§ 237.3 — Rules

Iowa § 237.3

• Jurisdiction: Iowa
• Title VI: HUMAN SERVICES
• Ch. 237: CHILD FOSTER CARE FACILITIES

Text

1. Except as otherwise provided by subsections 3 and 4, the department shall adopt and

enforce in accordance with chapter 17A, administrative rules necessary to implement this
chapter. Formulation of the rules shall include consultation with representatives of child
foster care providers and other persons affected by this chapter. The rules shall encourage
theprovisionofchildfostercareinfosterfamilyhomes, andshallexemptfosterfamilyhomes
from inappropriate rules.
2. Rules relating to individual licensees and agency licensees, as applicable, shall include
but are not limited to all of the following:
a. Types of facilities which include but are not limited to group foster care facilities and
foster family homes.
b. The number, qualifications, character, and parenting ability of personnel necessary to
assure the health, safety and welfare of children receiving child foster care.
c. Programs for education and in-service training of personnel.
d. The physical environment of a facility.
e. Policies for intake, assessment, admission and discharge.
f. Housing,health,safety,andmedicalcarepoliciesforchildrenreceivingchildfostercare.
The medical care policies shall include but are not limited to all of the following:
(1) Provision of a child’s health records, and any other information possessed or known
aboutthehealthofthechildoraboutamemberofthechild’sfamilythatpertainstothechild’s
health, from the department to a licensee or an approved kinship caregiver at or before the
time of a child’s placement with the licensee or approved kinship caregiver.
(2) If the health records supplied to the licensee or approved kinship caregiver in
accordance with the child’s case permanency plan are incomplete, or the licensee or
approved kinship caregiver requests specific health information, procedures for obtaining
additional health information from the child’s parent, or other source, and providing the
additional information to the licensee or approved kinship caregiver.
(3) Provision for emergency health coverage of the child while the child is engaged in
temporary, out-of-state travel with the individual licensee or approved kinship caregiver.
g. (1) Theadequacyofprogramsavailabletochildrenreceivingchildfostercareprovided
by agencies, including but not limited to:
(a) Dietary services.
(b) Social services.
(c) Activity programs.
(d) Behavior management procedures.
(e) Educational programs, including, where appropriate, special education as defined in
section 256B.2, which are approved by the state board of education.
(2) The department shall not adopt rules that regulate individual licensees or approved
kinship caregivers in the subject areas enumerated in this paragraph.
h. Policies for involvement of biological parents.
i. Records a licensee or approved kinship caregiver is required to keep, and reports a
licensee or approved kinship caregiver is required to make to the department.
j. Prior to the licensing of an individual, completion of a required, written social
assessment of the quality of the living situation in an individual’s prospective foster family
home, and completion of a required compilation of personal references for the individual,
other than references provided by the individual.
k. Elements of a foster care placement agreement outlining rights and responsibilities
associated with an individual or kinship caregiver providing child foster care. The rights and
responsibilities shall include but are not limited to all of the following:
(1) Receivinginformationpriortothechild’splacementregardingriskfactorsconcerning
the child that are known to the department, including but not limited to notice if the child is
required to register under chapter 692A.
(2) Having regularly scheduled meetings with each case manager assigned to the child.
(3) Receiving access to any reports prepared by a service provider who is working with
the child unless the access is prohibited by state or federal law.
3. Rules governing fire safety in a facility in which child foster care is provided by an
agency shall be adopted by the director of the department of inspections, appeals, and
licensing pursuant to section 10A.511, after consultation with the director.

4. Rules governing sanitation, water, and waste disposal standards for facilities shall be
adopted by the department pursuant to section 135.11.
5. In case of a conflict between rules adopted pursuant to subsections 3 and 4 and local
ordinances, the more stringent requirement shall apply.
6. Rules adopted by the department shall not prohibit the licensing of a departmental
employeenotdirectlyengagedintheadministrationofthechildfostercareprogrampursuant
to this chapter, as an individual licensee.
7. If an agency is accredited by the joint commission under the joint commission’s
consolidated standards for residential settings, or by the council on accreditation, the
department shall modify the facility licensure standards applied to the agency to avoid
duplication of standards applied through accreditation.
8. The department, in consultation with the judicial branch, residential treatment
providers, the foster care provider association, and other parties which may be affected, shall
review the rules pertaining to licensing of residential treatment facilities, and determine if
the rules allow residential treatment facilities to accept and provide effective treatment to
juveniles with serious problems who might not otherwise be placed in residential treatment
facilities.
9. The department shall adopt rules that specify the elements of a preadoptive care
agreement outlining the rights and responsibilities associated with a person providing
preadoptive care, as defined in section 232.2.
10. The department shall adopt rules to allow a child care facility to provide respite care
in a foster family home for a period of twenty-four hours or more to a child who is placed
with an individual licensee, as provided in section 237A.1, subsection 2, paragraph “l”.
11. The department shall adopt rules to require the department or a representative of the
department to visit a child placed with an individual licensee or approved kinship caregiver
within two weeks of the child being placed with the individual licensee or approved kinship
caregiver, and at least once each calendar month thereafter.
12. The department shall adopt rules that allow each individual licensee and each
approved kinship caregiver to apply the reasonable and prudent parent standard to create
opportunities for a child to participate in age or developmentally appropriate activities.
13. The department shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A relating to the application
of a protective locked environment to child foster care licensees.

Legislative History

[C27, 31, 35, §3661-a52; C39, §3661.066; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, §237.11; C81, §237.3]