Okla. Admin. Code § 340:75-7-24

Current through Vol. 42, No. 7, December 16, 2024

Section 340:75-7-24 - [Effective 9/14/2025] Kinship placement for the child in Oklahoma Human Services (OKDHS) custody

(a)Kinship care. Per Section 1-9-106 of Title 10A of the Oklahoma Statutes (10A O.S. § 1-9-106), OKDHS establishes standards for kinship foster care.

(1) Per 10A O.S. § 1-4-204, when determining the placement of a child in OKDHS custody, a preference is given to relatives and persons who have a kinship relationship with the child. OKDHS makes diligent efforts to place the child accordingly and, per 10A O.S. § 1-4-704, reports to the court the efforts made to secure a placement for the child in the least restrictive, most family-like setting, in reasonable proximity to the child's home, and where the child's special needs may be met.

(2) When the child is not placed with a relative who was considered for placement, OKDHS notifies the court in writing the reasons the relative was denied placement and becomes part of the court record, per 10A O.S. § 1-4-204.

(3) When the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) applies, ICWA placement preferences are followed. The Indian child in foster care is placed in the following order of preference, absent good cause to the contrary, with:

(A) a member of the Indian child's extended family as specified by the child's tribe;

(B) a foster home licensed, approved, or specified by the Indian child's tribe;

(C) an Indian foster home licensed or approved by an authorized non-Indian licensing authority; or

(D) an institution for children approved by an Indian tribe or operated by an Indian organization that has a program suitable to meet the Indian child's needs. If the Indian child's tribe has established by resolution a different order of preference, the tribe's placement preferences must be applied.

(b)Kinship relationships. Kinship relationships are identified in (1) through (5) of this subsection.

(1) Related by blood. Maternal and paternal blood relatives considered as kinship, including half-blood relatives, are:

(A) siblings;

(B) grandparents including those denoted by prefixes of great and great-great;

(C) aunts and uncles including those denoted by prefixes of great and great-great or by degree of relationship;

(D) nieces and nephews including those denoted by prefixes of grand and great-grand; and

(E) cousins.

(2)Related by marriage. Relationships created by marriage, as described in (1) of this subsection, whether by common-law or ceremony include:

(A) step-relations; and

(B) the previous relationship designation prior to the termination of the marriage by death or divorce.

(3)Related by adoption. Relatives by adoption as described in (1) and (2) of this subsection are considered kinship.

(4)Related by emotional tie or bond. An emotional tie or bond exists when a child or the child's parent acknowledges and accepts a person as part of the extended family or in the family's close network of friends and relationships. The family or child relationship role must exist prior to the necessity for the child's initial out-of-home placement. Individuals with whom a child in OKDHS custody establishes a relationship after the child's out-of-home placement may be considered as a non-relative kinship placement after an assessment of the child's case and an exception to kinship placement is granted.

(A) When the child is in protective or OKDHS emergency custody, OKDHS gives priority to the child's noncustodial parent for placement, unless the placement is not in the child's best interests.

(B) When the child cannot be placed with the noncustodial parent, the child's placement is made, per 10A O.S. § 1-4-204.

(5)Parent not considered kinship. A kinship placement does not include:

(A) the child's custodial or noncustodial parent with whom the child is placed or to whom the child is returned; or

(B) a parent whose parental rights are terminated.

(c)Residence requirement for kinship applicants. For kinship applicants or adult household members who have not lived continuously in Oklahoma for the past five years, OKDHS must obtain the child abuse and neglect registry checks from the previous state(s) of residence, when a registry is available, prior to the child's placement in a kinship resource home, per 10A O.S. § 1-7-111.

(d)Initial kinship placement. Per 10A O.S. § 1-9-106, a child may be placed in the kinship resource home prior to completion of the resource family assessment, a national criminal history records search, and pre-service training provided:

(1) Form 04AD003E, Request for Background Check, is completed, signed, and results are received for the applicant and each adult household member, other than a foster child, per Oklahoma Administrative Code (OAC) 340:75-7-15;

(2) an OKDHS records search, including Child Welfare Services records, is completed and documented for the applicant and each adult household member on Form 04AF007E, Records Check Documentation. When an applicant or adult household member has not lived continuously in Oklahoma for the past five years, the resource specialist gathers all child welfare (CW) histories from other states where the applicant or adult household member lived within the past five years. The applicant or adult household member submits fingerprints for a national criminal history records search to expedite the initial placement approval process.

(3) Form 04FC001E, Initial Kinship Placement Agreement, is completed and signed;

(4) Form 04AF001E, Resource Family Application, is completed and signed;

(5) Form 04AF004E, House Assessment, is completed;

(6) Form 04MP061E, Water Safety Agreement, is completed and signed;

(7) Form 04AF021E, Verification of Receipt of OKDHS Rules, is completed and signed;

(8) Form 04AF052E, Initial Kinship Safety Evaluation and Assessment Tool, is completed and signed; and

(9) three personal references, only one of whom is a family member, are interviewed.

(e)Kinship resource applicant criminal history records searches after normal business hours or on holidays. In determining the suitability of the prospective kinship home, OKDHS uses the OKDHS Office of Background Investigations (OBI) to perform a name-based state criminal history records search, per procedures set forth in Section 901 et seq. of Title 28 of the Code of Federal Regulations. When OKDHS OBI is not operational, OKDHS may elect to contract or otherwise collaborate with local law enforcement agencies to perform a name-based state and federal criminal history records search followed by fingerprint verification, per 10A O.S. § 1-7-115.

(f)Kinship maintenance payment option. The kinship applicant may opt for:

(1) an OKDHS foster care maintenance payment; or

(2) a money payment that the child is eligible for, instead of the foster care maintenance payment, when the child lived with the kinship applicant continuously for at least twelve months.

(A) The foster care maintenance payment is reduced by the amount of the money payment when the money payment is less than the foster care maintenance payment. Refer to OAC 340:75-7-52.1 for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Administration (SSA) benefits received for a parent who is deceased or disabled.

(B) Payment may include:

(i) other financial resources, per OAC 340:75-13-28; or

(ii) Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits, per OAC 340:10-9.

(g)Kinship and traditional resource home requirements the same. Each kinship resource home, whether paid or non-paid, meets the same requirements as the traditional non-related resource home.

(h)Kinship start-up and training stipend. The kinship resource family that has not been approved within the preceding five years is entitled to receive, per OKDHS Appendix C-20, Child Welfare Services Rates Schedule, a:

(1) one-time kinship start-up stipend to assist with initial expenditures for each child placed in the home for 14-consecutive days; and

(2) training stipend. Half of the total stipend is paid to the kinship resource family after the kinship resource parent(s) enrolls in the pre-service training and the second half of the total stipend is paid to the kinship parent(s) after the kinship resource parent(s) completes the pre-service training when:

(A) a child is placed and residing in the home at the time the kinship resource parent enrolls in training; and

(B) the child remains in the home until the kinship resource parent completes training.

(i)Foster care maintenance payments begin when requirements satisfied. Per 10A O.S. § 1-9-106, the kinship resource parent is not entitled to any payments for providing foster care until the resource parent receives final approval from OKDHS. Foster care maintenance payments for kinship resource homes begin at the time requirements are met, per OAC 340:75-7-18 and are not retroactive. On a case-by-case basis, the kinship resource parent may be approved for maintenance payments based on an exception to a non-safety requirement, per OAC 340:75-7-10.1.

(j)Kinship resource family transfer to a resource family partner (RFP). When a kinship resource family is already approved as a supported foster home or is in the approval process with an RFP, the RFP may request the kinship resource family case be transferred to the RFP agency.

Okla. Admin. Code § 340:75-7-24

Added at 21 Ok Reg 2385, eff 6-25-04; Amended at 22 Ok Reg 1242, eff 5-26-05; Amended at 23 Ok Reg 1024, eff 5-11-06; Amended at 24 Ok Reg 1323, eff 6-1-07; Amended at 25 Ok Reg 1335, eff 6-1-08; Amended at 26 Ok Reg 413, eff 11-20-08 (emergency); Amended at 26 Ok Reg 884, eff 5-15-09; Amended at 27 Ok Reg 1092, eff 3-26-10 (emergency); Amended at 27 Ok Reg 1865, eff 7-1-10; Amended at 29 Ok Reg 635, eff 6-1-12; Amended at 30 Ok Reg 839, eff 7-1-13

Amended by Oklahoma Register, Volume 35, Issue 24, September 4, 2018, eff. 9/17/2018

Amended by Oklahoma Register, Volume 37, Issue 24, September 1, 2020, eff. 9/15/2020

Amended by Oklahoma Register, Volume 38, Issue 24, September 1, 2021, eff. 9/15/2021

Amended by Oklahoma Register, Volume 39, Issue 24, September 1, 2022, eff. 9/15/2022

Amended by Oklahoma Register, Volume 42, Issue 7, December 16, 2024, eff. 10/10/2024, exp. 9/14/2025 (Emergency)