Current through Register Vol. 43, No. 39, September 26, 2024
(a) Each
licensee shall ensure that sufficient space for sleeping is provided to
accommodate all residents of the family foster home 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 laundry room;
(4) any living space that is normally used
for other than sleeping arrangements; or
(5) 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.
(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) 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.
(f) 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 slated, the slats shall be spaced no more than 2 3/8 inches
apart.
(2) Each crib shall have a
firm mattress fitted in accordance with manufacturer's
recommendations.
(3) The crib
corner post extensions shall not exceed 1 1/16 inch.
(4) 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.
(g) Any 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.
(h) Any child in foster care 12 months and
older may sleep in a crib until that child is 18 months of age.
(i) Any child in foster care 18 months but
not yet 30 months of age may sleep in a crib as recommended by the child's
medical provider.
(j) At night,
each caregiver shall sleep within hearing distance or use a nonrecording
monitoring device for each child in foster care under the age of six years and
each child in foster care that has special developmental or medical needs
requiring close supervision as documented by the child's medical or mental
health provider.
(k) When any child
in foster care shares a room, the following requirements shall be met:
(1) Each child in foster care six years of
age and older shall share the room only with children of the same
sex.
(2) Each licensee shall use
reasonable and prudent parent standards when determining room sharing
arrangements. The licensee shall take into consideration each child's age,
maturity level, behavior disorders, developmental delays, anger management, and
thrill-seeking behaviors.
(3) A
child who is known to have committed an unlawful sexual act or who is a sexual
abuse victim shall not share a room until both of the following conditions are
met:
(A) The potential roommate arrangements
are assessed by the child-placing agent, the home's sponsoring child-placement
agency, and the licensee.
(B) Based
on the assessment, a determination is made by the child-placement agency that
it is unlikely that further sexual abuse will result from the child sharing a
room.
(l) 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).
(m) Any 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 18 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.
(n) If a child in foster care sleeps in the
licensee's bedroom, the bedroom shall have at least 130 square feet.
(o) 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.
