Kansas Administrative Regulations
Agency 28 - DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT
Article 4 - MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH
Section 28-4-172 - Administration and personnel

Universal Citation: KS Admin Regs 28-4-172

Current through Register Vol. 43, No. 12, March 20, 2024

(a) The agency shall develop a written statement of philosophy, purpose, program orientation, and policy of operation including the agency's position on disciplinary methods to be used by staff. Corporal punishment shall be prohibited. The statement shall contain long and short term goals and shall be available to the secretary or a designee of the secretary, and to the public. The agency, at the time of making initial application for a license, shall furnish the division the following:

(1) Evidence of a need for services to a particular group of children;

(2) A definition of the services to be provided in sufficient detail as to indicate the agency has an understanding of each particular service;

(3) A description of the geographical area it serves or intends to serve; and

(4) Evidence that its services will be used by referral sources.

(b) A child placing agency shall have a governing body which shall exercise authority over and have responsibility for the operation, policy, and practices of the child placing agency. The governing body shall select and employ a qualified executive director, who shall be responsible for the administration and operation of the child placing agency. The governing body shall have among its officers a secretary responsible for documenting its activities and for keeping attendance records and minutes of its meetings. These records and minutes shall be available for inspection by the division.

(c) The child placing agency shall prepare an annual report of the agency's activities. The report shall include fiscal and statistical sections indicating the levels of income and expenditures, the size and types of staff and the number of clients serviced by each service program.

(d) The child placing agency shall demonstrate financial solvency to carry out its program for the licensing period. Agencies which have not operated shall have capital necessary for at least a 6 month period of operation. The agency shall prepare an annual budget. Books shall be audited annually by a certified public accountant. A copy of the accountant's statement of income and disbursements shall accompany the licensing application.

(e) The applicant or licensee shall maintain a current organizational table showing the administrative structure of the agency, including the lines of authority, responsibility, communications, and staff assignments. The table shall be provided to all staff members as a part of the orientation procedure and, on request, to the division, clients, or referral sources.

(f) Child placing agencies shall have written personnel policies and procedures and shall make them available to all staff members, persons seeking employment, and the division. Personnel policies and practices shall be developed by the agency, with input from the staff. These policies and procedures shall be reviewed annually, and revised when necessary. The child placing agency shall make the policies and procedures available to staff in a personnel policy manual.

(g) Each child placing agency shall provide the qualified staff necessary to ensure proper services to children in the agency's care, to biological and adoptive parents, and to foster parents. The child placing agency shall verify the personal qualifications of all employees through character references. Signed statements shall be made a condition of employment for prospective employees. These statements shall list any past or current police records, mental or physical actions, conditions, or addictions of the applicant that would adversely affect their capacity to work with children. The agency shall hire qualified professional staff, as follows:

(1) The executive director of a child placing agency, who shall have:
(A) A degree from an accredited college or university;

(B) Education and experience in administering a child placement or related program commensurate with the size and complexity of the agency;

(C) A thorough understanding of the philosophy, purpose, and policy of the agency; and

(D) The capacity to provide direction and leadership for the agency.

(2) Social service supervisory staff members responsible for the direct supervision of the social workers involved in child placement service, who shall have:
(A) A master's degree from an accredited college or university and be licensed as a social worker by the state of Kansas or shall have a graduate degree in a related area of human services;

(B) Two years of experience in child placement services;

(C) Ability to assume professional responsibility for reviewing the placement of children in out-of-home care when these placements are made by a person with lesser qualifications. There shall be written documentation of specific services provided by this person and the frequency of these services.

(3) Social workers performing intake services, direct services to foster children, homefinding, and assessment related to foster home and adoptive services, who shall have:
(A) A master's degree from an accredited college or university and be licensed as a social worker by the state of Kansas; or

(B) A bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university and be licensed as a social worker by the state of Kansas; or

(C) A bachelor's degree in behavioral sciences from an accredited college or university and 2 years of experience in child placement under direct supervision of a person meeting the supervisory requirements in subsection (g)(2).

(h) The child placing agency shall provide enough qualified personnel to assure that:

(1) Supervisors shall not supervise more than six social workers;

(2) In-service training related to child placement is made available to supplement supervision; and

(3) Casework staff carries caseloads which are sufficiently controlled to allow for all the necessary contacts with the family, children, foster families, adoptive families, and collateral parties.

(i) The agency shall, if it makes use of volunteers, develop a written plan for their orientation, training and use. The agency shall assign professional staff to supervise volunteers.

(j) The child placing agency shall have a personnel file for each employee which shall contain:

(1) The application for employment, resume, or both;

(2) Reference letters from former employer(s);

(3) Any required medical information;

(4) Applicable professional credentials or certifications;

(5) Periodical performance evaluations;

(6) Personnel actions, other appropriate materials, reports, and notes relating to the individual's employment with the agency; and

(7) Employee's starting and termination dates. The staff member shall have reasonable access to his or her file and shall be allowed to add any written statement he or she wishes to make to the file at any time. A child placing agency shall maintain the personnel file of an employee who leaves the agency for a period of 3 years.

Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Kansas may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.