Mississippi Administrative Code
Title 24 - Mental Health
Part 2 - Operational Standards for Mental Health, Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Use Community Service Providers
Chapter 29 - Community Living Services for Children/Youth with Serious Emotional Disturbance
Rule 24-2-29.2 - Therapeutic Foster Care for Children/Youth with Serious Emotional Disturbance

A. Agency providers of Therapeutic Foster Care must also meet the requirements in Rule 29.1.

B. Therapeutic Foster Care Services are intensive community-based services for children/youth with significant developmental, emotional or behavioral needs provided by mental health professional personnel and trained foster parents, resource parents or group home agency providers who provide a therapeutic service for children/youth with serious emotional disturbances living in a resource home licensed by the MS Department of Child Protection Services.

C. Therapeutic Foster Care agency providers can use only adults with current documentation of foster parent or resource family approval from the MS Department of Child Protection Services.

D. Each foster home or resource home must have no more than one (1) child/youth with serious emotional disturbance placed in the home at a given time. Agency providers seeking to place more than one (1) child/youth with serious emotional disturbance in a resource home must obtain prior approval from the MS Department of Child Protection Services. Siblings with serious emotional disturbance may be placed together in the same home if all of the following conditions apply:

E. Each Therapeutic Foster Care agency provider licensed for a minimum of ten (10) foster homes or resource homes must have a full-time director with overall administrative and supervisory responsibility for the services.

F. Each Therapeutic Foster Care agency provider licensed for ten (10) to thirty (30) foster homes or resource homes must have one (1) full-time Therapeutic Foster Care Specialist whose services target the therapeutic foster parents or resource families. The Therapeutic Foster Care Specialist's specific responsibilities must include at least the following:

G. If the Therapeutic Foster Care agency provider is licensed for fewer than ten (10) foster or resource homes, the Therapeutic Foster Care Specialist can have other responsibilities; however, documentation must be maintained that at least ten percent (10%) of his/her time for every one (1) therapeutic foster home or resource home is spent in performing duties of the Therapeutic Foster Care Specialist/Community Support Specialist.

H. The Therapeutic Foster Care Specialist must have face-to-face contact with each therapeutic foster or resource parent(s) at least two (2) times per month, with at least one (1) of the two (2) contacts made during a home visit. All contacts of the Therapeutic Foster Care Specialist with the therapeutic foster or resource parent(s) must be documented in the record of the therapeutic resource parent(s).

I. All clinical/mental health therapeutic services for all children receiving Therapeutic Foster Care Services must be provided by an employee who holds a Master's degree and professional license or who is a DMH Certified Mental Health Therapist, DMH Certified Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities Therapist or a DMH Certified Addictions Therapist (when appropriate for the person receiving services and the service being provided).

J. Therapeutic Foster Care services must include individual therapy, family therapy, annual psychiatric evaluation, and twenty-four (24) hours per day and seven (7) days a week emergency services and crisis intervention. Group therapy may also be provided.

K. Each Therapeutic Foster Care provider must have one (1) full-time professionally licensed or DMH credentialed Mental Health Therapist for every twenty (20) foster children/youth in Therapeutic Foster Care Services. The mental health therapist(s) for the Therapeutic Foster Care Services must serve only in the mental health therapist role (i.e., cannot serve as the director or the Therapeutic Foster Care Specialist).

L. The mental health therapist is required to have at least one (1) individual therapy session per week with the child/youth. At least one (1) family session per month is required with the resource parent(s).

M. A licensed psychiatrist with experience working with children/youth, on an employment or contractual basis, must be available for children/youth served by the Therapeutic Foster Care provider.

N. All foster home or resource parents must complete annual training as required in Part 2: Chapter 12. Topics should be addressed from a family perspective.

O. In addition to the annual training required in Part 2: Chapter 12, specific training for foster home or resource parents must include verbal de-escalation skills, behavior management techniques, and trauma informed care.