The rule provides that a licensing agency shall issue a modified license with a certification to operate a Level 3 foster home without determining the eligibility of the foster parent if on December 31, 2010, the foster parent had a license to operate a treatment foster home under ch.
DCF 38.
Level 4 Specialized Treatment Foster Homes. For new Level 4 foster homes, a foster parent must have the following qualifications:
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Experience: An applicant must meet at least 4 criteria from a list of 7 types of education, skills, abilities, and work or personal experience with children.
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Training:
□ 40 hours of pre-placement training.
□ 30 hours of training during the initial licensing period, which is generally 2 years.
□ 24 hours of ongoing training in each 12-month period subsequent to initial licensing period.
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Four favorable references.
The rule provides that no licensing agency may issue a certification to operate a Level 4 foster home without first determining the eligibility of the foster parent under the new Level 4 requirements.
Level 5 Exceptional Treatment Foster Homes. Certification to operate a Level 5 foster home is available only when an exception is granted by the department exceptions panel. An applicant for certification to operate a Level 5 foster home, in conjunction with a licensing agency, may apply for Level 5 certification if the following conditions are met:
•
A placement is needed for a child with the following conditions:
□ The child has behaviors or conditions that require a high degree of supervision and overnight awake care that is provided by program staff who rotate shifts within a 24-hour period.
□ The child will benefit from a home-like environment that has fewer children than a group home or residential care center for children and youth.
□ The child is expected to need long-term care or has needs agreed to by the department.
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All other community placement options have been investigated and determined to be unavailable or not in the best interest of the child.
A Level 5 foster home must have a program manager who is the foster parent and licensee of the foster home. An applicant for a program manager position must have specified education or experience and must complete 40 hours of pre-placement training, 30 hours of initial licensing training, and 24 hours of ongoing training in each 12-month period subsequent to the initial licensing period.
A Level 5 foster home must have program staff who are responsible for daily supervision of the children and direct care to the children to ensure their safety and well-being. The minimum staff ratios for program staff are one program staff person for every 2 children during waking hours and one program staff person for every 4 children during sleeping hours. An applicant for a program staff position must have specified education and experience and have a background check, favorable references, and, if hired, a health exam. Before working independently with a child, program staff must complete 40 hours of pre-placement training and work with qualified experienced program staff or similar professionals for at least the first 80 hours of employment Program staff must also complete 24 hours of ongoing training in each year of employment subsequent to the initial year of employment.
The department exceptions panel has been granting exceptions to operate shift-staffed treatment foster homes under DCFS Memo Series 2006-15. Licensing agencies will issue a modified license with a certification to operate a Level 5 foster home to a foster parent who, on December 31, 2010, had been granted an exception to operate a shift-staffed treatment foster home by the department exceptions panel.
Assessment of Needs and Strengths
Section
48.62 (8) (b), Stats., directs the department to create rules establishing a standardized assessment tool to assess the needs of a child placed or to be placed outside the home, to determine the level of care that is required to meet those needs, and to place the child in a placement that meets those needs.
The standardized assessment tool prescribed by the department is the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) tool authored by Dr. John Lyons and the Praed Foundation and customized for use in Wisconsin by the department and the author. There is substantial research demonstrating the reliability and validity of the CANS tool. It is used statewide in 15 other states and is used in parts of 22 additional states.
The rule provides that a placing agency shall assess each foster child before placement in a foster home or within 30 days after the child's placement. A placing agency shall assess each foster parent in relation to the child placed within 30 days after the child's placement in the foster home. A placing agency shall reassess each foster child and the child's foster parent within 6 months after the child's last assessment or reassessment. The placing agency, licensing agency, or foster parent may request a reassessment more frequently. The person who will administer the tool will first review the child's case record; interview or collect information from an individual who has interviewed the child, child's family, foster parent or other out-of-home care provider, and the child's team or treatment team; and review information gathered in collaboration with the child's team or treatment team. The person administering the standardized assessment tool will rate the child's needs and strengths relative to what is developmentally appropriate for a child of a similar age and the foster parent's needs in relation to that child to determine how to support the placement stability of the child with that foster parent.
The placing agency will use information from the assessment of a child, child's family, and the foster parent of the child for all of the following:
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To communicate information about the needs and strengths of the child and child's family.
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To assist with determining the child's service needs and developing the child's plan of care.
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To determine a level of need of 1/2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 for the child.
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To inform decisions regarding a placement at a level of care that is appropriate to meet the child's level of need.
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To evaluate the match between the knowledge, skills, and abilities of a foster parent and the needs and strengths of a child.
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To assist in the development of services and supports needed for a specific child and foster parent to promote the stability of the placement.
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To provide a mental health screen to all children entering foster care.
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To determine any supplemental payments for a child's special needs.
A placing agency, in accordance with a licensing agency, may place a child in a foster home that is certified to provide a given level of care if the child's level of need is at or below the level of care that the foster home is certified to provide. A placing agency may place a child with a level of need that is higher than the level of care that a foster home is certified to provide if the placing agency grants an exception and documents in the child's electronic case record what services and supports will be provided to meet the child's needs. A child whose level of need is lower than 5 may not be placed in a Level 5 foster home, except for continuation of an existing placement during planning for the child's transition to a less restrictive setting following a reassessment.
Supplemental Payments, Exceptional Payments, and Retainer Fee
Supplemental Payments. A placing agency shall make supplemental payments for a child's special needs to a foster parent who operates a foster home with a Level 2 to 5 certification. The placing agency shall determine the amount of a supplemental payment based on the total of all of the following:
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`Identified needs and strengths.' A dollar amount determined by the department multiplied by the total points that the placing agency rates a child to determine the presence of special needs on a form prescribed by the department. The placing agency will use information obtained from the standardized assessment tool to rate the child relative what is developmentally appropriate for a child of a similar age in the following areas:
□ Adjustment to trauma.
□ Life functioning, including physical, mental, and dental health; relationships with family members; and social skills.
□ Functioning in a child care or school setting.
□ Strengths.
□ Behavioral and emotional needs.
□ Risk behaviors.
□ Child's language.
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`Level of care higher than level of need.' An amount determined by the department if a foster home's level of care certification is higher than the level of need of a child placed in the foster home and the foster home has a Level 3 or 4 certification.
Exceptional Payments. A placing agency may make exceptional payments to a foster parent to accomplish any of the following:
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Enable the child to be placed in a foster home instead of being placed or remaining in a more restrictive setting.
•
Enable the placement of siblings or minor parent and minor children together.
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Assist with transportation costs to the school the child was attending prior to placement in out-of-home care.
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Replace a child's basic wardrobe that has been lost or destroyed in a manner other than normal wear and tear.
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For a child placed in a foster home before February 21, 2011, and who remains placed in that foster home, equalize the total monthly payment amount lost by the child's foster parent due to implementation of the new method of determining supplemental payments.
The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 allows the state to claim federal funds for expenses to assist a foster child with transportation costs to the school the child was attending prior to placement in out-of-home care.
Retainer Fee. A placing agency may provide a monthly retainer fee to a foster parent to maintain openings in a foster home for emergency placements. This fee may not be considered part of the foster care payment for a specific child.
Other
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A foster parent may not smoke or allow another person to smoke in a foster home or in a vehicle when a foster child is present.
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The rule incorporates provisions of DSP Memo Series 2009-05 that was jointly issued by the Department of Health Services and the Department of Children and Families. It provides that a foster parent may not use any type of physical restraint on a foster child unless the foster child's behavior presents an imminent danger of harm to self or others and physical restraint is necessary to contain the risk and keep the foster child and others safe. If physical restraint is necessary, the rule provides certain prohibited practices.
Summary of, and comparison with, existing or proposed federal regulations
Under
45 CFR 1355.32 and
1355.33, the federal Administration for Children and Families conducts a Child and Family Services Review of each state's child welfare system every 5 years. States found not to be operating in substantial conformity with federal requirements shall develop a program improvement plan. The program improvement plan must set forth the goals, the action steps required to correct each identified weakness or deficiency, and dates by which each action step is to be completed in order to improve the specific areas.
42 USC 671(a)(24) requires that the state plan for foster care and adoption assistance include a certification that, before a child in foster care under the responsibility of the state is placed with prospective foster parents, the prospective foster parents will be prepared adequately with the appropriate knowledge and skills to provide for the needs of the child, and that such preparation will be continued, as necessary, after the placement of the child.
42 USC 675 (1) (G) defines “case plan" to include a plan for ensuring the educational stability of the child while in foster care, including an assurance that the state agency has coordinated with appropriate local educational agencies to ensure that the child remains in the school in which the child is enrolled at the time of placement or if remaining in such school is not in the best interests of the child, assurances by the state agency and the local educational agencies to provide immediate and appropriate enrollment in a new school, with all of the educational records of the child provided to the school.
42 USC 674 (4) (A) defines “foster care maintenance payments" as payments to cover the cost of (and the cost of providing) food, clothing, shelter, daily supervision, school supplies, a child's personal incidentals, liability insurance with respect to a child, reasonable travel to the child's home for visitation, and reasonable travel for the child to remain in the school in which the child is enrolled at the time of placement.
As part of the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008,
42 USC 675 (1) (G) was created and
42 USC 674 (4) (A) was amended to add the phrase “reasonable travel for the child to remain in the school in which the child is enrolled at the time of placement."
Comparison with rules in adjacent states
The assessment tool prescribed by the department is used statewide in Iowa and Illinois and is used parts of Minnesota and Michigan. Michigan and Illinois have a levels of care system for foster homes.
Summary of factual data and analytical methodologies
The non-statutory requirements of the rule are based on recommendations from the Out-of-Home Care/Adoption Committee and the Foster Parent Training Committee. The committees have worked with the department for the past 5 years to incorporate new federal laws into state law and policy by referring to other state models and national standards of child welfare practice. For the past 2 years, both committees have focused on developing policy to implement the levels of care and foster parent training initiatives in
2009 Wisconsin Act 28. Both committees have statewide membership of staff from counties, tribes, private child-placing agencies, foster and treatment foster parents, court personnel, advocacy agencies, and state government.
Analysis used to determine effect on small business
The proposed rule will affect private child-placing agencies, some of which are small businesses. The policies in the rule were developed in collaboration with members of the Foster Parent Training Committee and the Out-of-Home Care/Adoption Committee, which included representatives from child-placing agencies.
Much of the rule is based on current practices of the majority of agencies supporting treatment foster care. The sections on agency responsibilities were part of DCF 38 and have been rewritten into DCF 56 with few changes. Representatives from child-placing agencies indicated that their agencies already require foster parents to have as much or more than the training hours in the proposed rule. Many agencies that serve treatment foster parents and treatment foster children with higher needs already have a levels or intensity system with different foster parent qualifications, training, and payments. The rule will put structure and consistency to the levels of care that will help counties know what services they are purchasing as they work with different private agencies that provide similar services. Existing treatment foster homes will be grandfathered in as Level 3 foster homes and existing shift-staffed treatment foster homes will be grandfathered in as Level 5 foster homes. Some private child-placing agencies will choose to offer Level 4 foster homes and will certify these foster parents under the emergency and proposed rules. The administrative cost will be minimal.
In addition, the department will be providing 6 hours of the new pre-placement training without charge to the agencies. The department is also creating online training to allow agency staff to receive certification and recertification in administering the standardized assessment tool without charge.
Effect on Small Business
The rule will affect small businesses, but will not have a significant economic effect on a substantial number of small businesses. The Department's Small Business Regulatory Coordinator is Elaine Pridgen, elaine.pridgen@wisconsin.
gov; (608) 267-9403.
Fiscal Estimate
State fiscal effect
Indeterminate.
Local fiscal effect
Indeterminate.
Long-range fiscal implications
None.
Assumptions used in arriving at fiscal estimate
This rule incorporates the administrative rule under Chapter
38 into Chapter
56 to create one universal licensing code for foster care and treatment foster care providers. This is the second phase of creating the Levels of Care system passed in
2009 Wisconsin Act 28. This rule establishes the requirements for certification at levels 3, 4, and 5. A foster home is licensed at these levels based on a number of factors, including the level of knowledge, skill, training, and experience of the licensee. This rule establishes the minimum amount of training at each of these levels. In addition, this rule mandates the use of the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) rating tool. This rating tools is designed to consistently identify the needs of children, ensure that providers are addressing those needs, and determine reimbursements to foster and treatment foster parents.
The rule will affect counties and the Department, which operates the child welfare program in Milwaukee County. The rule is not anticipated to affect current foster care and treatment foster care providers. Most existing providers meet the qualifications in the rule and existing providers are grandfathered into the rule.
The implementation of the CANS rating tool may identify some unmet needs for children, which could increase the costs of providing services to these children. Also, the CANS rating tool could more appropriately identify a lesser level of need for children who already are receiving special services, which may decrease costs to serve these children. Additionally, providing children with adequate services may reduce the length of stay for children in out-of-home care, reducing long-term costs. The net effect of these scenarios cannot be determined.
Agency Contact Person
Jonelle Brom, Bureau of Permanence and Out-of-Home Care, Division of Safety and Permanence, (608) 264-6933,
jonelle.brom@wisconsin.gov.
Notice of Hearing
Commerce
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to sections 101.02 (15) (h) to (j), 101.16 (2), 101.17 and 101.19 of the Wisconsin Statutes, the Department of Commerce will hold a public Hearing on proposed rules revising Chapters
Comm 2 and
40 relating to fuel gas systems, and affecting small businesses.
