** Archive **
FCASMTL 100 (Safe Families Act and HB 484 - Archive)
Family, Children and Adult Services Manual Transmittal Letter No. 100
March 22, 1999
TO: Family, Children and Adult Services Manual Holders
FROM: Wayne W. Sholes, Director
SUBJECT: Ohio Administrative Code Rule Changes as a Result of the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 and Substitute House Bill 484

This transmittal marks the 100th issuance of Family, Children and Adult Services Transmittal Letters (FCASMTL) and the nine year anniversary date of the Family, Children and Adult Services Manual (FCASM) in its current format. With the 100th issuance of FCASMTLs the reader will notice a significant change in the format of rules. We have deleted all text boxes found before the rule and the rule is presented in the format filed with the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review. Please reference the enclosed Rule Format for further information on how to understand the new rule format. As rules are amended or adopted they will be issued using the new format.

In celebration of the ninth year of the manual your agency will soon be able to access the FCASM on CD along with other departmental manuals you have already been receiving. The rules and forms contained in this transmittal will not be on the CD Rom you will be receiving since the CD was already in its final form.

The 100th issuance also marks significant changes in Ohio Administrative Code (OAC) rules governing child welfare practice. OAC rules were amended or adopted in order to comply with the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 (P.L. 105-89) and Substitute H.B. 484. Both pieces of legislation are guided by the following principles:

  • Safety of children is the paramount concern that must guide all child welfare;
  • Foster care is a temporary setting and not a place for children to grow up;
  • Permanency planning efforts for children should begin as soon as a child enters foster care and should be expedited by the provision of services to families;
  • The child welfare system must focus on results and accountability; and
  • Innovative approaches are needed to achieve the goals of safety, permanency, and well-being.

The following chart depicts OAC rules which have been rescinded, amended, or adopted to incorporate the above mentioned principles. These rules and forms will take effect on March 18, 1999.

RULE NUMBERRULE CHANGES
5101:2-1-01 "Children Services Definition of Terms" Added/Amended following definitions:
-Abandoned Child
-Adjudicatory Hearing
-Adoption Promotion and Support Services
-Assessor
-Case Plan
-Chemical Dependency
-Chemical Restraint
-Court Appointed Special Advocate
-Dispositional Hearing
-Family Preservation Services
-Family Support Services
-Interstate Compact on Adoption and Medical Assistance
-Kin
-Mechanical Restraint
-Medical Consultant
-Nonrelative
-Ohio Adoption Photo Listing
-Permanency Plan
-Planned Permanent Living Arrangement
-Preadoptive Family
-Public Children Services Agency
-Relative
-Substantial Risk
-Substitute Caregiver
-Supportive Services
-Time-Limited Family Reunification Services
-Title IV-E agency
5101:2-39-02 "Case Records for Children Services" -Corrected rule references/titles.
-Corrected reference to assessment/investigation assignments.
-Added non-reasonable efforts documentation.
-Added preadoptive parents/relative providing care to the child/court appointed special advocate to listing of SAR participants.
-Added documentation regarding OWF Self-Sufficiency contract.
-Added requirement to take color photographs of children in temporary or permanent custody once a year.
-Added reference to supplemental plan.
5101:2-39-05 "Reasonable Efforts"-New rule contains information on court's determination of reasonable efforts.
5101:2-39-06 "Preplacement Prevention, Reunification Services and Life Skill Services" -Added reference to the Prevention, Retention and Contingency Services.
-Added safety/planned permanent living arrangement provisions of H.B. 484.
-Added Pre-adoptive parents to the list of individuals for whom the PCSA may provide emergency services, kinship care family preservation services, and any other form of financial assistance.
5101:2-39-07 "Supportive Services" -Added requirement that PCSAs shall refer the parent, guardian, or custodian to an alcohol or drug addiction program for initial screening, assessment, treatment or testing when the risk assessment determines that a "child is at imminent risk of abuse or neglect because the parent, guardian, or custodian of the child has a chemical dependency problem or a chemical dependency problem was the basis for a court's determination that the child was an abused, neglected or dependent child".
-Changed provisions for information required from service providers and time-frames for requesting information.
5101:2-39-081 "PCSA Case Plan for Children in Custody or under Court-Ordered Protective Supervision"
(Note: format of rule was changed) 		-Added reference to planned permanent living arrangement.
-Added requirement to give prefinalized adoptive family, foster caregiver and relative providing care for the child notice of right to participate in the development, review and amendment of the case plan.
-Added safety provisions when evaluating the home and the substitute care setting.
-Added supplemental plan provisions.
5101:2-39-10 "PCPA Case Plan for Children in Custody or under Court-ordered Protective Supervision" -Added reference to planned permanent living arrangement.
-Added requirement to give prefinalized adoptive family, foster caregiver, and relative providing care for the child notice of right to participate in the development, review, and amendment of the case plan.
-Added safety provisions when evaluating the home and substitute care setting.
-Added supplemental plan provisions.
5101:2-39-11 "Required Content of a Private Child Placing Agency (PCPA) Case Plan Document" -Added reference to planned permanent living arrangement.
-Added adoption requirements.
-Added termination of parental rights requirements.
-Added non-reasonable efforts requirements.
5101:2-39-12 "Removal of a Child from his own Home" -Corrected rule reference.
-Clarified PCSA removal procedures.
5101:2-39-40 "Placing a Child or Arranging the Placement of a Child with a Suitable Relative or Suitable Nonrelative"-Rescinded and replaced by rule 5101:2-42-05.
5101:2-39-45 "Selection of Substitute Care Placement Setting"-Rescinded and replaced by rule 5101:2-42-05.
5101:2-42-05 "Selection of a Placement Setting" -New rule. Content previously found in rules 5101:2-39-40 and 5101:2-39-45.
-Definitions for "relative", "nonrelative" and "substitute caregiver" are located in rule 5101:2-1-01.
-Prioritizes placement selections for children in substitute care.
-Outlines placement options for children available for adoption.
5101:2-42-43 "Requirement of Semiannual Administrative Review" -Added H.B. 484 requirements to provide notice and involve foster caregiver, preadoptive parent, and relative providing care for the child in SARs.
-Added reference to planned permanent living arrangement.
-Added supplemental plan provisions.
5101:2-42-68 "Necessity for Continued Substitute Care Placement: Court Reviews and Hearing Requirements" -Added H.B. 484 and P.L. 105-89 requirements to request court to conduct a Permanency Hearing.
-Added reference to planned permanent living arrangement.
5101:2-42-95 "Obtaining Permanent Custody: Termination of Parental Rights" -New rule contains requirements for termination of parental rights.
-The agency must petition the court to terminate parental rights (TPR) and obtain permanent custody when a court has determined that the parent has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to certain prohibited crimes, or if the child has been in substitute care for 12 of the most recent 22 consecutive months.
-The agency is not required to file when there are documented compelling reasons or services outlined in the case plan have not been provided.
5101:2-42-96 "Phase-in Obtaining Permanent Custody: Termination of Parental Rights" -New rule contains timeframes for termination of parental rights as required by H.B. 484 and P.L. 105-89.
-Priority should be given to those children whose case plan goal is adoption and those children who have been in substitute care for the longest period of time.
5101:2-44-051 "Covered Families and Children Medicaid Eligibility for Special Needs Children who are Receiving a State Adoption Subsidy" -Added expanded Medicaid eligibility for Mental Health services, P.L. 105-89 requirements.
-ADC related Medicaid is now referred to as Covered Families and Children Medicaid.
5101:2-47-13 "Foster Care Maintenance Program Eligibility: Legal Responsibility Requirements" -Added reference to planned permanent living arrangement.
-Included new rule reference.
5101:2-47-22 "Foster Care Maintenance Program Reimbursability: Reasonable Efforts to Prevent Placement"-Added reference to rule 5101:2-39-05.
5101:2-47-29 "Adoption Assistance Program Eligibility: Eligibility Requirements" -Added additional requirements governing adoption assistance.
-Reformatted rule.

Revisions have also been made to the ODHS 1444 "Family Risk Assessment Model, Part II: Case Plan"; ODHS 1414 "Semiannual Administrative Review Summary"; and ODHS 1416 "Semiannual Administrative Review Summary" (For Private Child Placing Agency Use Only), to include safety, adoption, and permanent living arrangement provisions. Revisions were also made to ODHS 1449 to add mental health services.