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0100-510.60 | Revision Date: 01/11/2019
Overview
This policy provides guidance on placement considerations for children who are removed from the home of the custodial parent or guardian, including preference for placements that facilitate family reunification and/or permanency. This policy also covers efforts to place siblings together in out-of-home care.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ERCP/ER/Case-Carrying CSW Responsibilities
ERCP/ER/Case-Carrying CSW Responsibilities
Version Summary
This policy guide was updated from the 07/01/14 version to replace the Placement and Recruitment Unit with the new Matching Coordination Unit (MCU) and to include gender identityan internal understanding of one’s own gender (e.g. a person’s internal sense of being male, female or something else). Therefore, a transgender person’s gender identity does not match the sex assigned to him or her at birth. as a placement consideration.
When selecting out-of-home placements, consideration should be given in the following order:
The following factors must be considered when selecting the most appropriate out-of-home placement for a child:
Additional placement preference options include:
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Scenario |
Placement Preference |
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If no relatives or nonrelative extended family members are available: |
Licensed foster family home within the ZIP Code from which the child was removed |
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If child is being re-placed: |
Consider a foster home in which the child has been placed before, if that placement is in the best interest of the child and space is available |
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If a licensed foster family home is not available: |
A foster family agency-certified foster family home within the ZIP Code from which the child was removed |
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If no foster family agency-certified homes are available: |
Search adjacent ZIP Codes using the same method outlined above until a suitable placement is located |
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If a specialized placement such as a Short-term Residential Therapeutic Program (STRTP) is required to meet the physical, psychological, and/or environmental needs of the child: |
Specialized placement within the child’s community of origin |
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If the child is an Indian Child: |
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If the youth is transgender:
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Placement based on gender identity if youth desires it. |
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If a child is medically fragile: |
A foster parent who is an individual nurse provider who provides health services under the federal Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment program. |
At the time of the removal of a child from the home of his/her custodial parent or guardian, placement preference for placing a child under the age of 3 is as follows:
Efforts must be made to place siblings together in out-of-home care unless:
If two or more siblings under the age of three (3) are removed at the same time, they should be placed together whenever possible. When siblings are not placed together, CSW’s are required to document why in the Contact Notebook and all relevant court reports. Documentation must include:
Visits between siblings who are not placed together are required and must be incorporated into the case plan unless the court finds evidence that sibling interaction is contrary to the safety and well-being of either child. For children residing in a group home setting, the visitation plan must be documented on the Needs and Services Plan.
Any reasons for suspension of sibling interaction must be noted at each judicial review and any changes to the court’s determination must be incorporated in the case plan.
As soon as a placing agency becomes aware of the need for a change in placement for a dependent child, the placing agency must notify the child’s attorney and provide information regarding the child’s address, telephone number, and caregiver before the close of the following business day.
If any changes in placement should result in the separation of siblings currently placed together, the placing agency must notify the child’s attorney and the child’s siblings’ attorney of this proposed separation within 14 calendar days before the change of placement. This allows the attorneys to investigate the circumstances of the proposed separation.
The placing CSW should contact their outstation or trial court County Counsel whenever there is a question about whether or not a court filing is necessary (ie. 385 or 387 petition).
ERCP/ER/Case-Carrying CSW Responsibilities
ERCP/ER/Case-Carrying CSW Responsibilities
DCFS 709, Foster Child’s Needs and Case Plan Summary
DCFS 280, Technical Assistance Action Request
DCFS 709, Foster Child’s Needs and Case Plan Summary
0070-520.10, Safely Surrendered BabiesPhysical custody of a minor 72 hours old or younger accepted by a person from a parent of the minor, who the person believes in good faith is the parent of the minor, with the specific intent and promise of effecting the safe surrender of the child. (SSB)
0070-548.01, Child and Family Teams
0080-502.10, Case Plans
0080-508.05, Fast Track to Permanency (FTP) Provisions
0100-510.25, Placement in a Emergency Shelter Care
0200-507.10, Identifying a Prospective Adoptive Family for a Child through the Placement and Recruitment Unit (PRU)
0300-506.05, Communication with Attorneys, County Counsel, and Non-DCFS Staff
0400-504.00, Family Visitation Planning
1200-500.05, Adopting and Serving Children Under the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA)
Family Code 3040b – States that the immigration status of a parent, legal guardian, or relative shall not disqualify the parent, legal guardian, or relative from receiving custody.
Health and Safety Code 1760.2(b) - Provides the definition of "medically fragile" to include having an acute or chronic health problem which requires therapeutic intervention and skilled nursing care during all or part of the day. Medically fragile problems include, but are not limited to, HIV disease, severe lung disease requiring oxygen, severe lung disease requiring ventilator or tracheotomy care, complicated spina bifida, heart disease, malignancy, asthmatic exacerbations, cystic fibrosis exacerbations, neuromuscular disease, encephalopathy, and seizure disorders.
Welfare and Institutions Code (WIC) Section 306.5 – States that social worker shall, to the extent that it is practical and appropriate, place the minor together with any siblings or half-siblings who are also detained or include in the report prepared pursuant to Section 319, a statement of his or her continuing efforts to place the siblings together or why those efforts are not appropriate.
WIC 309 (e)(1) - Sets forth the requirement that the social worker shall conduct an investigation for possible relatives of the detained child within 30 days of removal.
WIC Section 358.1 (d) – Sets forth the requirements for the contents of social studies.
WIC Section 361(c, 1-5) – Describes circumstances in which a child may be taken from the physical custody of his or her parent(s).
WIC Section 361.2 – States that when a court orders removal of a minor, the court must:
Determine whether there is a parent of the minor, with whom the minor was not residing at the time and if such a parent requests custody the court shall place the minor with the parent unless it finds that placement with that parent would be detrimental to the minor. Also lists placement options if the parent is unable to care for a minor.
Consider whether there are any siblings under the court's jurisdiction, the appropriateness of developing or maintaining the sibling relationships, and the impact of the sibling relationships on the child's placement and planning for legal permanence.
WIC Section 361.3 – In any case in which a child is removed from the physical custody of his or her parents pursuant to Section 361, preferential consideration shall be given to a request by a relative of the child for placement of the child with the relative. Provides a list of factors that must be considered by the CSW and the court in determining the appropriateness of the relative placement.
WIC 361.49 - Defines the date that the child is deemed to have entered foster care on the earlier of the date of the jurisdictional hearing held pursuant to Section 356 or the date that is 60 days after the date on which the child was initially removed from the physical custody of his or her parent or guardian.
WIC 361.5(a)(1)(B) – Sets forth the requirement that a child who, on the date of initial removal from the physical custody of his or her parent or guardian, was under three years of age, court-ordered services shall be provided for a period of six months from the dispositional hearing as provided in subdivision (e) of Section 366.21, but no longer than 12 months from the date the child entered foster care, as provided in Section 361.49, unless the child is returned to the home of the parent or guardian.
WIC Section 362.1(a)(2) – Sets forth a requirement for visitation between the child and any siblings, unless the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that sibling interaction is contrary to the safety and well-being of either child.
WIC Section 362.1(c) – Defines "sibling" as a child related to another person by blood, adoption, or affinity through a common legal or biological parent.
WIC Section 14043.26(m)(3) - Provides the definition individual nurse providers as those authorized under certain home- and community-based waivers and under the state plan to provide nursing services to Medi-CalCalifornia's federal Medicaid program. recipients in the recipients' own homes rather than in institutional settings.
WIC Section 16002 – States the intent of the Legislature to maintain continuity of the family unit by placing siblings in foster care together when appropriate. States the responsibility of local agency is to make all efforts to place siblings together, and to document these efforts as well as any reason why these efforts would be contrary to the safety and well-being of any of the siblings.
WIC 16006 – Requires that children and NMDs in out of home care shall be placed according to their gender identity, Regardless of the genderRefers to the socially constructed roles, behaviors, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for boys and men or girls and women. These influence the ways that people act, interact, and feel about themselves. Gender is different from Sex in that Sex is assigned at birth. or sex listed in their court or child welfare records.
WIC Section 16010.6 – States placing agency obligations and timelines to notify child’s attorney of placement decisions and changes in placement, including but not limited to changes in placement that will result in the separation of siblings currently placed together.
WIC Section 17739 – States when determining the placement of a foster child who is medically fragile, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 1760.2 of the Health and Safety Code, priority consideration is given to placement with a foster parent who is an individual nurse provider, as defined in subdivision (m) of Section 14043.26 of the WIC, who provides health services under the federal Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment program (Section 1396d(a)(4)(B) of Title 42 of the United States Code.) The priority consideration shall be subordinate to the preference granted to a relative of the child.
