LICENSING RULES FOR FOSTER HOMES IN VERMONT
These rules have been established to assure the care and safety of children who have to live in homes other than their own. A license is issued if the foster home and prospective foster parent(s) meet these rules.
If the Department finds the applicant(s) or licensee(s) unwilling or unable to meet these rules, the license will be denied or revoked.
Rules necessary to assure a child's well - being cover the following:
Foster Care and Placement Licensing (33 V.S.A. § 4905)
Administrative Provisions (33 V.S.A. § 151)
This subchapter shall apply to all licenses, registrations, and applications for licenses and registrations, that the Commissioner or the Department may issue or grant unless otherwise specifically provided.
Issuance, Reissuance, and Conditions
Variances
Denial, Revocation, and Suspension
Appeal Rights
Foster Home Records
Terms of Licensure
Care and Supervision of Foster Children
Home Environment, Community, and Family Activities
Confidentiality and Privacy
Relationships with the Child's Family
Discipline
Health Care
Food and Nutrition
Religion and Cultural Heritage
Reporting and Notification
Fire Safety
Bedrooms
Transportation
Applicant
A person who has made formal, written application for a foster home license.
Caregiver
A person who provides care and supervision to a foster child.
Case Plan
The plan for provision of services to a foster child, developed by the agency responsible for providing such services.
Childcare
The provision of care and supervision on a regular or continuous basis in the provider's home for period of less than twenty - four hours a day, whether for compensation or not, to one or more children under sixteen years of age who are not related to the provider and who do not live in the provider's home.
Commissioner
The Commissioner of the Department for Children and Families (Department).
Custodian
The person or agency (such as the Department for Children and Families) having legal custody of a child.
Denial
The formal decision of the state licensing authority not to grant a foster home license to an applicant.
Dependent Adult
An adult who is in need of, and receives, personal care and/or supervision.
Foster Care
The provision of 24 - hour per day care in a family home to a child other than the biological or adopted child of the provider.
Foster Child
A child receiving foster care.
Foster Home
The residence and physical premises in which foster care is provided and the household members residing there.
Foster Parent
A person licensed to provide foster care; a person required by state law to be so licensed.
Household Member
Any person, whether a family member or not, who lives and sleeps regularly in a foster home.
License
Authorization from the state licensing authority for designated individuals to provide foster care at a designated location; the certificate granting such authorization.
Licensed Foster Care
See statutory definition on page 1.
Licensee
A person in whose name a license is issued.
Physical Restraint
Direct physical contact required on the part of a foster parent to prevent a child from hurting themself, others, or property.
Primary Caregiver
An adult who provides care and supervision to a foster child in a foster home on a regular basis.
Revocation
The formal invalidation, for cause, of a license by the state licensing authority.
State Licensing Authority
The state agency with the statutory authority to license foster homes.
Suspension
The immediate temporary invalidation of a license by the state licensing authority in a situation which immediately imperils the health, safety or well - being of a foster child.
Variance
Written authorization by the state licensing authority for an applicant or licensee to meet the intent of a rule in a way other than that prescribed by the rule.
13-007 Code Vt. R. 13-162-007-X
February 15, 1987 Secretary of State Rule Log #87-004
AMENDED:
December 15, 1992 Secretary of State Rule Log #92-054; 5/16/2023 Secretary of State Rule Log #23-012
STATUTORY AUTHORITY:
33 V.S.A §§ 105, 4905, 5106