Idaho Administrative Code
Title IDAPA 16 - Health and Welfare, Department of
Rule 16.06.01 - CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES
GENERAL REQUIREMENTS AND SERVICES
Section 16.06.01.050 - PROTECTIONS AND SAFEGUARDS FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES
Current through September 2, 2024
The federal and state laws that are the basis for these rules include a number of mandatory protections and safeguards intended to ensure timely permanency for children and to protect the rights of children, their families, and their tribes.
01. Reasonable Efforts. Services offered or provided to a family intended to prevent or eliminate the need for removal of the child from the family, to reunify a child with their family, and to finalize a permanent plan. The following efforts must be made and specifically documented by the Department in reports to the court. The court will make the determination of whether or not the Department's efforts were reasonable.
02. Active Efforts. The efforts required under ICWA to provide remedial services and rehabilitative programs designed to prevent the breakup of an Indian family, or to reunify an Indian family. Active efforts must include contacts and work with an Indian child's tribe.
03. ICWA Placement Preferences.
04. Least Restrictive Setting. Efforts will be made to ensure that any child in the Department's care resides in the least restrictive, most family-like setting possible. Placement will be made in the least restrictive setting and in close proximity to the parent(s) or if not, written justification that the placement is in the best interest of the child.
05. Legal Requirements for Indian Children. When there is reason to believe that a child is an Indian child, notice of the pending proceeding must be sent according to the notice provisions specified in Section 051 of these rules. Notice must also include notice of the tribe's right to intervene; their right to twenty (20) days additional time to prepare for the proceeding; the right to appointment of counsel if the parent(s) or Indian custodian(s) is indigent; and the right to examine all documents filed with the court upon which placement may be based.
06. Visitation for Child's Parent(s) or Legal Guardian(s). Visitation arrangements must be provided to the child's parent(s) or legal guardian(s) unless visitation is contrary to the child's safety.
07. Notification of Change in Placement. Written notification must be made within seven (7) days of a change of placement of the foster child if a child is relocated to another foster care setting. Notification must be sent to the child's parent(s) or legal guardian(s). When the child is an Indian child, written notification must also be sent to the child's Indian custodian(s), if applicable, and to the child's tribe.
08. Notification of Change in Visitation. Written notification to the child's parent(s) or legal guardian(s) if there is to be a change in their visitation schedule with their child or ward in foster care.
09. Notification of Right to Participate and Appeal. Written notification to the child's parent(s) or legal guardian(s) must be made regarding their right to discuss any changes and the opportunity to appeal if they disagree with changes in placement or visitation.
10. Qualified Expert Witness--ICWA. The testimony of an expert witness is required at the hearing in which a child is placed in state custody, typically the adjudicatory, and at the hearing for termination of parental rights. A person who is most likely to be a qualified expert witness in the placement of an Indian child is:
11. Compliance with Requirements of the Multiethnic Placement Act of 1994 (MEPA) as Amended by the Interethnic Adoption Provisions (IEP) of 1996.
12. Family Decision-Making and Plan Development.
13. Compelling Reasons. Reasons why the parental rights of a parent of a child in the Department's care and custody should not be terminated when the child has been in the custody of the Department for fifteen (15) out of the most recent twenty-two (22) months.
14. ASFA Placement Preferences. The following placement preferences will be considered in the order listed below when recommending and making permanency decisions:
Effective March 15, 2022