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Committee approves multiple temporary Children and Family Services rules addressing crisis placements, contested-case appeals and adoption fees
Summary
The Senate Health and Welfare Committee approved a package of temporary Children and Family Services dockets that add a crisis-placement standard, clarify contested-case appeals for the Child Protection Central Registry, eliminate adoption fees for children in state custody and add supervised-visit requirements for certain substantiated parents.
The Senate Health and Welfare Committee approved a series of temporary rule dockets from the Department of Health and Welfare that the department said address immediate needs in children’s services and prepare the agency for pending litigation.
Jared Larson presented multiple temporary rule sets. The committee approved a temporary docket that adds a definition for “crisis level of need,” allowing the department discretion to adjust compensation when insufficient foster homes — particularly for large sibling groups — are available. Larson said this is intended to permit different compensation in situations of “extreme need.”
The committee also approved temporary contested-case rules for the Child Protection Central Registry. Larson said the changes were advised by the Attorney General’s office and were promulgated “in order to get the state in the proper posture to defend” current litigation over the registry; the contested-case rules clarify the appeals process for individuals substantiated for abuse, neglect or abandonment.
Another approved docket eliminates adoption fees previously charged to families adopting children from state custody. Larson told the committee that the department “no longer do[es] that” and framed the change as part of an effort to reduce financial burdens on adoptive families.
Separately, the committee approved a temporary rule that requires direct supervision during visits between children in custody and parents who have been substantiated at level 1 or level 2 for sexual abuse or related conduct. The visitation rule prohibits the child from sitting on the parent’s lap and forbids unmonitored conversations; Larson said the rule emerged from the director’s hiring of a former prosecutor experienced in cases involving crimes against children and that it is aimed at protecting children during supervised contact.
Sen. Wintrow commended the department’s action on the visitation rule. The dockets were approved in sequence by motions from committee members; the committee proceeded largely by voice votes.
The department also submitted a ZBR (zero-based review) docket consolidating the newly approved temporary rules into a single section and updating text for readability; the committee approved that consolidation docket as well.
