Ky.gov
Effective: 3/14/2023

12.19 Closure of a Foster or Adoptive Home and Reopening

Legal Authority

Introduction

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Practice Guidance

  • The written notice (DPP-154A  Protection and Per​manency Notice of Intended Action) for closure of a foster or adoptive home includes:
    • Notice that the Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS/Cabinet) will not place a child in the home;
    • The reason why the foster or adoptive home is being closed;
    • The effective date of closure for the foster or adoptive home; and
    • A DPP-154 Protection and Permanency Servic​e Appeal form​ for service appeals.​

Foster or Adoptive Home Reopens

A former foster or adoptive home parent whose home was closed without a deficiency may reapply.  

A former foster or adoptive home parent that was closed due to a deficiency may be considered for re-approval if the deficiency has been resolved. If a former foster or adoptive parent’s home was closed pursuant to Procedure 1, (A) through (K), consideration for re-approval may be assessed if the cause of closure has been resolved. To reapply, a former foster or adoptive home parent:

  • Attends an informational meeting; and
  • Submits the following:
    • Application;
    • DPP 170 Financial Information for Foster-Adoptive ​Parents ;
    • Names of three (3) personal references;
    • Two (2) credit references;
    • Authorization for criminal records release;
    • Background check;
    • DPP 107 Health Info​rmation Required for Foster or Adoptive Parents, Applicants or Adult Household Members and DPP 108 Health Information Requ​ired for Foster or Adoptive Parents or Applicants Regarding Dependent Children; and
    • Other required paperwork noted in SOP 12.3 Foster and Adoptive Home Applicant Assessment​.
A reapplying former foster or adoptive home parent re-enrolls and completes pre-service family preparation training, unless the former foster or adoptive home parent:
  • Has previously completed pre-service training; and
  • Is considered a resource for placement. 
If a medically complex foster or adoptive home closed and wishes to reopen, applicants must retake the medically complex orientation and the Join Hands Together training, if the family attended the training five (5) or more years prior to reopening. 

An adoptive family may be reconsidered for adoptive placement. The family may reapply and receive approval for adoptive placement:
  • If the home was previously closed in good standing; or
  • Following finalization of an adoption.
Based on an assessment of the re-applying family’s past training and re-evaluations by the FSOS/SSW, the FSOS reserves the right to require the family to go back through the pre-service family preparation training. 
  • The inactive TWIST case should be re-opened.
  • The SSW will follow the SAFE home study guidelines for reopening a home with a prior SAFE home study. The SSW will also follow SAFE instructions on reopening and converting a home with a non-SAFE study.



Procedure

​Foster or Adoptive Home Closures  

The Recruitment and Certification (R&C) Worker:  
  1. Closes the foster or adoptive home if an approved home parent:
    1. No longer meets the prerequisites to be approved as a foster or adoptive home;
    2. Has not had a child placed by the Cabinet in the home within the preceding twelve (12) months; 1
    3. Develops a serious physical or mental illness to the extent that care of a child is impaired;
    4. Commits:
      1. Sexual abuse or exploitation pursuant to KRS 600, which is substantiated by the Cabinet, by the foster or adoptive home parent or by another resident of the foster or adoptive home; or
      2. Physical abuse or neglect of a child pursuant to KRS 600, which is substantiated by the Cabinet, by the foster or adoptive home parent or by another resident of the foster or adoptive home and is serious in nature or warrants removal of the victim; 
    5. Allows a situation to exist that is not in the best interest of the child;
    6. Is determined by the Cabinet to not be in the best interest of a child;
    7. Violates the terms of the contract between the Cabinet and resource foster or adoptive home;
    8. Is convicted or pleads guilty to a sexual offense (under KRS 510, 529, 530, or 531);
    9. Is convicted or pleads guilty to any Class A or Class B felony offense;
    10. No longer meets the needs of the child(ren) in care; 
    11. Does not meet the role expectations of foster or adoptive home parents; 
    12. Requests that their home be closed; or
    13. Fails to meet the action planning requirements set forth in the non-safety standard waiver in the home type.  
  2. Follows guidelines in this standard of practice (SOP) for closure of a foster or adoptive home if an approved adoptive parent does not receive or accept a placement for twelve (12) months unless an extension is granted. Extensions should be made on a case-by-case basis and be time limited; 
  3. Changes the status to inactive for a non-foster adoptive family placed on the register of waiting families and subsequent referrals for adoptive placement are not to be made until finalization has occurred unless a referral is received of a sibling of a child previously placed with the foster or adoptive family;
  4. Conducts a personal interview with the foster or adoptive family to state the reason for closure if it is necessary to close an approved home;
  5. Confirms, in a written notice to the parent, using the DPP-154A Notice of Intended Action, the decision to close a home;
  6. Delivers the notice within fourteen (14) calendar days of the interview with a foster or adoptive home parent;
  7. Provides a copy of the written notice of closure of a foster or adoptive home to the billing specialist;
  8. Makes the foster or adoptive inactive and closes the case in TWIST; 
  9. Withdraws the foster or adoptive parents and adult household members from the Kentucky Applicant Registry and Employment Screening (KARES) system; and 
  10. Follows SOP 30.13 Archiving Closed Case File Records for guidance pertaining to retention and archiving of the closed provide case file.  
The SSW:  
  1. Removes the child from the home if closure is necessary for a family who has a child placed, but the adoption is not finalized.
The SRA or designee: 
  1. Must approve an exception as specified in SOP 12.15-12.17​ regarding ongoing requirements for a foster or adoptive home, for a foster or adoptive home whose parent(s) did not meet the annual training requirement, or the home will be closed. 2






​Footnotes

  1. The twelve (12) month timeframe should begin once the last placement ended, or child(ren) was adopted.  Homes actively seeking a child, submitting home studies, and working in partnership with the Cabinet can be considered for an extension on a case-by-case basis. ​​
  2. A corrective action plan may be developed by the R&C worker and FSOS to identify timeframes in which the training would need to be completed to prevent closure. However, additional children may not be placed in the home until the training requirement has been met. 

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Documents

Revisions

​3/14/23 Addition: 

Has not had a child placed by the Cabinet in the home within the preceding twelve (12) months; two (2) year period; 

2.  Follows guidelines in this standard of practice (SOP) for closure of a foster or adoptive home if an approved adoptive parent does not receive or accept a placement for twelve (12) months two (2) years​ unless an extension is granted. Extensions should be made on a case-by-case basis and be time limited; 

6.  Delivers the notice within fourteen (14) thirty (30) calendar days of the interview with a foster or adoptive home parent;​

9.  Withdraws the foster or adoptive parents and adult household members from the Kentucky Applicant Registry and Employment Screening KARES system; and ​
Footnotes
1.  The twelve (12) month two (2) year timeframe should begin once the last placement ended, or child(ren) was adopted. The twelve (12) month timeframe should begin once the last placement ended, or child(ren) was adopted.  Homes actively seeking a child, submitting home studies, and working in partnership with the Cabinet can be considered for an extension on a case-by-case basis.​ ​​


3/14/23 Delete: