1. Except as otherwise provided by subsections 3 and 4, the administrator shall promulgate, after their adoption by the council on human services, and enforce in accordance with chapter 17A, administrative rules necessary to implement this chapter. Formulation of the rules shall include consultation with representatives of child foster care providers, and other persons affected by this chapter. The rules shall encourage the provision of child foster care in a single-family, home environment, exempting the single-family, home facility from inappropriate rules.
2. Rules applicable to licensees shall include but are not limited to:
a. Types of facilities which include but are not limited to group foster care facilities and family foster care homes.
b. The number, qualifications, character, and parenting ability of personnel necessary to assure the health, safety and welfare of children receiving child foster care.
c. Programs for education and in-service training of personnel.
d. The physical environment of a facility.
e. Policies for intake, assessment, admission and discharge.
f. Housing, health, safety, and medical-care policies for children receiving child foster care.
g. The adequacy of programs available to children receiving child foster care provided by agencies, including but not limited to:
(1) Dietary services.
(2) Social services.
(3) Activity programs.
(4) Behavior management procedures.
(5) Educational programs, including special education as defined in section 256B.2, subsection 2 where appropriate, which are approved by the state board of education. The department shall not promulgate rules which regulate individual licensees in the subject areas enumerated in this paragraph.
h. Policies for involvement of biological parents.
i. Records a licensee is required to keep, and reports a licensee is required to make to the administrator.
j. Prior to the licensing of an individual as a foster family home, a required, written social assessment of the quality of the living situation in the home of the individual, and a required compilation of personal references for the individual other than those references given by the individual.
3. Rules governing fire safety in facilities with child foster care provided by agencies shall be promulgated by the state fire marshal pursuant to section 100.1, subsection 5 after consultation with the administrator.
4. Rules governing sanitation, water and waste disposal standards for facilities shall be promulgated by the Iowa department of public health pursuant to section 135.11, subsection 13 after consultation with the administrator.
5. In case of a conflict between rules promulgated pursuant to subsections 3 and 4 and local rules, the more stringent requirement applies.
6. Rules of the department shall not prohibit the licensing, as foster family homes, of individuals who are departmental employees not directly engaged in the administration of the child foster care program pursuant to this chapter.
7. If an agency is accredited by the joint commission on the accreditation of health care organizations under the commission's consolidated stan- dards for residential settings or by the council on accreditation of services for families and children, the department shall modify facility licensure standards applied to the agency in order to avoid duplicating standards applied through accreditation.
8. The department, in consultation with the judicial department, the division of criminal and juvenile justice planning of the department of human rights, residential treatment providers, the foster care provider association, and other parties which may be affected, shall review the licensing rules pertaining to residential treatment facilities, and examine whether the rules allow the facilities to accept and provide effective treatment to juveniles with serious problems who might not otherwise be placed in those facilities.
[C27, 31, 35, § 3661-a52; C39, § 3661.066; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, § 237.11; C81, § 237.3]
83 Acts, ch 96, § 157, 159; 89 Acts, ch 283, § 26; 90 Acts, ch 1023, § 1; 92 Acts, ch 1231, § 39; 93 Acts, ch 172, §40; 94 Acts, ch 1046, §5
Referred to in § 135H.4, 135H.6
Iowa General Assembly
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