(A) To protect and nurture children in foster care, the Department of Social Services and its employees shall:

(1) use its best efforts to normalize the lives of children in foster care by allowing a caregiver, without the department's prior approval, to make decisions similar to those a parent would be entitled to make regarding a child's participation in age or developmentally appropriate activities. In determining whether to allow a child in foster care to participate in an activity, a caregiver must exercise the reasonable and prudent parent standard pursuant to Section 63-7-20 and Section 63-7-25;

(2) adhere strictly to the prescribed number of personal contacts, pursuant to Section 63-7-1680(B)(3). These contacts must be personal, face-to-face visits between the caseworker or member of the casework team and the foster child. These visits may be conducted in the foster home and in the presence of other persons who reside in the foster home; however, if the caseworker suspects that the child has been abused or neglected during the placement with the foster parent, the caseworker must observe and interview the child outside the presence of other persons who reside in the foster home;

(3) ensure that a caseworker interviews the foster parent, either in person or by telephone, at least once each month. No less frequently than once every two months, ensure that a caseworker or member of the casework team interviews the foster parent face-to-face during a visit in the foster home;

(4) ensure that a caseworker interviews other adults residing in the foster home, as defined in Section 63-1-40, face-to-face at least once each quarter. A foster parent must notify the department if another adult moves into the home, and the caseworker must interview the adult face-to-face within one month after receiving notice. Interviews of foster parents pursuant to item (3) and of other adults residing in the home pursuant to this item may be conducted together or separately at the discretion of the department;

(5) ensure that its staff visit in the foster home and interview the foster parent or other adults in the home more frequently when conditions in the home, circumstances of the foster children, or other reasons defined in policy and procedure suggest that increased oversight or casework support is appropriate. When more than one caseworker is responsible for a child in the foster home, the department may assign one caseworker to conduct the required face-to-face interview with the other adults residing in the foster home;

(6) provide to the foster child, if age appropriate, a printed card containing a telephone number the child may use to contact a designated unit or individual within the Department of Social Services and further provide an explanation to the child that the number is to be used if problems occur which the child believes his or her caseworker cannot or will not resolve;

(7) provide to the foster child, if age appropriate, a document describing the rights of the child regarding education, health, visitation, court participation, and the right to stay safe and avoid exploitation and obtain a signed acknowledgement from the child upon receipt of the document;

(8) strongly encourage by letter of invitation, provided at least three weeks in advance, the attendance of foster parents to all Foster Care Review Board proceedings held for children in their care. If the foster parents are unable to attend the proceedings, they must submit a progress report to the Foster Care Review Board, at least three days prior to the proceeding. Failure of a foster parent to attend the Foster Care Review Board proceeding or failure to submit a progress report to the Foster Care Review Board does not require the board to delay the proceeding. The letter of invitation and the progress report form must be supplied by the agency;

(9) be placed under the full authority of sanctions and enforcement by the family court pursuant to Section 63-3-530(30) and Section 63-3-530(36) for failure to adhere to the requirements of this subsection.

(B) If the department places a child in foster care in a county which does not have jurisdiction of the case, the department may designate a caseworker in the county of placement to make the visits required by subsection (A).

(C) In fulfilling the requirements of subsection (A), the Department of Social Services shall reasonably perform its tasks in a manner which is least intrusive and disruptive to the lives of the foster children and their foster families.

(D) The Department of Social Services, in executing its duties under subsection (A)(5), must provide a toll free telephone number which must operate twenty-four hours a day.

(E) Any public employee in this State who has actual knowledge that a person has violated any of the provisions of subsection (A) must report those violations to the state office of the Department of Social Services; however, the Foster Care Review Board must report violations of subsection (A)(5) in their regular submissions of advisory decisions and recommendations which are submitted to the family court and the department. Any employee who knowingly fails to report a violation of subsection (A) is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than five hundred dollars or imprisoned not more than thirty days, or both.

(F) Foster parents have a duty to make themselves reasonably available for the interviews required by subsection (A)(3) and to take reasonable steps to facilitate caseworkers' interviews with other adults who reside in the home as required by subsection (A)(4). Failure to comply with either the duties in this subsection or those in subsection (A)(4) constitutes grounds for revocation of a foster parent's license or other form of approval to provide care to children in the custody of the department. Revocation would depend on the number of instances of noncompliance, the foster parents' wilfulness in noncompliance, or other circumstances indicating that noncompliance by the foster parents significantly and unreasonably interferes with the department's ability to carry out its protective functions under this section.

(G) The department shall adopt and implement any policies consistent with this section that are necessary to promote a caregiver's ability to make decisions described by subsection (A)(1). The department shall make efforts to identify and review any department policy or procedure that may impede a caregiver's ability to make such decisions.

(H) The department shall incorporate into its training for caregivers, as defined in Section 63-7-20(4), and agency personnel the importance of a child's participation in age or developmentally appropriate activities, the benefits of such activities to a child's well-being, and decision-making under the reasonable and prudent parent standard pursuant to Section 63-7-20 and Section 63-7-25.

HISTORY: 2008 Act No. 361, Section 2; 2016 Act No. 238 (H.4546), Section 4, eff June 5, 2016.

Effect of Amendment

2016 Act No. 238, Section 4, rewrote the section, requiring the department to make efforts to normalize the lives of children in foster care by enabling participation in age or developmentally appropriate activities.