Current through Register Vol. 43, No. 12,
March 20, 2024
(a) Each
licensee shall ensure that sufficient space for sleeping is provided to
accommodate the number of foster family members and each child in foster care.
Sleeping space shall not include any of the following places:
(1) An unfinished attic;
(2) an unfinished basement;
(3) a hall;
(4) a closet;
(5) a laundry room;
(6) a garage;
(7) any living space that is normally used
for other than sleeping arrangements; or
(8) any room that provides routine passage to
a common use room, to another bedroom, or to the outdoors.
(b) Each licensee shall ensure that each
bedroom used for sleeping by a child in foster care meets the following
requirements:
(1) Each bedroom shall have at
least 70 square feet.
(2) Each
bedroom shall have at least 45 square feet for each individual sharing the
room.
(3) The exit path from each
bed to each outside exit shall have a minimum ceiling height of six feet eight
inches.
(4) Each bedroom shall have
a solid door to ensure privacy.
(5)
Each bedroom shall have at least two means of escape. Each means of escape
shall be easily opened from the inside.
(A) At
least one means of escape shall be an unobstructed pathway leading to an exit
door to the outside.
(B) The second
means of escape shall give direct access to the outside and shall be an
unobstructed door or window that is able to be opened from the inside without
the use of tools.
(C) For each
window used as a means of escape, all of the following requirements shall be
met:
(i) The window shall have a width of at
least 20 inches and a height of at least 24 inches.
(ii) The window shall be within 44 inches of
the floor or shall have permanent steps or another immovable fixture that
brings the window to within 44 inches of the top of the steps or
fixture.
(iii) If the window is
screened, the screen shall be easily removed from the inside.
(iv) The licensee shall ensure that each
occupant of the bedroom can easily exit through the window.
(D) If one means of escape is a
sliding glass door, the door shall be easily opened from the inside.
(6) All false ceilings, curtains,
drapes, or fabric used in decoration for ceilings or walls in each room used
for sleeping shall be made of fire-rated materials.
(c) Privacy for the occupants of all bedrooms
shall be ensured.
(d) Each child in
foster care shall have a separate bed or crib that meets the following
requirements:
(1) Is intact, fully
functional, and in good repair to prevent injury or entrapment of the
child;
(2) is of sufficient size to
accommodate the size and weight of the child;
(3) has a mattress that is clean and has a
waterproof covering, if needed; and
(4) has bedding adequate to the season and
appropriate to the age of the child.
(e) Each bed that requires bed springs shall
have springs in good condition.
(f)
If a bunk bed is used by any child in foster care, the following requirements
shall be met:
(1) The upper bunk shall be
protected on all sides with rails. Headboards and footboards may substitute for
rails on the ends of the bed.
(2)
Each child in foster care using the upper bunk shall be at least six years of
age.
(g) No rollaway
bed, hideaway bed, or other temporary bed shall be used, except when children
in foster care are visiting in the family foster home for a social event or for
short-term respite care.
(h) Each
child in foster care less than 12 months of age shall sleep in a crib. For the
purposes of a nap, the child may sleep in a playpen. Each crib and each playpen
shall meet the following requirements:
(1) If
a crib or playpen is slatted, the slats shall be spaced no more than 2 3/8
inches apart.
(2) Each crib shall
have a firm mattress fitted so that no more than two fingers can fit between
the mattress and the crib side when the mattress is set in the lowest
position.
(3) The crib corner post
extensions shall not exceed 1 1/16 inch.
(4) When the crib is in use, the drop side of
the crib shall be secured in the up position.
(5) No pillow, quilt, comforter, blanket,
bumpers, or other soft product that could cause suffocation shall be used in
the crib or the playpen when a child who is less than 12 months of age is
sleeping in the crib or playpen.
(i) Each child in foster care who is less
than 12 months of age shall be put to sleep on the child's back unless ordered
otherwise by the child's physician. If the child in foster care is able to turn
over independently, that child shall be placed on the child's back but then
shall be allowed to remain in a position preferred by the child.
(j) Each child in foster care 12 months and
older may sleep in a crib until that child is 18 months of age or until the
child is of such height that the upper rail of the crib is at the child's
breast level when the child is standing and the crib mattress is at the lowest
level.
(k) Each child in foster
care 18 months but not yet 30 months of age may sleep in a crib when prescribed
by that child's physician.
(l) At
night each caregiver shall sleep within hearing distance of the child in foster
care.
(m) When any child in foster
care five years of age or older shares a room, the following requirements shall
be met:
(1) The child shall share the room
only with children of the same sex.
(2) The children sharing the room shall be
age-mates, unless the following requirements have been met:
(A) The licensee shall notify the family
foster home's sponsoring child-placing agency of the proposed sleeping
arrangement.
(B) The licensee shall
request that the sponsoring child-placing agency and the child's placing agent
determine if the proposed sleeping arrangement is appropriate.
(C) The licensee shall maintain documentation
of the approval of the sponsoring child-placing agency for the sleeping
arrangement.
(3) A child
who is known to be a sexual perpetrator or a sexual abuse victim shall not
share a room until the following conditions are met:
(A) The potential roommate arrangements are
assessed by the child's placing agent, the home's sponsoring child-placing
agency, and the licensee; and
(B)
based on the assessment, a determination is made by the child's placing agency
that it is unlikely that further sexual abuse will result from the child
sharing a room.
(n) If any child in foster care under five
years of age shares a room with any other child, all of the children sharing
the room shall be age-mates or shall be under five years of age. The children
sharing the room may be of the opposite sex if all of the children are under
five years of age.
(o) A child in
foster care who is a parent may share a room with the parent's own child or
children. The room shall meet the requirements in paragraph (b)(2).
(p) A child in foster care may sleep in the
bedroom of the licensee under any of the following circumstances:
(1) The child in foster care is less than 12
months of age.
(2) The child in
foster care is ill.
(3) The child
in foster care has special developmental or medical needs requiring close
supervision as documented by a physician.
(q) If a child in foster care sleeps in the
licensee's bedroom, the bedroom shall have at least 130 square feet.
(r) Each licensee shall ensure that separate
and accessible drawer space for personal belongings and closet space for
clothing are available for each child in foster care.
