which it subcontracts to perform the administrative function. The agency with which the selected agency subcontracts must meet the same qualifying criteria as a selected agency pursuant to this section.
Adoptive placement request packets shall be sent in triplicate by the sending agency or other state's ICPC office to the selected agency. The name and address of such agency shall be distributed by the State Department.
The materials required in request packets for children to be placed into Colorado from another state are identical to the materials described in Section 7.710.93, C, with the following exceptions. If the sending state does not require proof of relinquishment counseling, Colorado shall not require this in order to approve an adoptive placement into this state. The fulfillment of the sending state's requirements regarding consent forms shall satisfy Colorado's requirements for purposes of approval of the adoptive placement.
For each adoptive family assessed for placement of a foreign national, the agency shall submit the following information to the selected agency:
The following case materials with the appropriate fees shall be forwarded to the selected agency for review. The name and address of the agency shall be distributed by the State Department.
The selected agency and the agencies with which they subcontract are prohibited from engaging in conflict of interest in the manner in which they conduct the administrative function associated with non-public interstate or intercountry adoptions and authorized by statute and rules. Conflict of interest is defined in Section EE of the Administrative Information that accompanies the contract between the Colorado Department of Human Services and the selected agency.
The selected agency and the agencies with which they subcontract are prohibited from engaging in conflict of interest in the manner in which they conduct the administrative function associated with non-public interstate or intercountry adoptions and authorized by statute and rules. Conflict of interest is defined in Section EE of the Administrative Information that accompanies the contract between the Colorado Department of Human Services and the selected agency.
The Colorado Department of Human Services shall monitor the selected agency to determine compliance with Sections 7.710.91 - 7.710.97, in accordance with Section 19-5-205.5(2)(b), (I-X), C.R.S.
Md. Code Regs. 12 CCR 2509-8-7.710