7 AAC 56.320. Intake evaluation and preplacement counseling

(a) Intake information must be gathered and an intake evaluation and decision to place approved by a level II child placing worker before placement or accepting a parent's surrender of the parent's child for adoption. If possible, the licensee shall involve both parents of a child referred and the child, taking into account the child's age and capacity to understand, in the intake evaluation.

(b) The intake evaluation in (a) of this section is not required before placement

(1) if an intake evaluation and a level II approval to place has been documented in a referral or application for services;

(2) in accepting a referral from a state placing worker to place a child in state custody;

(3) in an emergency placement, including placement of a runaway child; or

(4) in a placement for respite for the child's primary caregiver when the placement will not exceed two weeks.

(c) Except for the emergency placement of a runaway child, in an emergency placement, the intake evaluation required by (a) of this section must be completed within 30 days of the placement, including approval by a level II child placing worker. For emergency placement of a runaway child, the intake evaluation and approval must be completed within 10 days of the placement.

(d) The intake evaluation required by (a) of this section must include

(1) unless the child is a child in state custody, reasons why each parent is considering placement, including a description of the child's behavior and how the family responds to the behavior;

(2) significant and related family history, including professional evaluations, if available;

(3) situational stresses currently affecting the family, including financial, housing, employment, medical, or health considerations, and substance use of the family;

(4) the strengths of the family members and previous ways of coping with similar problems;

(5) the child's tribe and clan, if the child is a member of an Indian tribe or is eligible for membership in a tribe and is the biological child of a member of an Indian tribe. so that the agency may meet the requirements of IOWA;

(6) developmental, social. educational, medical. and mental health history of the child, including prenatal factors, if possible;

(7) alternatives to placement. including short-term help from friends, extended family, neighbors, or tribal or clan members;

(8) services that may prevent the need for placement of the child;

(9) social, medical, and mental health history of each parent and siblings;

(10) special needs of the child or parent and special talents, abilities, or interests of the child or parent;

(11) the child's understanding of and response to placement;

(12) the child's legal status, including custody or guardianship, and regardless of whether the child is legally available for adoption;

(13) child's full name, birth date, sex, race, religion, and other identifying information;

(14) full names, ages, and addresses of the parent, siblings, close relatives, and other kinship connections;

(15) for adoption or guardianship placement, a copy of the child's birth certificate; and

(16) the history of any other placements of the child, including the reasons for the placements and dates of placements.

(e) When the application or referral for foster or residential care placement indicates that the placement will be limited to 30 days or less, and adoption is not the goal for the child, the agency may complete a limited evaluation appropriate for the short term placement in place of the evaluation required by this section.

(f) Unless parental rights have been terminated, an agency must provide counseling to the child's family directly or through referral, if the agency determines that counseling might prevent the need for placement. In this subsection, 'counseling' includes mediation in the case of a runaway child.

(g) In an emergency placement of a runaway child an agency shall notify the child's parent of the child's physical and emotional condition and the circumstances surrounding the child's placement as soon as possible, but no later than 48 hours after placement of the child, unless

(1) the agency has reason to believe that the child's parent has physically or sexually abused the child and the division is notified immediately;

(2) the agency has reason to believe that notifying the child's parent would endanger the life or safety of the child and the division is notified immediately;

(3) the child will not divulge the name of the child's parent or the parent cannot be reached after a good faith effort and the division is notified within 48 hours; or

(4) the child was admitted directly to an agency home or residential child care facility and the home or facility has previously notified the child's parent.

History: Eff. 1/1/2001, Register 156

Authority: AS 44.29.020

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