This letter transmits amendments and additions to Ohio Administrative Code (OAC) rules and forms governing substitute care and children services licensing.
The majority of changes resulted from the enactment of Sub. HB. 448 and Sub. HB. 332 by the 123rd General Assembly. These two major pieces of child welfare legislation were signed into law by Governor Taft in July 2000. Sub. HB. 448 became effective October 5, 2000. The effective date of Sub. HB. 332 is January 1, 2001. As a result of some overlap in the rules affected by these two new acts, and to avoid confusion in the issuance process, the department decided to file the rules as one package. Additionally some changes were made to training requirements for foster caregivers and child care staff as a result of the federal Chafee Foster Care Independence Act of 1999. The rules have an effective date of January 1, 2003, except for rule 5101:2-5-38 which will be effective April 1, 2003.
Many of the changes to the rules are a result of definition changes contained in Sub. HB. 332 and the recent change in the department's name. One of the major definition changes is the change in the terminology surrounding foster homes. Since 1986, the department has used the term "family foster home" as a generic term used in referring to all foster homes. Sub. HB. 332 changed the definition of a family foster home to just one of four types of foster homes (treatment foster home, medically fragile foster home, family foster home, and pre-adoptive infant foster home). Because of this, the department has changed most rule references from "family foster home" to "foster home." Other major definition changes, are the result of the creation of new rules governing treatment and medically fragile foster care. Many of those definitions were created in law by the enactment of Sub. HB 332. The revised definitions rule was previously transmitted to FCAS manual holders with FCASMTL 116 dated September 25, 2001.
The new requirements for treatment foster homes and medically fragile foster homes were created by Sub. HB. 332. However, the new rules are generally the result of two work groups convened in 1998 to address issues surrounding these types of foster homes, although some changes to the work groups' recommendations were necessitated by the new state law. Among the material used in developing these rules was a draft of treatment foster care rules previously developed by the Ohio Association of Child Caring Agencies (OACCA) in January 1995, a draft of therapeutic foster care rules developed under an ODHS contract in March, 1995 and the Foster Family-based Treatment Association's Program Standards for Treatment Foster Care published in 1995. In addition, the work group, which included representatives of both public and private children services agencies, treatment foster caregivers, the Ohio Association of Child Caring Agencies and the Public Children Services Association of Ohio, had considerable input.
A major change from the clearance process rule package is the provisions that would have required public children services agencies (PCSA) to be certified to perform all foster care functions have been withdrawn. In addition, several other changes were made as a result of comments received in the public hearing and as a result of a dispute resolution process between ODJFS and several stakeholder organizations earlier this year.
Due to the enactment of the federal Chafee Foster Care Independence Act of 1999, some language regarding training of foster caregivers and employees of a residential facility who provide care for youth in substitute care who are expected to remain in care until their eighteenth birthday was also added to two rules. Changes were made to OAC rules 5101:2-5-33 regarding foster caregiver training and 5101:2-9-03 regarding residential child care staff training. Additional rules to implement this federal act and a new state independent living law were released in FCASMTL 129 dated October 21, 2002.
| Topic | OAC Rule/Form Number | Brief Explanation of Proposed Changes |
|---|
MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION
Fiscal Management
Title IV-E | 5101:2‑47‑18 (Revised) | Amendments to (C), (D), (E), (F), (G), (H), (I) and (K) restrict, for purpose of difficulty of care payments for children placed in a foster home, placement of exceptional needs child to placement in a medically fragile foster home and restricts placement of a special or exceptional needs child to placement in a treatment foster home. Other amendments throughout the rule change "family foster home" to "foster home." In paragraph (H)(1), respite care has been deleted as this has been identified by the federal government as an unallowable cost in the Title IV-E program. Existing paragraph (J) is deleted, and subsequent paragraphs are renumbered. A new paragraph (O) has been added that will keep the maximum ODJFS-approved rate for difficulty of care payments for exceptional and intensive needs children at the higher of the two rates for a two year period beginning 9/30/2001. |
SOCIAL SERVICES
Substitute Care
| 5101:2‑42‑05 (Revised) | Change in (D) related to use of relative homes; changes in (E) updating information required to be shared with substitute caregivers; clarifying changes to (F); Other amendments change designation of "family foster home" to "foster home." |
| | 5101:2‑42‑56 (Revised) | Changes ODHS to ODJFS; Other amendments change designation of "family foster home" to "foster home." |
| | 5101:2‑42‑71 (Revised) | Changes ODHS to ODJFS; Other amendments change designation of "family foster home" to "foster home." |
| | 5101:2‑42‑90 (Revised) | Changes ODHS to ODJFS; Other amendments change designation of "family foster home" to "foster home." |
Licensing
Agency
| 5101:2‑5‑02 (Revised) | Changes are made throughout the rule to reflect the name change of the department, and to reflect a new form numbering system. In (D) and (M), new rule references are added. |
| | 5101:2‑5‑03 (Revised) | Add recommendation of pre-adoptive infant homes, treatment foster homes and medically fragile foster homes to functions of private agencies that require ODHS certification in (C) and (D). Changes related to the name change of the department and the change from family foster home to foster home are made throughout the rule. In (G) update two rule titles and add a new rule reference. |
| | 5101:2‑5‑04 (Revised) | Clarifying amendments to paragraph (A); new audit requirements for PCPAs and PNAs in paragraph (B) as a result of HB 448; changes related to the name change of the department are made throughout the rule. |
| | 5101:2‑5‑08 (Revised) | In (A)(5) a reference is made to the new audit requirements inserted into OAC rule 5101:2‑5‑04 and previous language on audit requirements is deleted; clarifying amendments in (A); changed the name of the department from ODHS to ODJFS throughout the rule. |
| | 5101:2‑5‑09.1 (Revised) | In paragraph (A), changes were made to clarify those persons subject to a criminal records check and to assure that the appointing or hiring officer or administrative director of an agency is required to request a criminal records check; in paragraphs (B), (C) and (D) changes were made to assure that responsibility for informing persons subject to a criminal records check of the need to obtain the required criminal records check and provide them with the form rests with the appointing or hiring officer or the administrative director of an agency; in (C)(3) new language requires a criminal records check to be conducted for other adult members of a foster caregiver's household; in (E), (H), (I) and (L) change the reference to refer to any person subject to a criminal records check rather than those referenced in (A); in (F) add the requirement for a prospective foster caregiver to be responsible for providing the fingerprint impressions of other adult household members; in (O), remove an outdated reference to 5101:2‑7‑02(P); a new paragraph (P) is created by moving the contents of 5101:2‑7‑02(P) to this rule (the effect is to put the required evaluation contents near the requirement of paragraph (O) for an evaluation to be conducted whenever a certified foster caregiver or an adult resident of a foster home is convicted of one of the prohibited crimes listed in paragraph (J) of 5101:2‑7‑02); changes related to the department's name change are made throughout the rule. |
| | 5101:2‑5‑10 (Revised) | Changes family foster home to foster home. |
| | 5101:2‑5‑11 (Revised) | Changes are made throughout the rule to reflect the name change of the department and to change family foster home to foster home. |
| | 5101:2‑5‑13 (Revised) | In (A) changes are made to clarify that all agencies are required to have policies applicable to the function(s) being performed; in (A)(3), changes are made to more closely reflect the intent of federal MEPA law; a new (A)(6) requires agencies to have a policy on the notification by a foster caregiver if any 12 to 18 year old resident of a foster home has committed one of the prohibited offenses listed in Appendix A of rule 5101:2‑7‑14; succeeding paragraphs are re-numbered accordingly; in (A)(7) require agencies to have a policy detailing all payments to foster caregivers; (A)(8) is clarified in relationship to foster caregiver training requirements; in (A)(12) remove language related to federal MEPA/IEPA law and reference rules 5101:2‑48‑11 and 2-48-16; add a new (A)(14) to require agencies to establish a good cause policy on agency-issued waivers related to failure of a foster caregiver to complete continuing training programs; add new (A)(15), (16), (17), (18) and (19) to require new policies for specialized foster care programs; existing sections (A)(13) to (A)(31) have been renumbered to (A)(20) to (38); changes in (A)(23) require treatment foster care and medically fragile foster care programs to develop and implement a behavior intervention policy; change in (A)(31) requires agency confidentiality policy to include disseminating information to a child fatality review board; changes related to the changing of the name of the department from ODHS to ODJFS are made throughout the rule. |
| | 5101:2‑5‑17 (Revised) | Changes in (A), extend the current requirement for a written discharge summary to include treatment foster care and medically fragile foster care programs as well as residential facilities and specify that the summary should be prepared prior to discharge, but not later than 30 days after discharge; change in (B)(6) requires the summary to identify ongoing service providers whenever possible. A new (C) is added to clarify that when a child is placed from a foster home into a respite care setting, a discharge summary is not required. |
| | 5101:2‑5‑18 (Revised) | Changes related to the name change of the department and the change from family foster home to foster home are made throughout the rule. |
| | 5101:2‑5‑20 (Revised) | Clarifying changes to (A); changes related to the name change of the department and the change from family foster home to foster home are made throughout the rule. A change in (B) adds language related to the federal MEPA law. A change in (C)(1) clarifies that incomplete applications do not afford an applicant the right to a hearing; (C)(4) is deleted. Changes in (C)(6), (D), (E), and (G) allow an agency to clarify when an applicant may attend preplacement training. (I) is changed to extend the time period for a fire inspection to be completed from 90 days to 6 months. |
| | 5101:2‑5‑21 (Revised) | A MEPA change in (A), changes related to the name change of the department are made throughout the rule; in paragraphs (B), (C), (D), (E) and (F) new language permits the use of either the ODJFS 01673 or the ODJFS 01349 to be used in doing a foster homestudy; new requirement for an assessor to complete the homestudy is added in several areas of the rule. |
| | 5101:2‑5‑22 (Revised) | Changes related to the name change of the department and the change from family foster home to foster home are made throughout the rule. A change in (B) requires a homestudy assessor to complete all foster caregiver home studies. |
| | 5101:2‑5‑23 (Revised) | Add new (D), (E) (F) and (G) to require a FACSIS resource ID number to be assigned to all foster homes. |
| | 5101:2‑5‑24 (Revised) | Changes related to the name change of the department and the change from family foster home to foster home are made throughout the rule. A change in (G) increases to ten days the time allowed to complete a safety audit after the relocation of a foster home |
| | 5101:2‑5‑25 (New) | This is a new rule regarding the phase in period for implementation of the new rules for specialized foster homes and changing the certification of a foster caregiver from one type of foster home to another. |
| | 5101:2‑5‑26 (Revised) | Changes related to the name change of the department and the change from family foster home to foster home are made throughout the rule. |
| | 5101:2‑5‑27 (Revised) | Changes related to the name change of the department and the change from family foster home to foster home are made throughout the rule. |
| | 5101:2‑5‑28 (Revised) | In paragraphs (A) and (F), changes related to the name change of the department are made; in (A)(9) new language specifies that conviction of one of the prohibited offenses by an adult resident of a family foster home or a 12 to 18 year old residing in the home may be considered valid cause to deny or revoke a foster home certificate; the existing language of (B) is deleted and replaced with new language requiring an agency to review the foster home certificate and any placements and, if necessary, notify custody holders and recommend revocation if any of the circumstances of paragraph (A) exist in a foster home; a new paragraph (C) requires an agency to notify ODJFS (upon notification by a foster caregiver) when a 12 to 18 year old foster home resident has been convicted of one of the prohibited offenses and ODJFS is required to revoke the foster home certificate in these circumstances. |
| | 5101:2‑5‑29 (Revised) | Amendments change designation of "family foster home" to "foster home." A new (C)(6) requires documentation of respite care on the foster home log. |
| | 5101:2‑5‑30 (Revised) | Changes related to the name change of the department; clarify procedures on changes in occupancy, marital status or relocation of a foster caregiver or foster home. |
| | 5101:2‑5‑31 (Revised) | Changes related to the name change of the department and the change from family foster home to foster home are made throughout the rule. A change in (B) allows a foster home to transfer from one agency to another provided that the new agency has authority to accept foster homes of the type requesting the transfer. A new (D)(8) requires the current and proposed FACSIS ID numbers to be on the ODJFS 01334. A new (H) requires release of a foster homestudy when the caregiver is being considered for adoption. |
| | 5101:2‑5‑32 (Revised) | Changes related to the change from family foster home to foster home are made throughout the rule. A new (A)(4) clarifies that the placement limitations for specialized foster homes found in rules 5101:2‑5‑36 and 5101:2‑5‑37 apply. |
| | 5101:2‑5‑33 (Revised) | Extensive revisions are made to this rule related to assuring that foster caregivers and prospective foster caregivers complete the required training programs; outlines the new preplacement and continuing training requirements for foster caregivers; local agency waivers, under certain circumstances, of up to four hours of annual continuing foster caregiver training requirements; and foster caregiver written training needs assessments. An amendment to paragraph (D) clarifies language related to the use of video presentations to meet training requirements. (Also see 5101:2‑5‑40) |
| | 5101:2‑5‑36 (New) | This is the new primary rule for additional requirements for agencies acting as a representative of ODHS in recommending treatment foster homes for certification. (Also see 5101:2‑7‑16.) |
| | 5101:2‑5‑37 (New) | This is the new primary rule for additional requirements for agencies acting as a representative of ODHS in recommending medically fragile foster homes for certification. (Also see 5101:2‑7‑17.) |
| | 5101:2‑5‑38 (New) | This new rule contains provisions for reimbursement of foster caregiver training stipends and reimbursement of training allowances to recommending agencies. |
| | 5101:2‑5‑40 (New) | This new rule contains requirements for the operation of preplacement and continuing training programs for foster caregivers. (Also see 5101:2‑5‑33) |
Licensing
Family Foster Homes
| 5101:2‑7‑02 (Revised) | Changes related to the name change of the department are made; in (J)(1) and the Appendix, two new arson related crimes are added to the list of prohibited offenses; in (P) existing language has been moved to a new paragraph (P) in rule 5101:2‑5‑09.1 and new language is added regarding denial of a foster home certificate upon notification of the conviction or adjudication of delinquency of a 12 to 18 year old resident of a family foster home of any of the prohibited offenses. |
| | 5101:2‑7‑03 (Revised) | A change related to the change from family foster home to foster home is made in (B). |
| | 5101:2‑7‑04 (Revised) | A change related to the change from family foster home to foster home is made in (B). |
| | 5101:2‑7‑05 (Revised) | Changes related to the change from family foster home to foster home are made throughout the rule. A clarifying amendment is made to (B)(4) to prohibit a foster child's bedroom from being a "tandem" bedroom. |
| | 5101:2‑7‑06 (Revised) | A change related to the change from family foster home to foster home is made in (B). |
| | 5101:2‑7‑07 | A spelling error is corrected in (B)(1). |
| | 5101:2‑7‑09 (Revised) | Changes related to the change from family foster home to foster home and the department's name change are made throughout the rule. A spelling error is corrected in (C)(4). |
| | 5101:2‑7‑12 (Revised) | Changes related to the change from family foster home to foster home are made throughout the rule. |
| | 5101:2‑7‑13 (Revised) | Changes related to the change from family foster home to foster home are made throughout the rule. |
| | 5101:2‑7‑14 (Revised) | Changes related to the change from family foster home to foster home and the department's name change are made throughout the rule. In (G) new language is added to require a foster caregiver to notify the recommending agency of any conviction of a 12 to 18 year old resident of a family foster home of any of the prohibited offenses; add an Appendix A to list the prohibited offenses. |
| | 5101:2‑7‑16 (New) | This is the new primary rule for additional requirements for a treatment foster caregiver and a treatment foster home. (See also 5101:2‑5‑36) |
| | 5101:2‑7‑17 (New) | This is the new primary rule for additional requirements for a foster caregiver for medically fragile children and a medically fragile foster home. (See also 5101:2‑5‑37) |
Licensing
Children's Residential Centers
| 5101:2‑9‑03 | In paragraph (D), as a result of the federal Chafee Foster Care Independence Act of 1999, adds new training requirements for child care staff providing care for youth expected to remain in care until the youth's 18th birthday. |
| | 5101:2‑9‑12 | The term "licensed professional counselor" was inadvertently omitted from the list of professionals able to approve a service plan. This correction is made in paragraphs (A) and (C). |
| FORMS |
JFS 01290
Form (Revised)
| Changes related to the name change of the department from ODHS to ODJFS and the change from family foster home to foster home are made. Additional policies added. |
| |
JFS 01315
Form (Revised)
| Changes related to the name change of the department and the change from family foster home to foster home are made. |
| |
JFS 01317
Form (Revised)
| Changes related to the name change of the department, the change from family foster home to foster home, and adding treatment, medically fragile and pre-adoptive infant foster homes to the form. |
| |
JFS 01331
Form (Revised)
| Changes related to the name change of the department and the change from family foster home to foster home are made. Other minor clarifying modifications. |
| |
JFS 01334
Form (Revised)
| Changes related to the name change of the department and the change from family foster home to foster home are made. Other minor clarifying modifications. |
| |
JFS 01348
Form (Revised)
| Changes related to the name change of the department and the change from family foster home to foster home are made. Other changes are made to reflect rule modifications. |
| | JFS 01349 | Changes related to the name change of the department and the change from family foster home to foster home are made. |
| | JFS 01691 | Changes related to the name change of the department and the change from family foster home to foster home are made. |
The following chart depicts what materials are to be removed from the Family, Children and Adult Services Manual (FCASM) and what materials are to be inserted in the FCASM.