Okla. Admin. Code § 377:10-7-4

Current through Vol. 42, No. 8, January 2, 2025

Section 377:10-7-4 - Therapeutic foster care

(a) The Office of Juvenile Affairs may contract for the provision of therapeutic foster care services to OJA-custody juveniles who are between the ages of 10 and 18 years of age with documented mental health problems. A therapeutic foster home is a foster family home, which provides specific services to eliminate social and behavioral problems of a juvenile placed in the home.

(b) Juveniles who are not appropriate for therapeutic foster care are those with serious and repeated delinquent behaviors who appear to need intensive residential or group care treatment programs which provide 24-hour awake supervision and/or juveniles who are so severely emotionally disturbed that they require hospitalization or intensive residential or group care treatment programs which provide 24-hour awake supervision.

(c) The number of children placed in one therapeutic foster home shall not exceed two unless written authorization is granted by OJA. The placement of a third resident shall only occur in special circumstances such as keeping sibling groups together or when a third resident is temporarily placed due to an existing resident approaching discharge from the program.

(d) Prior to the placement of children in therapeutic foster care homes, all foster parents must satisfactorily complete thirty-five pre-service hours, not including the six hours of orientation, of primarily skill-based training consistent with OJA's treatment methodology and the service needs of emotionally disturbed and behaviorally disordered children. All therapeutic foster parents must satisfactorily complete a minimum of eighteen hours of in-service training per year to maintain certification, whether or not a resident is placed in the home. First Aid and CPR training may count for up to 8 hours of in-service training within the first year of certification. After the first year, First Aid and CPR recertification training may count as no more than 4 hours of the required 18 hours of in-service training annually. In-service training may include a variety of formats and procedures including in-home training provided by OJA staff.

(e) Rules regarding eligible providers, admission requirements, description of required services, and the Title XIX payment rate are found in Title 317, the Oklahoma Health Care Authority [ 317:30-5-740, 317:30-5-741(5)(D), 317:30-5-742, 317:30-5-473, and 317:30-5-475 ]. In addition to the requirements of the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, therapeutic foster homes shall be licensed by DHS, provide services, and meet the licensing requirements for therapeutic foster care as identified in OAC 340:75, the therapeutic foster care contract, and the OJA foster home standards listed in OAC 377:10-7-1 through 377:10-7-3.12.

(f) OJA, pursuant to 2-7-613(A), shall provide supervision to juveniles in therapeutic foster care.

Okla. Admin. Code § 377:10-7-4

Added at 14 Ok Reg 1864, eff 6-2-97; Amended at 15 Ok Reg 2667, eff 7-1-98; Amended at 16 Ok Reg 174, eff 10-22-98 (emergency); Amended at 16 Ok Reg 2981, eff 7-12-99; Amended at 24 Ok Reg 1401, eff 7-1-07; Amended at 28 Ok Reg 1993, eff 7-15-11

Amended by Oklahoma Register, Volume 31, Issue 24, September 2, 2014, eff. 9/12/2014