Current through Register Vol. 43, No. 02, November 27, 2024
The Department's response to the needs of children and families
is initially determined at intake based upon the reason for referral. Children
and families are served by the Department based upon their unique strengths and
needs with individualized services to address identified needs. This process
may not occur as neatly or in the order described. The achievement of outcomes
is essential and the elements of the ISP process are designed to support those
outcomes.
(1) ISPs will be completed
for all children and families for whom a case is opened for on-going child
welfare services and the Department is involved in the planning and/or delivery
of those services.
(a) The ISP will be a
single, family-focused document which includes all the family members as well
as any children in out-of-home care placements.
(b) When children are being served in their
own homes, the primary focus of the ISP is on safety and health, protecting the
children from abuse and neglect, and enabling the children to safely remain at
home and achieve permanency and stability in their living situation.
(c) When children are in out-of-home care,
the primary focus is on enabling them to safely return home, and when that is
not possible, to locate and finalize a safe, stable permanent living situation
that supports the children's relationship with family and other individuals who
play a significant role in their lives. Parents and primary caregivers must be
informed about ASFA's timeframes for achieving permanency and that the
individualized service plan they develop with their child and family planning
team will identify detailed information on how permanency can be achieved. When
children are living in out-of-home care pursuant to a court order granting DHR
custody or an Agreement For Foster Care (DHR-FCS-731), child welfare staff
shall provide parents and legal custodians with a copy of the pamphlet,
Parents of Children in Foster Care, no later than the first
ISP meeting following the children's entry into care.
(d) When a court order has prohibited all
contact with the parents, a family focused ISP is still required. Contact with
siblings should still occur.
(e)
When parental rights have been terminated, children maintain the right to visit
and communicate with their families.
(2) ISPs are not required for court-ordered
home evaluations where DHR's involvement with the family is limited to
preparation of a court report and the provision of any testimony related to the
report; or for cases involving children whose adoption has been finalized and
the case remains open for subsidy purposes, and no other services are being
provided.
(3) The child and family
planning team, also known as the ISP team, works in partnership to develop,
review and revise ISPs; and the team is responsible for identifying strengths
and needs; establishing goals; matching steps and services to needs; monitoring
service delivery; and evaluating the ISP's effectiveness.
(a) Team composition shall include, at a
minimum, the age-appropriate children; the parents (i.e., custodial and
non-custodial); the DHR worker; the primary caregiver or the foster care
provider (for children in out-of-home care); and other individuals requested by
the children or family (e.g., friends, neighbors, advocates).
1. Foster parents may request that a person
be present at ISP meeting to serve as a volunteer advocate. An advocate's
presence must be agreed upon, prior to each meeting, by the parents and
age-appropriate children. Requests from foster parents must be made in
sufficient time for child welfare staff to discuss the request with the
parents/age-appropriate children and reach a decision about the advocate's
attendance.
(b) County
Departments shall ensure that the ISP team for each child and family includes a
DHR child welfare staff person who is qualified to provide, or supervise the
provision of, individualized services to meet the needs of the child and
family; and who has the authority to commit DHR resources or has immediate
access, during the ISP team meeting, to a child welfare staff person who has
such authority.
1. When authorization
requires commitment of DHR resources
and the team is
unable to reach agreement during the ISP meeting, child welfare staff shall
discuss the impact with the family and affected team
members.
(4)
Children and families have the right to participate in the planning, delivery,
and evaluation of services.
(a) The family's
right to participate may be restricted by the child and family planning team if
the family's involvement places the child(ren) or other team members in danger
or if the family's involvement significantly inhibits attainment of the
child(ren)'s permanency goal.
(b) A
foster parent's right and a foster parent advocate's right to participate in
ISP meetings may be restricted by the child and family planning team if that
foster parent's involvement (1) places the children or other team members in
danger or (2) significantly inhibits attainment of the children's permanency
goal. Foster parents may not be restricted from attending ISP meetings because
of their view about strengths, needs, or services, or their displeasure or
dissatisfaction with DHR or a provider's activities.
(c) Child welfare staff shall identify all
restrictions and thoroughly document the circumstances surrounding the need for
the restrictions in the case narrative. The documentation must include, at a
minimum, an assessment of the nature of the relationship between child welfare
staff, other ISP members, and the foster parent; the nature of the relationship
between the foster parent and the children in the home; and how the restriction
is impacting the children's placement in the foster home.
(5) Personal identifying information on
children and family members will not be disclosed by ISP team members to
individuals who are not part of the team unless the age-appropriate child(ren)
and the parent(s) have given consent. Effort(s) to obtain the signed consent of
individuals whose situations are to be discussed and the consent of the
individual, agency or organization providing the information prior to the
meeting.
(6) Confidentiality is to
be discussed at each ISP meeting with the team members being asked to sign a
statement of confidentiality pursuant to §
38-2-6(8) of the
Code of Ala. 1975. The first page of the ISP form is
used to record team members' attendance and agreement to confidentiality.
(a) DHR and the child and family planning
team will abide by the age-appropriate children's and parents' wishes regarding
the release of information or records.
(b) If consent is withheld and the
information is needed by the team for planning with the child(ren) and family,
the court may be asked to order the information's release.
(c) Consent of the age-appropriate child(ren)
and parent(s) is not required when it is necessary to disclose personal
identifying information and share relevant information in order to protect the
child(ren); when personal identifying information is disclosed to the Court,
other DHR staff, and other individuals as authorized by law; when relevant
information is needed for the attainment of decree goals; and when a court of
competent jurisdiction has overridden the wishes of the age-appropriate
child(ren) and parent(s).
(7) Sufficient advance notice of the date,
time, and location of each ISP meeting shall be provided to all team members to
allow them to prepare for and participate in the meetings.
(a) Written notification is required for
custodial and non-custodial parents, foster parents (includes all foster care
providers), preadoptive parents and relative caregivers. The remaining team
members may receive either verbal or written notification. When the parents or
children request that an advocate of their choice participate in the meeting,
child welfare staff shall provide that advocate with reasonable notice of the
meeting date, time and location. If the advocate is unable to attend the
scheduled meeting, child welfare staff will make appropriate arrangements for
the advocate's participation after consulting with the child's Guardian Ad
Litem and/or the family member requesting the advocate's presence.
(8) A written copy of the ISP
shall be provided to age-appropriate children and their parents as well as all
other team members at the conclusion of the ISP meeting, and if this is not
feasible, the plan shall be distributed to the team within ten (10) working
days of the date the meeting was held.
(9) ISPs serve as children's case plans and
may be presented to the court at every judicial review (including permanency
hearings) and to the review panel at every administrative review.
(a) The ISP shall include a determination of
the continuing necessity for and appropriateness of the child's placement; a
discussion of the extent to which all the ISP team members have implemented the
plan, and identification of any steps and goals which have been achieved; a
summary of progress made toward meeting the needs of the child and the family
in order to alleviate the necessity for placement; and the anticipated date by
which the child will return home or achieve another identified permanency
goal.
(10) Comprehensive
family assessments are essential to the development of successful ISPs which
are designed to achieve the desired outcome of safety, permanency, stability
and overall well-being.
(a) Children's safety
and health emotional and mental) are paramount concerns, and the ISP must
clearly state safety and health needs and how they will be addressed.
(b) Safety plans shall be developed to
protect children whose safety is threatened. If a safety plan is in effect at
the time an ISP meeting is held, it shall be reviewed to determine that it is
functioning as intended.
(11) Placement decisions will be directly
related to each child's permanency goal, and when children are unable to safely
remain at home through the provision of services, relative resources must be
assessed prior to placement.
(a) Children
shall be referred to and placed in out-of-home care resources which adhere to
Departmental standards and R.C. Consent Decree principles.
(12) ISPs shall be designed to achieve timely
permanence and stability in children's living situations, and this requires
appropriate and quality service planning and delivery from the beginning of
work with children and their families. An early decision about the need for
concurrent planning shall be made and reviewed at each ISP meeting.
Author: Shawanda Harris
Statutory Authority:
Code of Ala.
1975, §§
12-15-311,
12-15-312,
12-15-314,
12-15-315,
41-22-5,
41-22-6; The Adoption Assistance
and Child Welfare Act of 1980, (PL The Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare
Act of 1980 ( PL 96-272); The Adoption and Safe Families Act (PL
105-89); R.C. v Hornsby, No 88-H-1170-N, Consent
Decree (M.D. Ala. Approved December 18, 1991).
