Ky.gov
Effective: 10/17/2023

13.13.2 Private Child Placing (PCP) Foster Parent Adoption

Legal Authority

Introduction

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Practice Guidance

Approved private child-placing (PCP) foster families are not required to complete the Department for Community Based Services (DCBS) approval process.


No additional training is necessary unless the specific needs of the child require further training.

Final approval of a foster parent's request to adopt is the decision of the service region administrator (SRA) or designee.

​The petition for adoption may be filed at any time after the DPP-195 Ado​ptive Placement Agreement is signed by the family, and post-adoption assistance agreements (if the child is eligible and the family has requested assistance) have been approved.​

Procedure

  1. The recruitment and certification (R&C) worker or other designated regional adoption staff (of the region where the PCP foster family resides), SSW, and PCP worker for the foster home meet with the PCP foster family: 
    1. Within thirty (30) working days from when the child’s goal changes to adoption; When foster parent adoption by the PCP foster family is identified as the Cabinet for Health and Family Services (Cabinet/CHFS)’s preferred plan for the child; and 
    2. To discuss the following: 
      1. The difference between fostering and adopting; 
      2. The role of Cabinet staff and the PCP staff in the adoption process; 
      3. Importance of permanency to a child; 
      4. Legal relationship within adoption; 
      5. Legal risks; 
      6. Child’s options for a permanent home when a foster parent(s) does not adopt; 
      7. Areas in which the foster family needs preparation as a potential adoptive resource; 
      8. Adoption assistance program and eligibility status of the child (Adoption Assistance Requests​ cannot be processed until after the termination of parental rights (TPR)); 
      9. The adoptive parent’s responsibility to retain an attorney to finalize the adoption; 
      10. That the adoption petition shall not be filed until the DPP-195 Adoptive Placement Agreement is signed;
      11. Benefits a child may be eligible to receive; ​
      12. Resources in the community for a child(ren) with special needs; 
      13. Support services for adoptive parents, (i.e., Adoption Support for Kentucky (ASK), the Network, etc.); 
      14. Adoption process from TPR through a circuit or family court judgment of adoption finalization; 
      15. Continued future contact with birth siblings and other relatives, as appropriate; 
      16. Foster parent attitudes about contact with birth siblings, other relatives, and thoughts on handling that contact; 
      17. The status of the child’s lifebook; 
      18. The child's continued involvement in mental health services as recommended/needed for the child post-adoption; and 
      19. How the child's level of care (LOC) and the PCP daily rate to the family are used in determining the adoption assistance monthly maintenance amount that is allowable by DCBS. (please refer to SOP 13.40 Approval of Adoption Assistance)​
The R&C worker or designated regional staff:
  1. Discusses adoption assistance with the PCP foster family and requests from the PCP foster family's worker the necessary documentation to move forward with the adoption process, including: ​
    1. A copy of the family's original PCP adoptive home study packet; 
    2. ​The most recent re-evaluation; 
    3. A copy of the family's current training record and background check; 
    4. LOC for the child; and 
    5. The PCP foster parent daily rate for the child. 
  2. Informs adoptive parents that adoption alone does not grant citizenship for children in out-of-home care (OOHC) who do not have a social security card or a permanent resident card.  Please refer to SOP 4.1 Consideration of Race and Ethnicity/Maintaining Cultural Connections​. ​
  3. In the region of the PCP foster family’s residence, enters the PCP foster home as a provide case in TWIST; 
  4. Uploads  the information provided by the PCP foster family’s worker into TWIST in the provide case; 
  5. Obtains signatures on the DPP-195 Adoptive Placement Agreement and adoption assistance contracts (DPP-1258, DPP-1258A, DPP-1258C, DPP-1258D​) and as needed may request assistance from the PCP worker to obtain the family's signatures; 
  6. Notifies the PCP agency when foster care payments to the PCP agency are to be discontinued; 1 and ​​ ​
  7. After the adoption is finalized, ensures the presentation summary packet and all attachments have been uploaded into the child’s agency case before the case is sealed. Hard copy documents from the presentation summary packet, such as original birth certificates, certified TPR orders, and the original Social Security card (if applicable),​ should be maintained in a secure location until the documents are ready to be shared with the family’s adoption attorney or sent to the receiving region for agency case transfers involving foster parent adoptions. All other documents are uploaded into the provide case. 2  
    1. Agency Archiving Cover Memo; 
    2. Adoption judgment, adoption petition, and order setting final hearing; 
    3. Adoption contracts (DPP​-1258/DPP-1258D, DPP-1258C, and a DPP-1258A), DPP 195 Adoptive Placement Agreement;
    4. Adoption memo and adoption approval letter; 
    5. Copy of the family’s original narrative packet; 
    6. Copy of most recent re-evaluation, if one has been completed; 
    7. Copy of the family's annual training record and background check (DPP-157 or the Ky KARES final results form for each adoptive parent); and
    8. Foster parent statement of intent to adopt; 
The R&C worker (or designated adoption staff) and the PCP worker:
  1. Meet quarterly to discuss matters related to the child’s permanency goal of adoption. These may also be in the form of periodic reviews; 
  2. Meet with the PCP foster family to give the foster family a copy of the child’s presentation summary packet; and 
  3. Develop a plan for post-placement and post-adoptive needs and services to the family.
Related Information
The private child placing (PCP) worker:
  1. Provides a copy of the original home study and family's training record to the R&C worker when a PCP foster family is interested in adopting a DCBS child placed in their home; 3
  2. Asks the PCP foster parent to sign the DPP-198 Foster Parent​ Statement of Intent to Adopt and return the form to the PCP worker after the meeting or within five (5) working days of the meeting, if adoption by the foster family is a suitable plan; 
  3. Submits the signed original DPP-198 to the SSW; 4
  4. Provides to the R&C worker within five (5) working days of the request: 
    1. Copy of the family’s original PCP adoptive home study packet; 
    2. Most recent re-evaluation; 
    3. Copy of the family’s current training record and background check; 
    4. LOC for the child; and 
    5. PCP foster parent daily rate for the child.​ ​ 
  5. Verifies, in writing, that the foster family has received appropriate training and preparation regarding the child and adoption; 
  6. Assists the R&C worker in securing the signatures, when needed, of the PCP foster parent on the DPP-1258, DPP-1258A, DPP-1258C​, DPP-1258D​ and provides the original to the R&C FSOS and/or R&C worker in the region of the PCP foster family's residence. 
  7. Assists the R&C worker, when needed​, in obtaining the adoptive family's signature on the original DPP 195 and returns the form to the R&C worker; 
  8. Until the child is discharged from the PCP, the PCP: ​
    1. Provides or arranges for family and individual counseling, therapy, or other resources as needed; 
    2. Provides crisis intervention services on a twenty-four (24) hour basis to the PCP foster family; 
    3. Attends required periodic reviews with the R&C worker to present information regarding the progress of the placement;
    4. Notifies the R&C worker immediately if problems occur that affect the stability of the placement and will initiate an action plan; and 
    5. Meets with the R&C worker and PCP foster family to discuss the need for additional services or future placement plans if disruption appears imminent.
​ Reimbursement for private child placing (PCP) foster parent adoptions:
  • Adoption subsidy training and consultation are available for DCBS staff by calling the Adoption Services Branch at (502) 564-2147. 
  • The foster care per diem is discontinued on the effective date of the signed DPP-​195 Adoptive Placement Agreement. At that time, the family begins receiving pre-adoptive assistance. The effective date must be the first (1st) or fifteenth (15th) of the month though the dates of approval signatures may vary from these dates. 
  • PCP providers should submit a billing document, which identifies the child, adoptive home, and dates of service to the DCBS central office at:
​
​Division of Administration and Financial Management
Resourc​e Management Section
275 E. Main Street 3W-C​
Frankfort, KY 40621 

  • A copy of the billing document and the contract is retained by the PCP agency and DCBS. 
  • The PCP agency is reimbursed two thousand dollars ($2000) for a single child, and five hundred dollars ($500) for each additional sibling adoption that is finalized in the same home. 
  • The PCP agency may be reimbursed thirty-five dollars ($35) an hour, up to an amount not to exceed one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500), per case for the provision of crisis intervention services after finalization of the adoption. A case could be a single child or a sibling group. The appropriate SRA or designee provides approval for these services. ​5

Footnotes

  1. Foster payments cease on the effective date of the signed DPP​-195, and the family begins receiving pre-adoptive assistance until the adoption is finalized in court. The PCP should be given a two (2) week notice before the effective date of the adoption assistance to allow them to prepare for discontinuing the PCP foster payments to the adoptive family.
  2. The case super structure button links the agency or case of origin to the provide household management screen where all case records/documents can be viewed.  
  3. This information is used in determining whether adoption by the PCP foster parent is appropriate. 
  4. The social worker provides a copy of the intent to adopt to the Adoption Services Branch when a child is registered with the Kentucky Adoption Profile Exchange (KAPE) and a foster parent statement of intent to adopt has been signed (please refer to SOP 13.4 Matching with an Adoptive Family and SOP 13.14 Referral of a child to the Kentucky Adoption Profile Exchange (KAPE)​​. 
  5. Consideration should be given when there is a strong connection between a child and their current PCP therapist. This should include the best interest of the child when transitioning a child over to a new therapist who will be covered through their medical coverage. Any arrangement made for a transitional period needs to be discussed before submitting the subsidy and submitted as part of the adoption subsidy paperwork.​

Documents

Revisions

​10/17/2023 Addition

x.  That the adoption petition shall not be filed until the DPP-195 Adoptive Placement Agreement is signed;

4.  Establishes an adoption assistance file containing Uploads the information provided by the PCP foster family’s worker into TWIST in the provide case; ​

G.  Copy of the family's annual training record and background check (DPP-157 ​or the Ky KARES final results form for each adoptive parent);  ​

xvii.  Answering the child’s questions about adoption and the child’s past, and development of practice statements to explore with one another the impact of those statements; 

​7.  After the adoption is finalized, ensures that the presentation summary packet and all attachments have been uploaded into the child’s agency case before the case is sealed. Hard copy documents from the presentation summary packet such as original birth certificates, certified TPR orders, and the original Social Security card (if applicable) should be maintained in a secure location until the documents are ready to be shared with the family’s adoption attorney or sent to the receiving region for agency case transfers involving foster parent adoptions. All other documents are uploaded into the provide case. 2 sends the foster parent adoption referral packet the to Divison of Financial Management (DAFM) Records Management Section (275 E Main St, 3E-G, Frankfort, KY 40621). The packet contains: ​
2.  Meet with the PCP foster family within ten (10) working days of the TPR judgment and to give the foster family a copy of the child’s presentation summary packet; and ​

8.  Submits the DPP-1294 Rehabilitation Services Monthly Report​ to the child's SSW to document monthly face-to-face contact between the PCP personnel and the child until the child is discharged from the PCP. ​

I.  Presentation summary narrative and packet of documents.​